Assign Microsoft 365 Licenses

Introduction

Buying Microsoft 365 is step one — assigning the right license to each person in the admin center is what unlocks mailboxes, Teams, and Office apps. This operations guide is for office managers and IT leads in Thailand and Singapore who self-administer a small tenant.

Where to assign licenses

1. Sign in to admin.microsoft.com
2. Users → Active users
3. Select a user → Licenses and apps
4. Check the SKU (e.g. Microsoft 365 Business Standard) → Save changes

Changes usually apply within minutes; users may need to sign out and back in to Office apps.

Match license to job role

Do not assign E5 to a user who only needs email — you overspend and complicate support.

New employee workflow

1. Add user (or invite guest if external)
2. Assign location (affects some features and compliance residency options)
3. Assign license
4. User logs in at office.com and sets up MFA
5. Configure Outlook and Teams on laptop and mobile

Offboarding (critical for security)

When someone leaves:

1. Block sign-in immediately
2. Reset password and revoke sessions
3. Reassign or remove license (license is billable until removed)
4. Convert mailbox to shared mailbox or export data per policy
5. Remove from Teams and SharePoint groups

Skipping step 1 leaves a live account on your bill and a security hole.

Shared mailboxes and aliases

• Shared mailbox (e.g. [email protected]) — often no extra license if under 50 GB and no direct login; add users with Full Access
• Aliases — extra addresses on one licensed mailbox; no extra SKU

Groups vs licenses

Microsoft 365 Groups and Teams do not replace user licenses — each person who uses Exchange or Teams still needs a qualifying license.

Common errors

Buying more seats

We sell per-seat subscriptions in THB and SGD with local tax invoices. After payment, seats appear in your tenant for assignment — contact us or see how to buy.

Next steps

• Custom domain setup
• Renew without downtime
• NCE billing explained