---
title: "Explore licenses"
slug: "explore-licenses-in-tenant-manager"
updated: 2026-11-02T06:53:54Z
published: 2026-11-02T06:53:54Z
canonical: "docs.turbo360.com/explore-licenses-in-tenant-manager"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.turbo360.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Explore licenses

## Overview

The **Licenses** tab in Explore shows the seat position of every license type in a tenant: how many seats are purchased, assigned, and unassigned, the status of each license, its renewal date, and its price. You can open a record for one license to see who holds it and which Microsoft Entra ID groups assign it, request changes, and give the license a friendly name.

### Business value

You can spot licenses you pay for but don't use, subscriptions that are about to renew or have expired, and seats that sit unassigned. Each license opens into its holders, so you can act on the cause.

## Prerequisites

Before you use the tab, connect the tenant and let it finish its first sync. See [Connect a Microsoft 365 tenant](https://docs.turbo360.com/docs/connect-a-microsoft-365-tenant).

### Required permissions

You need **Read** on Explore to view licenses and open records. You need **Manage** on Explore to request changes from a record. To rename a license, you need **Manage tenants**. If you have more than one grant, the grant nearest to the tenant decides. Owners and Contributors always can rename a license. The **Owner** and **Contributor** roles have all three. The **Reader** role has **Read** only. For details, see [Roles and permissions in Tenant Manager](https://docs.turbo360.com/docs/tenant-manager-roles-and-permissions).

### Dependencies

- **Last sync:** the list shows what the last sync read from Microsoft. It isn't live.
- **Organization.Read.All:** this Microsoft Graph permission lets Tenant Manager read renewal dates. Without it, **Renews** shows NA.
- **Seat prices:** the unit price comes from the tenant's Microsoft Customer Agreement (MCA) billing account, or from a custom price in the [Global price catalog](https://docs.turbo360.com/docs/global-price-catalog-in-tenant-manager). A dash means that no price is known. It doesn't mean the license costs nothing.

The grid features that this tab shares with the other Explore tabs, such as filters, columns, and the Excel download, work as described in [Explore users](https://docs.turbo360.com/docs/explore-users-in-tenant-manager).

## How it works

Select the tenant in the tree view, expand **License management**, select **Explore**, and then select the **Licenses** tab. Explore is available for a tenant only.

### Tiles, filters, and columns

Four tiles sit above the grid.

| Tile | What it shows |
| --- | --- |
| License types | The number of license types, split into paid, trial, and expired. |
| Seats | All purchased seats, trial included. The note gives the trial seats, which often carry placeholder counts. Hover for paid seats alone. |
| Seats assigned | The seats that are assigned to people or Microsoft Entra ID groups. |
| Monthly cost | The purchased seats multiplied by the price, for paid licenses that have a price. The note shows how many paid licenses are priced. |

The filter pills cut the list.

| Filter | Licenses it lists |
| --- | --- |
| All types | Every license type. |
| Active | Licenses in the Active or Grace period status. |
| Expired | Licenses that are no longer live. |
| Locked out | Licenses that Microsoft locked out. |
| Paid | Licenses you pay for. |
| Trial | Licenses that Microsoft gives at no cost per seat, such as trials and self-service sign-ups. |
| Overbought | Licenses with more seats purchased than assigned. |
| Fully used | Licenses with every seat assigned. |
| Unassigned | Paid licenses with seats that nobody holds, sorted by unassigned seats with the largest first. Trial licenses are left out. |

The **Status** column shows Active, Grace period, Suspended, Locked out, or Deleted.

The grid shows these columns by default. You can show or hide them in **Column options**.

| Column | What it shows |
| --- | --- |
| License | The license name. This column is always shown. |
| Type | Paid, or Trial. |
| Status | The status of the license. |
| Renews | The next renewal or expiry date of the purchases for the license. Needs Organization.Read.All. |
| Purchased, Assigned, Unassigned seats | The seat counts. |
| Utilization | The share of seats in use. |

The columns that are hidden by default are **Tenant**, **SKU**, **Unit price**, **Assigned cost**, **Purchased cost**, **Warning seats**, **Suspended seats**, and **Capability status**. **SKU** is Microsoft's code for the product.

