SharePoint Online: Delete User from User Information List

Problem: Deleted user accounts still appear in SharePoint Online People Picker! We need to remove the user from the user information list!

Root Cause: When a SharePoint Online user browses a site, SharePoint creates an entry in the “User Information List” to cache the user information. SharePoint syncs this list from the user profile when the user create/edit/update/delete items. When the user is deleted in Office 365 Azure AD, their related entry in the UserInfo list is not removed.

How to Delete User from User Information List in SharePoint Online?

In SharePoint Online, the user information list is a central repository that stores information about all users that have accessed the site. This is a hidden list used to track user activity and to provide additional information about users, such as their name, email address, and other profile information. However, there may be times when you need to remove a user from the user information list, such as when a user has left the organization or when there is inaccurate or outdated information. In this article, we will discuss how to remove a user from the user information list in SharePoint Online.

To remove a user from the user information list, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to the URL in the browser to: https://YourDomain.sharepoint.com/_layouts/15/people.aspx?membershipGroupId=0
2. This takes you to the “All People” View. Now you can select and remove users from this User Information List by Clicking on Actions >> Delete User from Site Collection, and then confirm the prompt.

   

This deletes the user from the user information list in SharePoint Online. We can also remove users from the user information list in SharePoint Online using PowerShell.

SharePoint Online: PowerShell to Remove User from User Information List

Let’s use PowerShell to remove the user(s) from the user information list in SharePoint Online.

#Import SharePoint Online module
Import-Module Microsoft.Online.SharePoint.Powershell -DisableNameChecking

Function Delete-SPOUser()
{
param
    (
        [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)] [string] $AdminCenterURL,
        [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)] [string] $SiteURL,
        [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)] [string] $UserID       
    )
    Try {
        #Get Credentials to connect
        $Cred = Get-Credential
    
        #Connect to SharePoint Online
        Connect-SPOService -Url $AdminCenterURL -Credential $Cred
 
        #Remove user from user information list
        Remove-SPOUser -Site $SiteURL -LoginName $UserID
        Write-host -f Green "Removed the User '$UserID' from $SiteURL"
    }
    Catch {
    write-host -f Red "Error Deleting Orphan Users!" $_.Exception.Message
    }
}

#Set Variables
$AdminCenterURL="https://crescent-admin.sharepoint.com/"
$SiteURL="https://crescent.sharepoint.com/"
$UserID="chauhan.ajay_synechron.com#EXT#@crescent.onmicrosoft.com"

#Call the function to delete the user from user information list
Delete-SPOUser -AdminCenterURL $AdminCenterURL -SiteURL $SiteURL -UserID $UserID

The user should now be removed from the user information list in SharePoint Online. Since the people picker caches search results, you may have to close your current browser sessions to clear the cache and cookies for the changes to reflect.

Wrapping up

By following the steps outlined above, you can easily remove a user from the user information list in SharePoint Online. By removing a user from the user information list in SharePoint Online, you can ensure that the site user list is accurate and up-to-date, and that it is not cluttered with outdated or unnecessary information. It is important to note that removing a user from the user information list may have an impact on other areas of SharePoint, such as audit logs and workflow history. If you need to preserve this information, it is recommended that you disable or delete the user’s account instead of removing them from the user information list.

Here is another post to get all orphan users in SharePoint Online and delete them: SharePoint Online: Find and Delete Orphaned Users using PowerShell