how to query entra id for a user's group memberships with powershell

TL;DR

Connect with Connect-MgGraph, then run Get-MgUserMemberOf -UserId [recipient email] (replace with the real UPN) to list direct memberships. For nested groups, recurse through each group's own memberships. The Graph SDK is the modern path; the old MSOnline module is deprecated.

The error

(Investigation; no error.)

Steps

1. Install and connect: Install-Module Microsoft.Graph once, then Connect-MgGraph -Scopes "User.Read.All","Group.Read.All". Expected: connected. Consent the permissions on first use.
2. List direct memberships: Get-MgUserMemberOf -UserId [recipient email] | Select DisplayName. Expected: groups listed. Note this shows direct memberships only.
3. For nested: for each group, run Get-MgGroupMemberOf -GroupId [id] and recurse. Expected: full chain. Or check the user's transitive membership via the Graph $filter endpoints.
4. Filter to the interesting types: security groups vs distribution lists vs roles. Expected: typed list. The access question usually concerns security groups.
5. Document the membership path in the ticket. Expected: recorded.

When to use

• Entra access investigations
• Pre-offboarding access inventory

When not to use

• On-prem AD groups (use the AD cmdlets)
• Real-time provisioning (use the admin centers)

Compatibility

• Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK; Entra ID

Variants

One-liner for direct memberships

Get-MgUserMemberOf -UserId [upn] -All | ForEach { $_.AdditionalProperties.displayName }

Checking a group's members

Get-MgGroupMember -GroupId [id] for the reverse direction.

Why it happens

Entra has no whoami /groups equivalent on the client; the Graph API is the query path. Membership questions that took seconds in AD need the SDK in Entra.

Edge cases

• The old MSOnline/AzureAD modules are deprecated; do not build new workflows on them.
• Large tenants: page through results with -All; default pages are small.

Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_ZWriwTe5FMIPSg0Y2fuzrA