Microsoft 365 admins can now reassign ownerless Copilot agents
Reviewed by Helen Jones
Microsoft has added agent governance controls in the Microsoft 365 admin center, including rules that find ownerless agents and transfer them to the previous owner's manager. Agents now sit as a dedicated item under Agents and Settings in the left navigation. Admins can set user access for all users, none, or selected groups, choose allowed agent types (Microsoft, own organisation, external or certified), and approve, block, or deploy agents one by one. Sharing settings, Agent Management Rules, and policy templates are also available. Built-in agents Researcher and Analyst have been separate from the general agent toggle since December 2025. Agents still inherit only the user's existing permissions and honour sensitivity labels. Metered consumption for some agents that access shared data remains off by default.
For a long time the practical choice for a small Microsoft 365 team was simple: leave agents off. You could not see who owned them, who could use them, or what happened when someone left. That matched the same caution many admins already apply to Teams sprawl and guest access. The controls change the decision from all-or-nothing to scoped pilots. Ownerless-agent reassignment is the useful part for anyone already fighting abandoned Teams and sites. The risk has not moved. Agents still only see what the user can already open, so overshared SharePoint libraries and broken inheritance become visible faster, not safer.
Analysis
Treat this as a pilot control, not a green light for the whole tenant. Open Agents and Settings, turn on the ownerless reassignment rule, restrict access to a small pilot group, block external agents by default, and leave metered agents off until you have reviewed the SharePoint and Teams permissions those users already hold.
Source note
Pulse published by Collab365 Spaces, reviewed by Helen Jones on . Cite as "Microsoft 365 admins can now reassign ownerless Copilot agents", Collab365 Spaces. 1 source referenced.