Track group information in the Groups list

Use the Groups list in your Google Admin console as your main hub for managing your organization’s groups. Go here to create a group, view group details, add members, and choose general settings for a group. Target audiences aren’t displayed, but groups shown include:

• Email and distribution lists
• Configuration groups
• Dynamic groups
• Groups created in the Google Groups app (groups.google.com)
• Groups created or synced using an API or Directory Sync

Tips for identifying groups

Here are some tips to help you easily identify different types of groups in the Groups list:

• Dynamic, mailing, and security groups—Labels appear in the Group labels column of the Groups list.
• Configuration groups—Put the group type at the beginning of the group name. For example, for a configuration group, use CONFIG_groupname@your-comany.com. You can then filter on the beginning term—see below, Filter groups by email address.
  Tip: Identify where groups are created using prefixes. For example, put API at the beginning of of API-created groups.
• User-created groups—Create a suffix to be added to the user-entered group name.
  For details, see Mark user-created groups with a suffix.

You can also add a prefix that appears in the subject line of a group’s messages. This helps recipients quickly identify that the message is from the group. For details, see Add a prefix to subject lines of group messages.

Interpret group labels

Label	Meaning
	This group has security features. You can use it to grant security privileges. You cannot remove this label.
	Membership in this group updates automatically, based on rules that the creator chooses.
	You can use this group as a mailing group.

Filter groups by email address

You can filter the Groups list to show only groups whose email address starts with text you specify.

Note: Although dynamic groups appear on the list with the word Dynamic in the Group Labels column, you can’t filter on that column.

Using the Admin console

1. Sign in to your Google Admin console.

   Sign in using your administrator account (does not end in @gmail.com).

2. In the Admin console, go to Menu  DirectoryGroups.
3. At the top, click Add a filterGroup email.
4. Enter the text you wantclick Apply.

Track permissions and other details

You can change the columns that appear in the Groups list to track many additional details about your groups, such as who can view, join, or post to groups.

Using the Admin console

1. Sign in to your Google Admin console.

   Sign in using your administrator account (does not end in @gmail.com).

2. In the Admin console, go to Menu  DirectoryGroups.
3. At the top right, click Manage columns .
4. Choose an option:
   • To delete a column from the display—To the right of the column name, click the X.
     You can’t delete columns with a lock.
   • To add a column—Click Add new columnselect a column name.
5. Click Save.

Inspect group membership

Supported editions for this feature: Frontline Standard; Enterprise Standard and Enterprise Plus; Education Standard and Education Plus; Enterprise Essentials Plus. If you have Cloud Identity Premium, Frontline Starter; Business Starter, Business Standard, and Business Plus are also supported. Compare your edition

1. Sign in to your Google Admin console.

   Sign in using your administrator account (does not end in @gmail.com).

2. In the Admin console, go to Menu  DirectoryGroups.
3. At the top, click Inspect groups.
4. Use the search card to check if a member is part of a group or to see all groups a user or group belongs to:
   1. Click Select and choose Check membership or List all groups for a member.
   2. Provide email address and target group or just email address. 
5. Click Check or List all groups.
   If you don’t have permission to view members of a group you’re trying to check, you get an error message. 

From the Groups list, you can manage any group by clicking its name. In addition, you can perform many tasks directly from the list.

1. Point to a group.
2. Choose an option:
   • Click View to see the group’s access settings.
   • Select MoreDelete group to delete the group.

You can also choose other options to add or manage members or edit access settings.

Troubleshooting

You might see a You don't have permission to check this membership error if:

• You don’t have permission to view all groups in your organization. 
• One of your users has added themselves to one or more groups outside your organization.

If you don’t have permission to view all of a member’s groups, this search won’t show you any of their groups. To avoid this error message, make sure you have permission to view all groups inside your organization and ask users to remove themselves from all groups outside your organization.

Related topics

• Create a group
• Create a dynamic group