As a suscription owner I can't add users/owners, neither I see them from select member list

Question

I am the owner of the suscription, but I cannot create users or add new owners. I want to share the same privileges with another employee on the company.

Going thru Suscription -> IAM -> Add Role Assignment -> Privileged administrator roles -> Owner -> Select members

there is nothing on he list to select.

Going thru Users -> New user -> create new user is gray out, and I am the only admin at the moment.

Answer 1

@Nicholas Nisenbaum I hope you are doing well,

The "Owner" role in Azure RBAC grants comprehensive access to manage resources within the subscription. However, it doesn't confer permissions to manage users or groups within Microsoft Entra ID. To perform such tasks, roles like Global Administrator or User Administrator in Entra ID are required

Verify Your Directory Role:

• Navigate to Microsoft Entra ID > Users > [Your Account] > Assigned Roles.
• Ensure you have either the Global Administrator or User Administrator role.
• If not, you'll need someone with these roles to grant them to you.

Please take a look at the oficial documentation about this https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/azure/general/cannot-see-users-groups-list-iam?utm_source=chatgpt.com

😊 If my answer helped you resolve your issue, please consider marking it as the correct answer. This helps others in the community find solutions more easily. Thanks!

Answer 2

Hello @Nicholas Nisenbaum
I Hope the provided information is helpful!
In Addition to the suggestion provided by @Jose Benjamin Solis Nolasco
I understand that you are the owner of the subscription but are currently unable to create new users or assign additional owners. You’d like to share the same administrative privileges with another employee in your company.

However, the "New user" option under Users > New user appears to be grayed out, and you are currently the only admin.

To verify the roles assigned to your account, please follow these steps: Microsoft Entra ID > Users > Your Account > Assigned Roles

Ensure that you have either the Global Administrator or User Administrator role, as one of these roles is required to add new users.

After checking the assigned roles once you've confirmed that you're not the admin, please share your Tenant ID or the email address you're using via private message for further troubleshooting.
Do let us know if you have any Queries. we are happy to assist you further.

Answer 3

Hello @Nicholas Nisenbaum

Thank you for contacting Q&A Forum. Regarding your issue, this might be a permissions boundary issue between Azure subscription roles and Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) directory roles.

Even though you're the owner of the Azure subscription, that does not automatically grant you directory-level permissions in Microsoft Entra ID as these are two separate scopes. Azure subscription focuses mainly on billing, resources, RBAC roles,... whereas Microsoft Entra ID takes control of users, groups, roles such as Global Administrator, User Administrator,... Therefore, if you’re not either a Global Administrator or a User Administrator in Entra ID, you cannot create users or assign directory roles despite your status as a subscription owner.

I would recommend a few methods to troubleshoot this:

• Check your Directory role

• Go to Microsoft Entra Admin Center → Users → Your account.
• Check the Assigned roles tab.
• If you don’t see Global Administrator or User Administrator, that’s the issue.

• Ask a Global Administrator in your organization:

If someone else in your organization is a Global Administrator, they need to either assign you the Global Administrator/User Administrator role or create the users and assign roles on your behalf. For further detail, please visit this document: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/azure/general/cannot-see-users-groups-list-iam?utm_source=chatgpt.com

• Contact support:

If you're the only admin and locked out of directory-level permissions:

• Go to Azure Portal Help + Support.
• Open a support request under "Problem type: Technical" → "Service: Microsoft Entra ID".
• Explain that you're the subscription owner but cannot manage users or roles.

Kindly let me know if this work for you and please leave another comment if you have any further questions or need any clarifications

If I have answered your question, please accept this as answer as a token of appreciation and don't forget to give a thumbs up for "Was it helpful"!

Best regards,

Megan.