--- title: Priority Accounts in Microsoft 365: Guarding the People... description: Tagging users as priority accounts in Microsoft 365 makes security and mail-health features treat them differently from everyone else. You can tag up to 250... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/priority-accounts-in-microsoft-365-guarding-the-people-attackers-want-most-w5rmwypix twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Priority Accounts in Microsoft 365: Guarding the People Attackers Want Most | daily.dev og:description: Tagging users as priority accounts in Microsoft 365 makes security and mail-health features treat them differently from everyone else. You can tag up to 250... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/priority-accounts-in-microsoft-365-guarding-the-people-attackers-want-most-w5rmwypix og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/W5RMwyPix.png og:image:alt: Priority Accounts in Microsoft 365: Guarding the People Attackers Want Most og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Priority Accounts in Microsoft 365: Guarding the People Attackers Want Most **[C\# Corner](https://daily.dev/sources/csharpcorner)** · 8 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Tagging users as priority accounts in Microsoft 365 makes security and mail-health features treat them differently from everyone else. You can tag up to 250 users or groups, covering executives, their delegates, and privileged technical accounts. The tag unlocks five capabilities, including Defender for Office 365 reporting, priority account protection, Exchange mailbox health monitoring, Premium Mail Flow Monitoring, and priority Copilot Chat feedback, each with its own license requirement. Exchange monitoring features need 5,000+ qualifying licenses and 50+ monthly active users. Tagging can be done via the admin center, Defender portal, or PowerShell commands like 'Set-User -VIP $true', and changes take up to eight hours to apply. Microsoft also recommends enforcing MFA, disabling legacy authentication, and applying the Strict preset security policy for tagged accounts. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How many users can I tag as priority accounts in Microsoft 365? You can tag up to 250 users or groups as priority accounts in Microsoft 365. The tagging interface shows a counter indicating how many of the 250 slots are in use. Microsoft recommends against tagging everyone in the organization, since the extra detection tuning and monitoring only provide value for a small, distinctive group like executives and privileged technical accounts. _daily.dev keeps admins tuning Microsoft 365 security policies current on tagging limits and best practices._ ### What license do I need for priority account protection in Defender for Office 365? Priority account protection itself requires Defender for Office 365 Plan 2, which comes with Office 365 E5, Microsoft 365 E5, Microsoft 365 E5 Security, or through the Microsoft Defender Suite add-on for Business Premium. Plan 1 or Plan 2 only gives you the tag as a filter in alerts and reports, not the protection heuristics. A 90-day Plan 2 trial is available in the Defender portal trials hub. _Admins weighing Defender licensing tiers can track these distinctions on daily.dev before committing budget._ ### How do I tag a user as a priority account using PowerShell in Exchange Online? Run 'Set-User -VIP $true -Identity user@contoso.com -Confirm:$false' in Exchange Online PowerShell to tag a user as a priority account. Use 'Get-User -IsVIP | Select-Object Identity' to list current priority accounts, and set '-VIP $false' to remove the tag. Changes can take up to eight hours to fully apply across the tenant. _Scripting tenant security changes? Developers track Exchange Online PowerShell syntax like this on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Microsoft 365 Hardening and Huntress Managed ISPM](https://daily.dev/posts/microsoft-365-hardening-and-huntress-managed-ispm-dxym6pmjr) · Huntress Blog · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Hackers target Microsoft 365 accounts with 81 million login attempts](https://daily.dev/posts/hackers-target-microsoft-365-accounts-with-81-million-login-attempts-tnrut3eab) · BleepingComputer · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Enterprise-grade user account protection: Protecting local user accounts for compliance and operational continuity](https://daily.dev/posts/enterprise-grade-user-account-protection-protecting-local-user-accounts-for-compliance-and-operatio-pecp1uypw) · Dynatrace · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Microsoft 365 users fall victim to one-in-a-million password spray attack](https://daily.dev/posts/microsoft-365-users-fall-victim-to-one-in-a-million-password-spray-attack-rzc1b0v9d) · CSO Online · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#security](https://daily.dev/tags/security), [#microsoft](https://daily.dev/tags/microsoft), [#authentication](https://daily.dev/tags/authentication), [#phishing](https://daily.dev/tags/phishing) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/priority-accounts-in-microsoft-365-guarding-the-people-attackers-want-most-w5rmwypix) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Priority Accounts in Microsoft 365: Guarding the People Attackers Want Most","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/priority-accounts-in-microsoft-365-guarding-the-people-attackers-want-most-w5rmwypix","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/priority-accounts-in-microsoft-365-guarding-the-people-attackers-want-most-w5rmwypix"},"datePublished":"2026-10-26T10:24:24.307Z","dateModified":"2026-10-26T10:35:32.760Z","description":"Tagging users as priority accounts in Microsoft 365 makes security and mail-health features treat them differently from everyone else. 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The tagging interface shows a counter indicating how many of the 250 slots are in use. Microsoft recommends against tagging everyone in the organization, since the extra detection tuning and monitoring only provide value for a small, distinctive group like executives and privileged technical accounts. daily.dev keeps admins tuning Microsoft 365 security policies current on tagging limits and best practices."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"What license do I need for priority account protection in Defender for Office 365?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Priority account protection itself requires Defender for Office 365 Plan 2, which comes with Office 365 E5, Microsoft 365 E5, Microsoft 365 E5 Security, or through the Microsoft Defender Suite add-on for Business Premium. Plan 1 or Plan 2 only gives you the tag as a filter in alerts and reports, not the protection heuristics. A 90-day Plan 2 trial is available in the Defender portal trials hub. Admins weighing Defender licensing tiers can track these distinctions on daily.dev before committing budget."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"How do I tag a user as a priority account using PowerShell in Exchange Online?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Run 'Set-User -VIP $true -Identity user@contoso.com -Confirm:$false' in Exchange Online PowerShell to tag a user as a priority account. Use 'Get-User -IsVIP | Select-Object Identity' to list current priority accounts, and set '-VIP $false' to remove the tag. Changes can take up to eight hours to fully apply across the tenant. Scripting tenant security changes? Developers track Exchange Online PowerShell syntax like this on daily.dev."}}]} ```