Can't manage a group hidden from the GAL

Original KB number:   2813640

Symptoms

You see the following scenarios occur:

• Owners of security groups can't manage a group in the Exchange admin center if the group is hidden from the Global Address List (GAL).
• The distribution group has to be unhidden from the GAL for owners to manage it in Outlook on the web.

These behaviors are by design. They occur even when the owner is listed in the ManagedBy attribute of the groups.

Workaround

To work around this behavior, the owners of the groups must follow these steps:

1. Create a role group, and then assign the Distribution Group role to that role group. For more information about how to create role groups, see Manage role groups.
2. Add to the role group the users who have to manage groups that are hidden from the GAL. For more information about how to add or remove role group members, see Manage role groups.