### Friendly names

A license shows the name that Microsoft gives it. You can set your own name for it in this tenant. A renamed license shows a tag icon, and hovering over it shows the **Friendly name**, the **Microsoft name**, and the **SKU**. The sync never overwrites your name, and **Reset** puts the Microsoft name back. Hovering over the reset icon shows "Reset to the Microsoft name: {name}". Renaming changes the name everywhere in Tenant Manager for that tenant. Each rename and reset is written to the activity log as "Renamed - License - {Microsoft name}" or "Reset - License - {Microsoft name}". The details show the License, the Microsoft name, the Friendly name, and the Path, and the **Changes** view shows the old and new name.

### License record

Selecting a row opens the record of that license.

| Tab | What it shows |
| --- | --- |
| Summary | Tiles for purchased seats, cost per month, holders (direct and through Microsoft Entra ID groups), and the assigned share. Facts such as price source, unit price, SKU part number, capability status, and last synced. Renewal dates, and notices when disabled accounts still hold the license or when Microsoft reports the subscription in a state that stops people using it. |
| Users | The people who hold the license. |
| Groups | The Microsoft Entra ID groups that assign the license. |
| AI agents | **Explain this license** describes what the license is and how it is used. It needs the AI agents switch to be on for the account and the **Use AI agents** permission in your role. On private hosting, it also needs an OpenAI connection. |

Use **‹** and **›** to step through the licenses in the order of the grid. Names of users and Microsoft Entra ID groups inside a record are links. Selecting one opens that record on top of the current one, and closing it returns you to the license.

## Steps

The steps below cover the common tasks on the **Licenses** tab. You start in Explore for the tenant, with the **Licenses** tab open.

### Find unused seats

This procedure lists paid licenses with seats that nobody holds.

1. Select the **Unassigned** filter pill.
2. Review the list. The note above the grid gives the total of unassigned seats.
3. Select a license to open its record.

You can also download the list. Select **Download as Excel** to save "Tenant Manager - Licenses.xlsx".

### Explain a license

This procedure shows an explanation in plain words of what a license is for, what it includes, and who holds it in this tenant.

1. Select the row of the license to open its record.
2. Select the **AI agents** tab.
3. On the **Explain this license** card, select **Generate**.

The explanation appears section by section. It covers what the product is and who it is for, what it includes, who holds it in this tenant, and anything worth a second look. It is based on the last sync, so it isn't live. A note under it says that the text is AI-generated and that you should review it before you act on it. If an explanation takes longer than five minutes, Tenant Manager stops it and shows "The explanation took longer than five minutes and was stopped."

Tenant Manager doesn't store the explanation. If you open the same license again in the same browser session, the explanation you already generated is shown. If the **AI agents** tab isn't shown, see [Access and permission issues](https://docs.turbo360.com/docs/access-and-permission-issues-in-tenant-manager).

### Rename a license

This procedure gives a license a name that is easier to recognize in this tenant.

1. In the **License** column, select the pencil icon next to the license name.
2. Enter the friendly name, and select **Save**. You can also press Enter to save, or press Escape or select **Cancel** to close the editor without saving.
3. Read the confirmation, and select **Continue**.

### Reset a license name

This procedure puts the Microsoft name back.

1. Select the reset icon next to the renamed license.
2. Read the confirmation, and select **Continue**.

### Request a change for a license

This procedure creates a task in Optimization for an approver to decide. Nothing changes in Microsoft 365 until the task is approved.

1. Open the record of the license.
2. Select **Actions**.
3. Choose a request: **Request to assign to user**, **Request to assign to group**, **Request to remove from users**, or **Request to remove from groups**.
4. Choose the users or Microsoft Entra ID groups in the dialog, read the confirmation, and select **Send request**.

