Remove license and convert mailbox to shared in Microsoft 365
Automatically convert a departed user’s mailbox to shared and remove their paid Microsoft 365 license from a Slack request with Stepwork.
- Use case
- Employee offboardingIT
- Best for
- IT Administrator
- Applications used
Microsoft 365
Slack
- Business outcome
- Cost savings
The problem
The mailbox still needs to be read. The license does not.
After someone leaves, the team still needs their mail, but the paid license should go back to the pool. IT does the convert-then-remove steps by hand in the admin center for every departure.
Skip the conversion and history disappears with the account. Delay the license remove and you keep paying for a seat nobody uses while employee offboarding moves on.
The outcome
Mail history stays. The paid seat goes back.
Stepwork converts the mailbox to shared and removes the paid license in the Microsoft 365 admin center. The team keeps the mail, spend drops, and the run records who asked and when as part of employee offboarding.
- The mailbox becomes a shared mailbox.
- The paid license is removed.
- If the user cannot be found, the run stops.
The process
From Slack request to a shared mailbox
A teammate posts the request in Slack. Stepwork converts the mailbox, then removes the license, in the same order every time.
- Step 1
Request it in Slack
A teammate posts the departing employee’s work email in the offboarding channel. That message starts the flow, and Stepwork records who asked and when.
- Step 2
Find the mailbox
Stepwork signs in to the Microsoft 365 admin center and locates the user and mailbox. If nobody matches, the run stops.
- Step 3
Convert, then remove the license
Stepwork converts the mailbox to shared, then removes the paid license SKU.
- Step 4
Confirm and reply in Slack
Stepwork checks that the mailbox is shared and the license is gone, then posts the result back in Slack.
Why Stepwork
Both steps stay on the offboarding path
A deterministic agent runs the convert-and-reclaim path you recorded. Mail stays available without leaving a paid seat attached.
Similar use cases
Similar use cases
- Assign license to user in Microsoft 365Opens the Microsoft 365 admin center, locates the user, and assigns the specified license SKU.
- Disable external forwarding rule in Microsoft 365Removes a specified mailbox's external auto-forwarding rule and confirms deletion.
Suspend user account in Google WorkspaceSigns into the Google Admin console, locates the user, and suspends the account, blocking sign-in while preserving data.
FAQ