Get-ADGroup -Filter Example

Get-ADGroup Filter Syntax

The PowerShell command Get-ADGroup is part of the Active Directory PowerShell module. Go to this article if you want to know how to install it.

To search effectively for groups in your Active Directory, you should use the Filter switch. Don’t extract all groups and then search the result set.

Use Get-ADGroup -Filter to search directly for improved performance.

Understand the Get-ADGroup Filter Parameter

With the many various filtering options available (LDAP filtering, oData v3.0 filtering, etc.), the filter switch often causes some confusion.

The filter switch used in the Get-ADGroup command uses the PowerShell expression language in the query string.

For example, this is different than, e.g., when using the Get-AzureADGroup command (which uses oData v3.0 filtering)!

The following operators should cover most of your needs:

OperatorMeaningSample expression
-eqEqual toName -eq “G.U.Marketing”
-neNot equal toGroupType -ne “-2147483640”
-gtGreater thanModified -gt “01-06-2021”
-geGreater than or equalCreated -ge “01-01-2018”
-ltLess thanModified -lt “01-02-2021”
-leLess than or equalCreated -le “01-01-2018”
-likeWildcard searchextensionAttribute1 -like “*”
-notlikeWildcard search with negationName -notlike “Exchange*”
-andAndName -like “G.U.*” -and Name -like “*legal*”
-orOrName -like “*marketing*” -or Name -like “*legal*”

Please notice the following in the above examples:

  • Enclose the compared value(s) in apostrophes
  • Use -like ‘*’ and -notlike ‘*’ to find empty or non-empty values

Below you have some code snippets that should point you in the right direction on how to structure your filters for your Get-ADGroup search queries:

Get-ADGroup -Filter 'Name -eq "G.U.Marketing"'
Get-ADGroup -Filter 'GroupType -ne "-2147483640"'
Get-ADGroup -Filter 'Modified -gt "01-06-2021"'
Get-ADGroup -Filter 'Created -ge "01-01-2018"'
Get-ADGroup -Filter 'Modified -lt "01-02-2021"'
Get-ADGroup -Filter 'Created -le "01-01-2018"'
Get-ADGroup -Filter 'extensionAttribute1 -like "*"'
Get-ADGroup -Filter 'Name -notlike "Exchange*"'
Get-ADGroup -Filter 'Name -like "G.U.*" -and Name -like "*legal*"'
Get-ADGroup -Filter 'Name -like "*marketing*" -or Name -like "*legal*"'

How to Manage Office 365 from Active Directory

Easy365Manager is a snap-in to AD Users & Computers that allows you to manage Office 365 mailboxes and licenses as part of your standard AD management.

With Easy365Manager, you can perform all daily Office 365 management tasks directly from AD user properties. Even complex tasks like calendar delegation, which is usually only possible via PowerShell:

Easy365Manager extends user properties with two new tabs, so you no longer have to switch between multiple web consoles to perform daily management:

Easy365Manager Office 365 user properties
User properties, "Office 365" tab
Exchange Online Mailbox properties in AD Users & Computers
User properties, "Mailbox tab"

With Easy365Manager, you can perform all daily tasks from AD Users & Computers:

  • Assign Office 365 licenses
  • Manage shared mailbox delegation
  • Configure calendar permissions
  • Configure proxyAddresses (with format and uniqueness check)
  • Replicate Azure AD Connect

And a lot more. See the complete feature list here

Additionally, Easy365Manager lets you remove your on-premises Exchange Server. This will give you 100% protection from future zero-day exploits targeting Exchange Server.

Try the fully functional 30-day trial now. It only takes a few minutes to install, has zero learning curve, and we guarantee you’ll be saving hours of work before the end of the week!