User hidden from Exchange GAL still appears in Teams

Question

Hello,

There is a scenario where a user is hidden from the Exchange Global Address List and has no Microsoft 365 license assigned. The user does not appear in Outlook or the address book, but still shows up in Microsoft Teams search and can be selected when starting new chats, including in Teams web.

What is the recommended or supported way to prevent such users from appearing in Microsoft Teams as well, without deleting the account?

Any advice or shared experience would be appreciated.

Answer 1

Hello @Alena Sukhovetskaya,

Welcome to the Microsoft Q&A Forum, and thank you for sharing your concern with us. 

Based on the information you provided, it appears that you are experiencing an issue where a user without a Microsoft 365 license can still be found through the Teams search feature. We understand how this could cause confusion or impact your workflow, and we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. 

To restrict search results so that only users from the address book are displayed, please follow these steps: 

1. Navigate to Microsoft Teams Admin Center > Teams > Teams Settings, or access the settings directly using this link:  https://admin.teams.microsoft.com/company-wide-settings/teams-settings 
2. Under Search by Name, enable the option Scope directory search using an Exchange address book policy.   

 

Please note that these changes may take several hours to propagate across your environment. For more detailed guidance, you can refer to the official Microsoft documentation here:  Limit who users can see when searching the directory in Teams - Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Learn 

If you have any updates or additional concerns, please feel free to let us know. We are here to assist you further and ensure your Teams experience meets your expectations. 

Looking forward to hearing from you.