Ever had an issue where you are just got access to the client Azure DevOps instance, but for some strange reason you find that workitems are unable to populate recently used users, even after you searched for them previously? In this post, we will see what causes it and how to fix it.

What causes it?

In my case, I was added to client’s Azure AD (AAD) as a guest user. By default guest users in AAD do not have Directory Readers permissions. Hence, Azure DevOps will not be able to enumerate user list in the identity column when logged in as you.

The fix

Its simple. Go to Azure Portal and then navigate to Active Directory and select the Users. Select the user and under Assigned Roles, ensure user has Directory Readers assignment. Once you assign, give it few minutes (or log off and log back in) and you should be able to search other users in Azure DevOps organisation.

That is it, thanks for reading 🎉


About author
Utkarsh Shigihalli
Utkarsh Shigihalli
Utkarsh is passionate about software development and has experience in the areas of Azure, Azure DevOps, C# and TypeScript. Over the years he has worked as an architect, independent consultant and manager in many countries including India, United States, Netherlands and United Kingdom. He is a Microsoft MVP and has developed numerous extensions for Visual Studio, Visual Studio Code and Azure DevOps.
We Are
  • onlyutkarsh
    Utkarsh Shigihalli
    Microsoft MVP, Technologist & DevOps Coach


  • arora_tarun
    Tarun Arora
    Microsoft MVP, Author & DevOps Coach at Avanade

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