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Edit a group — name, status, settings, or delete it

3 steps 5 min Updated 4 November 2026

Everything about the group itself — its name, status, main teacher and platform settings — is on the Details tab of the group's page. People are on the Members tab; see Add a user to a group.

Before you start

  • You must be an admin with the Manage users & groups permission for the current school.
  • To delete a group you also need the Delete users & groups permission.
  • Switch to the school first. In MAT overview, selecting a group on Groups opens the older trust-level group editor instead, which doesn't have the tabs described here — switch to the group's school and open it from that school's Groups page.

Steps

Step 1: Open the group

Select Groups in the left sidebar (under Users & Groups), find the group and select its name (or anywhere else on its row). The page opens on the Details tab.

Step 2: Change the details

  • Group name — letters, numbers, dashes and underscores only, and unique within the school. If it breaks a rule you see "The name has already been taken." or "The name must only contain letters, numbers, dashes and underscores." Renaming changes the group's Google address (it is built from the name — see Group name formatting), so Google creates the group again under the new address; Realsmart doesn't delete the old Google group for you.
  • Status — Active, Protected, Suspended or Deleted. See Create a group for what each one means.
  • Main teacher — the group's lead teacher and the owner of its Google Classroom, chosen from the group's staff. Tick Lock main teacher to stop the MIS changing it. See Group membership options.
  • Preserve the group even when it has no members — Google deletes a group with nobody in it at the next sync unless this is ticked.

If Google sync is on for your school, a Google settings card also shows:

  • Sync this group to Google — when it's off, this group is not created or updated in Google Workspace.
  • Default teacher membership — the role the group's mentors get in the Google group. The options read SCHOOL_DEFAULT (use the school's default), MEMBER, OWNER and MANAGER. Admins are always owners, and learners are always members, unless you set a different role for one person on the Members tab.
  • Seven Google group options: Who can contact owner, Who can view group conversations, Who can discover group, Who can moderate members, Who can view membership, Who can post message and Who can join. Each starts at School default; pick another choice to override it for this group only. At the moment, choosing School default again doesn't clear an override you've already saved. The school-wide defaults are in Google group settings.

If Microsoft Entra sync is on, an Entra settings card shows Sync this group to Microsoft Entra — when it's off, this group is not created or updated in Entra.

Step 3: Save

Select Save changes. You see Group updated. The group is sent to Google and Entra straight away, where they're switched on — so a change usually reaches them within a few minutes. While cloud sync is paused for the school, a banner at the top of the page says Cloud sync is paused until … and the change is saved in Realsmart now and sent when sync resumes — nothing is lost.

While Lock main teacher is ticked the Main teacher box is greyed out. To change the teacher, untick the lock, select Save changes, choose the new teacher, then save again. (A save that tries to change a locked teacher is refused with "Main teacher is locked. Unlock it first to change.")

Delete a group

Select Delete group at the bottom left of the Details tab and confirm Delete this group? It will be marked deleted and re-synced. You see Group deleted. and go back to the Groups list.

  • The group is marked Deleted and everyone is taken out of it in Realsmart. The group stays in the list with a Deleted badge — use the Status filter to find it.
  • Deleting a group does not remove it from Google Workspace or Microsoft Entra. Deleted groups are skipped by the sync, so the Google or Entra group is left exactly as it was, members included. To get the Google group removed too, take everyone out first (Remove all on the Members tab) and let the next sync run — Google deletes a group with nobody in it unless Preserve the group even when it has no members is ticked — and then delete the group in Realsmart. Realsmart doesn't remove Entra groups for you; remove them in Microsoft. An empty Google group that no Realsmart group backs shows up in the Stale orphan review.
  • If the group has a Google Classroom, the classroom is no longer kept in step with the group. What happens to it is decided by your end-of-term setting — see End of term Classroom options.
  • If your MIS still sends a group with that name, the next MIS import makes it Active again. Set a group to Protected instead if you want the MIS to leave it alone.
  • A group that stays Deleted (or Suspended) for 90 days — your school's retention period — is removed from Realsmart for good by the regular clean-up (it runs on weekday evenings).
  • To delete several groups at once, use the Delete bulk action — see Bulk actions on groups.

If you don't have the Delete users & groups permission the action is refused. Ask an admin who has it.

Groups A teacher is missing from a Google Classroom (or no classroom was created for them) Groups Add a teacher to a Google Classroom — one class or many Groups Create a Google Classroom for any group (a bespoke or combined class) Groups Filter and search groups