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This guide covers common operations for working with users in Microsoft Graph, including retrieving, creating, updating, and managing user properties.

​
Getting Started

All user operations start with the Users property of the GraphServiceClient: 
using Microsoft.Graph;
using Microsoft.Graph.Models;

var graphClient = new GraphServiceClient(authProvider);

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Retrieving Users

​
List All Users

1

List users with basic properties

var users = await graphClient.Users
    .GetAsync();

foreach (var user in users.Value)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"{user.DisplayName} ({user.UserPrincipalName})");
}
2

Select specific properties

var users = await graphClient.Users
    .GetAsync(requestConfiguration =>
    {
        requestConfiguration.QueryParameters.Select = new[] 
        { 
            "displayName", 
            "mail", 
            "jobTitle" 
        };
    });

​
Get a Single User

// Get user by ID
var user = await graphClient.Users["user-id"]
    .GetAsync();

// Get user with expanded properties
var userWithManager = await graphClient.Users["user-id"]
    .GetAsync(requestConfiguration =>
    {
        requestConfiguration.QueryParameters.Expand = new[] { "manager" };
    });

​
Filtering and Searching Users

​
Filter Users

// Filter by department
var users = await graphClient.Users
    .GetAsync(requestConfiguration =>
    {
        requestConfiguration.QueryParameters.Filter = "department eq 'Sales'";
    });

// Filter by multiple conditions
var users = await graphClient.Users
    .GetAsync(requestConfiguration =>
    {
        requestConfiguration.QueryParameters.Filter = 
            "accountEnabled eq true and userType eq 'Member'";
    });

​
Search Users

Search requires the ConsistencyLevel: eventual header and $count=true query parameter.
var users = await graphClient.Users
    .GetAsync(requestConfiguration =>
    {
        requestConfiguration.QueryParameters.Search = "\"displayName:John\"";
        requestConfiguration.QueryParameters.Count = true;
        requestConfiguration.Headers.Add("ConsistencyLevel", "eventual");
    });

​
Creating Users

​
Create a New User

var newUser = new User
{
    AccountEnabled = true,
    DisplayName = "Jane Doe",
    MailNickname = "janedoe",
    UserPrincipalName = "[email protected]",
    PasswordProfile = new PasswordProfile
    {
        ForceChangePasswordNextSignIn = true,
        Password = "TempP@ssw0rd!"
    }
};

try
{
    var createdUser = await graphClient.Users
        .PostAsync(newUser);
    
    Console.WriteLine($"Created user: {createdUser.Id}");
}
catch (ODataError odataError)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Error: {odataError.Error.Message}");
}

​
Updating Users

​
Update User Properties

var userUpdate = new User
{
    JobTitle = "Senior Developer",
    Department = "Engineering",
    MobilePhone = "+1 555-0123"
};

await graphClient.Users["user-id"]
    .PatchAsync(userUpdate);

​
Assign Manager

var manager = new ReferenceCreate
{
    OdataId = $"https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/users/{managerId}"
};

await graphClient.Users["user-id"].Manager.Ref
    .PutAsync(manager);

​
Managing User Relationships

​
Get User’s Manager

var manager = await graphClient.Users["user-id"].Manager
    .GetAsync();

if (manager is User managerUser)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Manager: {managerUser.DisplayName}");
}

​
Get Direct Reports

var directReports = await graphClient.Users["user-id"].DirectReports
    .GetAsync();

foreach (var report in directReports.Value)
{
    if (report is User reportUser)
    {
        Console.WriteLine(reportUser.DisplayName);
    }
}

​
Get Member Groups

var memberGroups = await graphClient.Users["user-id"]
    .MemberOf
    .GetAsync();

foreach (var group in memberGroups.Value)
{
    Console.WriteLine(group.Id);
}

​
Pagination

Handle large result sets using pagination: 
var users = await graphClient.Users
    .GetAsync(requestConfiguration =>
    {
        requestConfiguration.QueryParameters.Top = 10;
    });

// Get first page
foreach (var user in users.Value)
{
    Console.WriteLine(user.DisplayName);
}

// Get next page if available
if (users.OdataNextLink != null)
{
    var nextPageRequest = new UsersRequestBuilder(
        users.OdataNextLink, 
        graphClient.RequestAdapter
    );
    
    var nextPage = await nextPageRequest.GetAsync();
}

​
Error Handling

Always implement proper error handling: 
using Microsoft.Graph.Models.ODataErrors;

try
{
    var user = await graphClient.Users["user-id"]
        .GetAsync();
}
catch (ODataError odataError)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Error Code: {odataError.Error.Code}");
    Console.WriteLine($"Message: {odataError.Error.Message}");
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Unexpected error: {ex.Message}");
}

​
Complete Example

Here’s a complete example that demonstrates multiple user operations: 
using Microsoft.Graph;
using Microsoft.Graph.Models;
using Microsoft.Graph.Models.ODataErrors;

public class UserManager
{
    private readonly GraphServiceClient _graphClient;

    public UserManager(GraphServiceClient graphClient)
    {
        _graphClient = graphClient;
    }

    public async Task<User> CreateAndConfigureUserAsync(
        string displayName, 
        string email, 
        string department)
    {
        try
        {
            // Create user
            var newUser = new User
            {
                AccountEnabled = true,
                DisplayName = displayName,
                MailNickname = email.Split('@')[0],
                UserPrincipalName = email,
                Department = department,
                PasswordProfile = new PasswordProfile
                {
                    ForceChangePasswordNextSignIn = true,
                    Password = GenerateSecurePassword()
                }
            };

            var createdUser = await _graphClient.Users
                .PostAsync(newUser);

            // Get department manager
            var deptUsers = await _graphClient.Users
                .GetAsync(config =>
                {
                    config.QueryParameters.Filter = 
                        $"department eq '{department}' and jobTitle eq 'Manager'";
                    config.QueryParameters.Top = 1;
                });

            // Assign manager if found
            if (deptUsers.Value.Count > 0)
            {
                var manager = new ReferenceCreate
                {
                    OdataId = $"https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/users/{deptUsers.Value[0].Id}"
                };

                await _graphClient.Users[createdUser.Id].Manager.Ref
                    .PutAsync(manager);
            }

            return createdUser;
        }
        catch (ODataError error)
        {
            Console.WriteLine($"Failed to create user: {error.Error.Message}");
            throw;
        }
    }

    private string GenerateSecurePassword()
    {
        // Implementation for generating secure password
        return "TempP@ssw0rd123!";
    }
}

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Next Steps

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