To remove the license from several users or Microsoft Entra ID groups in one request, tick the rows on the **Users** or **Groups** tab, and then choose **Request to remove from users** or **Request to remove from groups**. Each row also has its own remove button. If an excluded user is among the rows you picked, Tenant Manager skips that user and sends the request for the rest.

You can remove a license only from direct assignments. The request appears in **Optimization** > **Tasks** with the status **Awaiting approval**.

## Permission behavior

What you can do depends on your role.

- Without **Read** on Explore, the page shows "You do not have access to this page".
- Without **Manage** on Explore, the request actions are disabled. Hover over one to see "You are not authorized to perform this operation".
- The pencil icon is shown only when the grant nearest to the tenant includes **Manage tenants**.
- Without the **Use AI agents** permission, or when AI agents are switched off for the account, the **AI agents** tab isn't shown. It is hidden, not disabled.
- You can't change seat counts or prices here. Prices are set in the Global price catalog.

## Example scenario

Marcus Bell is a module owner at Woodgrove Bank, and a license renewal is coming up. He opens Explore for the tenant Woodgrove Retail, selects the **Licenses** tab, and picks **Unassigned**. The grid lists paid licenses with seats that nobody holds.

He sees that the **Renews** date of one license is 20 days away. He opens its record, reads the number of unassigned seats, and uses that number to decide how many seats to renew. He also renames a license with a long Microsoft name to a name his team recognizes.

## Limitations

- Explore is available for a tenant, not for a tenant group.
- You can't change seat counts, subscriptions, or prices from this tab.
- A friendly name applies to one tenant. The same license in another tenant keeps its own name.
- The list shows the last sync. It isn't live.
- An explanation reflects the last sync, and you can't regenerate, save, or share it.

## Troubleshooting

1. **Renews shows NA.** Cause: the connection doesn't have the Organization.Read.All permission, or the tenant hasn't synced since it was granted. Fix: grant the permission with admin consent on the app registration, and then sync the tenant.
2. **Unit price shows a dash.** Cause: no price is known for the license. Fix: ask the Turbo360 account owner or a module owner to set a custom price in the Global price catalog, or connect an MCA billing account.
3. **The pencil icon for renaming isn't shown.** Cause: the grant nearest to this tenant doesn't include **Manage tenants**. Fix: ask an administrator who can manage Tenant Manager access, such as a module owner, to grant the permission.
4. **Renaming or opening a license says that it is no longer in the tenant.** Cause: a later sync removed the license because Microsoft no longer reports it. Fix: reload the page.
5. **The tab shows "No licenses synced yet".** Cause: the tenant hasn't completed a sync. Fix: sync the tenant. Syncing needs the **Manage tenants** permission.

## FAQs

1. **Why are trial licenses left out of cost figures?** Microsoft gives trial licenses at no cost, whatever you purchased. They can't be given a price, so they aren't counted in cost.
2. **Does a friendly name change anything in Microsoft 365?** No. The name applies only in Tenant Manager for that tenant, and the sync keeps it.
3. **Can I buy or cancel seats from this tab?** No. Tenant Manager can't change how many seats you purchased. Reduce or renew a subscription in the Microsoft 365 admin center.

## Related articles

- [Explore users](https://docs.turbo360.com/docs/explore-users-in-tenant-manager)
- [Explore groups](https://docs.turbo360.com/docs/explore-groups-in-tenant-manager)
- [Tenant overview](https://docs.turbo360.com/docs/tenant-overview-in-tenant-manager)
- [Recommendations and savings](https://docs.turbo360.com/docs/recommendations-and-savings)
- [Syncing a Microsoft 365 tenant](https://docs.turbo360.com/docs/syncing-a-microsoft-365-tenant)
- [Roles and permissions in Tenant Manager](https://docs.turbo360.com/docs/tenant-manager-roles-and-permissions)
- [License tasks](https://docs.turbo360.com/docs/license-tasks-in-tenant-manager)