how to find owner of a Teams distribution list

Dear @Gordy Panhorst Karen, 

I understand you need to identify who owns a distribution list that was invited to a Microsoft Teams meeting.  

The main reason ownership does not appear in the Teams meeting invite pane is that distribution lists are Exchange Online objects. Their ownership is managed in Microsoft 365 and Exchange admin tools, rather than inside Teams. For this reason, the correct place to review ownership information is through the Microsoft 365 or Exchange admin centers, or through Outlook if you are not an administrator. 

Since you didn’t mention whether you’re an IT administrator or an end user, I’ve provided separate instructions for both.  

• Scenario 1: If you’re an administrator 

Option 1: Microsoft 365 admin center 

Sign in to the Microsoft 365 admin center using an admin account. 

Open Teams and groups, then select Active teams and groups. 

Choose the Distribution list tab. 

Select the distribution list you need to review. 

Open the Members section to view the owners. 

Manage a group in the admin center - Microsoft 365 admin | Microsoft Learn 

Option 2: Exchange admin center 

Open the Microsoft 365 admin center > Show all > Exchange admin center. 

Navigate to Recipients, then select Groups. 

Choose the distribution list. 

Open its properties to view members and owners. 

This method provides the most complete view, especially for lists with multiple owners. 

Create and manage distribution groups in Exchange Online | Microsoft Learn 

• Scenario 2: If you are not an administrator 

Discover Groups in Outlook:

New Outlook:

Go to Home and open the Discover groups. 

Search for the distribution list. 

Double‑click the name to open its details. 

Select the Members tab to view all members and their assigned roles.

Classic Outlook:

Go to Home and open the Address Book.

Search for the distribution list.

Double‑click the name to open its details.

The Owner field appears on the General tab.

Please note that Outlook for Windows may not display all owners if the list has several. If anything appears incomplete or incorrect, it may be necessary to contact your IT administrator, as only admin tools can show the full ownership list. 

• Scenario 3: If the address is not a Distribution List but a Microsoft 365 Group or Team 

Sometimes the meeting invite includes a Microsoft 365 Group or a Team rather than a distribution list. In that case, ownership is managed differently. 

Each team can have multiple owners responsible for managing membership, settings and group‑level permissions.  

Option 1: Microsoft 365 admin center 

Open Teams and groups > Select Active teams and groups. 

Choose the group you want to review. 

Open the Membership section to view the group owners. 

Option 2: Teams admin center 

Open the Microsoft 365 admin center > Show all > Teams admin center. 

Select Teams, then choose Manage teams. 

Find the team in the list. 

Open the team and go to the Members tab to view owners and members. 

Manage teams in the Microsoft Teams admin center - Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Learn 

Assign team owners and members in Microsoft Teams admin center - Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Learn 

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I hope this information is helpful. If you have any questions or need further support, please don’t hesitate to reach out at any time. 

Thank you for your patience and understanding. 

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To find the owner of a distribution list in Microsoft Teams, you can use the PowerShell command Get-MgBetaGroupTeamOwner. This command retrieves the list of owners for a specified team or distribution group. It's important to note that when creating a team using application permissions, exactly one owner must be specified. If using user-delegated permissions, no owner can be specified as the current user is considered the owner.

You will need to have the appropriate permissions to execute this command and access the group information.

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References:

• Get-MgBetaGroupTeamOwner
• Chat with distribution lists (DLs)
• Manage ownerless Microsoft 365 groups and teams
• How to: Search for a distribution group
• Create distribution groups in the Microsoft 365 admin center