How to get a list of managers and direct reports in Microsoft 365

Microsoft Entra ID stores manager and direct report information as part of each user’s profile, enabling admins to track hierarchical relationships across departments and teams.

This article explains how to get a list of managers and direct reports in Microsoft 365 using Microsoft Entra admin center and Microsoft Graph PowerShell (Get-MgUserManager), and how you can simplify this process using a unified admin console and PowerShell-driven automation through ManageEngine M365 Manager Plus, a dedicated Microsoft 365 administration tool.

Method 1: How to get managers of direct reports using Microsoft Entra admin center

Prerequisite:

You must have at least the User Administrator role to view group memberships in the Entra admin center.

Steps

1. Log in to the Microsoft Entra admin center and navigate to Users > All users.
2. Select the target user from the list.
3. Click the Properties tab.
4. Search for the Manager attribute to view the user's manager in Microsoft 365.

Limitations to consider

• The Microsoft Entra admin center does not provide a way to export the list of all managers in Microsoft 365 in a single operation. Even the Download Users feature, which provides a CSV file of user objects and their details, does not let you download managers as attributes of the user.
• You will have to click through each user individually to get the list of all managers.

If you wish to get a single list of your Microsoft 365 managers and direct reports, you will have to either resort to Microsoft Graph PowerShell or use a reporting tool dedicated to present this data with just a few clicks, such as ManageEngine M365 Manager Plus.

Method 2: How to export a list of managers and direct reports using Microsoft Graph PowerShell (Get-MgUserManager)

Prerequisite:

Before using Microsoft Graph PowerShell, please verify that:

1. The User Administrator role is applied to the account used to sign in to Microsoft Graph PowerShell.
2. You are connected to the Microsoft Graph PowerShell module.
   1. To check if the Microsoft Graph PowerShell module is installed, use this script:
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      Get-Module Microsoft.Graph -ListAvailable
          

      If it does not return a value, you will have to install the module.

   2. To install the Microsoft Graph PowerShell module, execute this script:
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      Install-Module Microsoft.Graph -Scope CurrentUser
          

   3. To connect to Microsoft Graph, run this script:
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      Connect-MgGraph -Scopes "User.Read.All"
          

Using Get-MgUserDirectReport to find direct reports of a manager in Microsoft 365

The following Get-MgUserDirectReport cmdlet can be used to list every user reporting to a specific manager.

Get-MgUserDirectReport -UserId "manager@test.com"
    

Using Get-MgUserManager to find the manager of a Microsoft 365 user

The Get-MgUserManager cmdlet shown below can be used to retrieve the manager assigned to a Microsoft 365 user.

Get-MgUserManager -UserId "user@testorg.com"
    

Scenario: Find managers and direct reports of a specific department using Microsoft Graph PowerShell

You are an IT admin who needs to find the managers and direct reports of a department for an internal management audit. The goal is to find all the users and their managers in the department Sales .

The following script uses the Get-MgUserManager cmdlet to search for the managers of users in the Sales department.

Connect-MgGraph -Scopes "User.Read.All"
# Define the department
$DeptName = "Sales"
# Get users in the specific department
$DeptUsers = Get-MgUser -Filter "department eq '$DeptName'" -All -Property displayName, userPrincipalName, id

# Build the report
$Report = foreach ($User in $DeptUsers) {
    try {
        $Manager = Get-MgUserManager -UserId $User.Id -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
        [PSCustomObject]@{
            EmployeeName  = $User.DisplayName
            EmployeeEmail = $User.UserPrincipalName
            ManagerName   = if ($Manager) { $Manager.AdditionalProperties.displayName } else { "Unassigned" }
        }
    } catch { continue }
}
# Export the report
$Report | Export-Csv "Department-Manager-Report.csv" -NoTypeInformation -Encoding UTF8

# display in console
$Report | Format-Table -AutoSize
    

Method 3: How to export a list of managers and direct reports in M365 Manager Plus

Steps

1. Log in to M365 Manager Plus and navigate to the Reports tab > Azure Active Directory > User Reports, then select the Users with Managers report.
2. Select the Microsoft 365 Tenant and the Domains/Groups you wish to generate the report for, and click Generate Now. You can now see the list of all users with their managers listed in the Users w ith Managers report .
3. You can sort the Users with Managers report by using the Manager column. This allows you to view all managers of direct reports in an orderly manner.
4. Export the list of Microsoft 365 managers and direct reports by clicking Export As in the upper-right corner and selecting your desired format.

Streamline Entra ID user governance and group management

M365 Manager Plus provides a unified command center for managing the entire life cycle of your Entra ID users and groups. Gain instant visibility into group memberships, ownership gaps, and orphaned objects across your tenant. Moreover, view, manage, and track identity objects across your Microsoft 365 tenant from a single console—without switching between multiple admin portals.

Important tips

Frequently asked questions