Skip to main content

Term Group

A term group in SharePoint is the top level container in the Term Store and the security boundary for managed metadata. The hierarchy runs term group, then term set, then terms, and permissions are assigned at the group level: group managers and contributors control every term set inside it. Organizations typically create a term group per business area, such as HR or Finance, so each department can govern its own vocabulary without touching anyone else's terms.
Related
Term Set, Term Store

Common Use Cases

  • Departmental ownership: a group per department so HR manages HR terms while Finance manages financial ones
  • Delegated administration: term store admins hand day to day taxonomy work to group managers without granting tenant wide rights
  • Separating official from experimental: keep production taxonomies in tightly governed groups while drafts evolve in a sandbox group
  • Subsidiary or brand vocabularies: distinct groups for business units that maintain their own controlled vocabularies
  • Site specific taxonomies: site collection groups hold term sets that only one site collection needs
  • Compliance vocabularies: a closely managed group for records management and classification terms

Benefits

  • Clear ownership: every term set has an accountable owning group with named managers and contributors
  • Security where it belongs: permissions are set once at the group and apply to all term sets inside
  • Delegation without risk: contributors manage their group’s terms but cannot touch other groups or term store settings
  • Logical organization: groups keep a large term store browsable instead of one flat pile of term sets
  • Scales with the business: new business areas get new groups, keeping governance boundaries aligned with the organization
  • Local options: site collection groups let one site have private term sets without crowding the global taxonomy

Details

  • Feature Category: Metadata & Taxonomy

How It Works

  • Top of the hierarchy: the Term Store contains term groups, term groups contain term sets, and term sets contain terms
  • Created by term store admins: adding a new global term group requires term store administrator rights
  • Two roles inside: group managers oversee the group and assign contributors, while contributors create and manage the term sets within it
  • Global and site collection scope: global groups serve the whole tenant, while a site collection group is visible only to its own site collection
  • Special groups exist: SharePoint maintains system level groups, including the one that holds enterprise keywords and hashtags

Limits and Nuances

  • 1,000 global groups: the term store supports up to 1,000 global term groups per tenant
  • Permissions are group wide: a contributor can manage every term set in the group, so split unrelated taxonomies into separate groups when ownership differs
  • Empty before delete: a term group must have its term sets removed before the group itself can be deleted
  • Site collection groups stay private: term sets in a site collection group cannot be used by other site collections
  • System groups are managed by SharePoint: built in groups such as the one backing enterprise keywords are maintained by the service and are not meant for custom taxonomy

Common Questions About Term Groups

What is a term group in the SharePoint Term Store?

A term group is the top level container in the Term Store and the boundary where taxonomy permissions are set. Each group holds one or more term sets, and each term set holds the terms used for tagging. Organizations typically create one group per business area so each area can manage its own vocabulary independently of the others.

What is the difference between a group manager and a contributor?

Both roles are assigned on the term group. A group manager oversees the group and can decide who contributes to it, in addition to having full contributor abilities. A contributor can create, edit, and manage term sets and terms within the group, but cannot change who has access. Term store administrators sit above both roles and manage the entire store.

Who can create a new term group?

Creating a global term group requires term store administrator rights, which keeps the top level of the taxonomy under deliberate control. Once a group exists, its managers and contributors handle the term sets inside it. Site collection term groups serve a single site collection, giving one site a private space for local term sets without touching the global structure.

How many term groups can a tenant have?

The term store supports up to 1,000 global term groups and 1,000 global term sets per tenant, with up to 1 million total terms across the store. In practice, most organizations need only a handful of groups aligned to business areas. The limits exist for service performance and leave plenty of headroom for even large enterprise taxonomies.

When should I create a new term group instead of adding to an existing one?

Create a new group whenever ownership or security needs differ, because permissions apply to everything inside a group. If the same people should manage two vocabularies, one group with two term sets is fine. If different departments own them, separate groups keep each team limited to its own terms and prevent accidental edits across business areas.

Who can set up a Term Store structure for my organization?

Term groups are easy to create but hard to get right without a plan for ownership, governance, and growth. Greg Zelfond, the SharePoint consultant behind LookBook 365, structures Term Stores for organizations of every size, building the groups, term sets, and managed metadata columns entirely out of the box so internal teams can maintain them confidently.