How to check Azure AD B2B Invitation Status for Users using PowerShell

In this blog post, we’ll walk through a practical PowerShell script that helps you check the invitation state of multiple B2B (Business-to-Business) guest users in Azure Active Directory (Azure AD). You’ll also learn how to export this information into a structured .CSV file for further analysis. This method is particularly useful for IT administrators managing external user access.

Prerequisites

Before running the script, ensure the following:

– AzureAD PowerShell module is installed.

– You have appropriate permissions to query user data from Azure AD.

– The input file (users.csv) is available with a column named ‘UserPrincipalName’.

Script Overview

Here’s the full PowerShell script:

# Import the AzureAD module
Import-Module AzureAD

# Connect to Azure AD (authenticate as necessary)
Connect-AzureAD

# Specify the input CSV file and output CSV file
$inputFile = "C:\path\to\users.csv"     # Import File
$outputFile = "C:\path\to\output.csv"   # Export File

# Read the input file
$users = Import-Csv -Path $inputFile

# Initialize an array to store results
$results = @()

# Process each user
foreach ($user in $users) {
    $userEmail = $user.UserPrincipalName    # Edit Here
    $userData = Get-AzureADUser -Filter "UserPrincipalName eq '$userEmail'" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

    if ($userData) {
        $externalUserState = $userData.ExternalUserState
        $results += [PSCustomObject]@{
            UserPrincipalName = $userEmail
            ExternalUserState = $externalUserState
        }
    } else {
        $results += [PSCustomObject]@{
            UserPrincipalName = $userEmail
            ExternalUserState = "User not found"
        }
    }
}

# Export the results to a CSV file
$results | Export-Csv -Path $outputFile -NoTypeInformation

Line-by-Line Explanation

Import-Module AzureAD: Loads the AzureAD module, which provides cmdlets to manage Azure Active Directory.

Connect-AzureAD: Prompts you to sign in to Azure AD. This is required to query user data.

$inputFile = …: Defines the path to your input CSV file that contains user emails.

$outputFile = …: Defines where the result will be saved.

Import-Csv -Path $inputFile: Reads all user email addresses from the CSV file into the $users variable.

$results = @(): Initializes an empty array to collect the output for each user.

foreach ($user in $users): Loops through each row (user) in the input CSV.

$userEmail = $user.UserPrincipalName: Stores the email address of the current user in the loop.

Get-AzureADUser -Filter …: Tries to find the user in Azure AD using their email. If not found, it skips silently.

$userData.ExternalUserState: Captures the invitation state, e.g., ‘PendingAcceptance’ or ‘Accepted’.

Export-Csv …: Exports the final results to a CSV file for further review or reporting.

Output Example

The exported CSV file will look like this:

UserPrincipalName,ExternalUserState
john.doe@external.com,Accepted
jane.smith@external.com,PendingAcceptance
bob.jones@external.com,User not found

Summary and Use Cases

This PowerShell script is a great tool for managing external user access in Azure AD. It helps IT admins:

– Monitor guest user invitation statuses

– Identify users who haven’t accepted invites

– Ensure compliance and proper access control

You can schedule this script to run regularly and track invitation statuses over time.