Manage devices in the Teams admin center with administrative units
Administrative units in the Teams admin center provide detailed, role-based access for managing Teams devices. Administrative units grant Teams admin access to specific resources but limit that admin's access to other resources. This is especially helpful if you have local Teams admins in different countries or regions.
For example, Contoso has operations around the globe. Alice is a global IT admin based in London, while Prashant is a local IT admin based in Bengaluru (Bangalore), India. Today, when Prashant signs into the Teams admin center as a device administrator, he can see Teams devices around the globe. Alice wants to limit Prashant's access to Teams devices only in Bengaluru (Bangalore). Administrative units let her do this. To learn more, see Administrative units in Microsoft Entra ID.
Note
Administrative Units can be managed using the Teams Administrator or Teams Device Administrator roles. Administrative units are currently available in the Teams admin center only for the Teams devices administrator role.
Important
Microsoft recommends that you use roles with the fewest permissions. Using lower permissioned accounts helps improve security for your organization. Global Administrator is a highly privileged role that should be limited to emergency scenarios when you can't use an existing role.
Add administrative units
You need to be a global admin to add administrative units. To learn how, see Add an administrative unit.
Assign admins to administrative units
You'll also need to be global admin to assign administrative units. You can assign administrative units using Azure portal, PowerShell, or the Microsoft Graph API. To learn more, see Assign Microsoft Entra roles with administrative unit scope.
Select administrative units
If you're a Teams devices admin, after a global admin assigns you to an administrative unit, you can sign into the Teams admin center to manage devices. If you're assigned to only one administrative unit, you'll see only the devices that are assigned to that administrative unit. If you're assigned to multiple administrative units, you can switch between those administrative units without signing out from the Teams admin center.
Sign in to the Teams admin center.
In the Your administrative units dialog box, follow one of these steps:
- Select the administrative unit that you want to manage, or
- Select All devices if you have permission to manage all devices for your organization.
Select Save.
Switch administrative units
If you're a Teams devices admin, you can switch between administrative units if you're signed into the Teams admin center. To switch to a different administrative unit:
Sign in to the Teams admin center.
In the left navigation, select Teams devices.
On the right pane, at the upper left, select the administrative unit shown.
In the Your administrative units dialog box, follow one of these steps:
- Select the administrative unit that you want to manage, or
- Select All devices if you have permission to manage all devices for your organization.
Select Save.