Customize Microsoft 365 Profile Cards with Division, Role & Employee Type using Entra ID

Recently, one of my customer asked a simple but interesting question:

“Can we display user division details in the Microsoft 365 profile card?”

At first glance, it might sound like a limitation because by default, profile cards only show common attributes like Job Title, Department, and Contact details. 

But the good news is:

Yes, it is absolutely possible , using Microsoft Entra ID attributes and Profile Card customization.

In this blog, I’ll walk you through:

• How profile cards work in Microsoft 365
• How attributes like Division, Role, and Employee Type can be displayed
• How to update these attributes using Microsoft Graph

Understanding Microsoft 365 Profile Cards

Microsoft 365 profile cards (People Cards) are visible across:

• Outlook
• Microsoft Teams
• Other Microsoft 365 applications

By default, they show attributes such as:

• Display Name
• Job Title
• Department
• Email / Phone
• Company
• Business Address
• Work Location

However, Microsoft allows you to extend these profile cards using custom or existing attributes from Microsoft Entra ID.

This is where attributes like:

• Division
• Employee Type
• Custom Role (extension attributes), and more (as shown in the screenshot below)

become very useful , especially in large organizations.

Enabling Attributes in Profile Cards

Microsoft provides a feature to select which optional properties are displayed in the Contact Information section of profile cards in Microsoft 365.

To configure this:
Go to admin.cloud.microsoft → Settings → Organization settings → Services → People → Person information on profile cards, and enable the required optional properties.

In my case, I’ve enabled Division, Role, and Employee Type, as shown in the screenshot below.

Note: Changes will be reflected in profile cards within 24 hours.

Updating Attributes using Microsoft Graph

Now comes the important part — how to update these attributes.

Some attributes are visible in Microsoft Entra ID user properties and can be updated directly through the GUI. However, some attributes are not available for editing in the Entra ID portal and can only be updated using Microsoft Graph API. Examples include Division, Role, Cost Center, and others.

In this example, we will update these attributes using Microsoft Graph API.

Important Considerations

Before implementing this in production, keep the following points in mind:

1. Required permissions
   1. User.ReadWrite.All
   2. PeopleSettings.ReadWrite.All
2. Source of authority
   If users are synced from on-premises Active Directory, the attributes should be updated in on-prem AD, not directly in Microsoft Entra ID.
3. Attribute mapping
   Make sure the correct attributes are mapped in the profile card configuration.
4. Propagation delay
   Changes may take time to appear across Microsoft 365 applications, usually within 24 hours or sometimes longer.

Update Division & Employee Type

You can update user attributes by using either Graph Explorer or PowerShell.

Before updating the attributes for an existing user, it is a good idea to first verify which attribute values are currently configured for that user.

As shown in the screenshots below, the Division, Role, and Cost Center fields were not appearing because no valid values were configured for those attributes. However, Employee Type was visible because it already had a value set as Permanent.

We need to note down the User Object ID to update the required attributes using Microsoft Graph API.

In this example, we will use Graph Explorer to perform the updates.
To get started, open Graph Explorer at: https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/graph-explorer

First, let’s check the user’s Division value, which was not visible in the Entra ID portal GUI.

To do this, run the following Microsoft Graph GET request:

GET https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/users/{user-id}?$select=displayName,employeeOrgData

Now, let’s update the Division.

In this example, I will update the Division for the test user to Helpdesk.

Sample Graph API call:

PATCH https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/users/{user-id}

{

  "employeeOrgData": {

    "division": "Helpdesk"

  }

}

Now, if we run the same GET request again to verify the updated details, we can see that the Division attribute has been successfully populated.

Now, if we check the user properties in the Microsoft Entra ID portal, we can see that a new value is populated under Employee Org Data, reflecting the updated Division attribute with the value we provided.

If you want to update both Division and Employee Type attributes, you can use the following PATCH request:

PATCH https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/users/{user-id}

{
"employeeOrgData": {
"division": "Helpdesk"
},
"employeeType": "Full-Time"
}

Validating User Profile Card

Now, let’s validate the updated attributes in the Profile Card.

Go to Outlook or Microsoft Teams, search for the user whose attributes were updated, and open their profile card. Under the Contact section, you should see the updated attributes displayed.

Please note that it may take up to 24 hours (or sometimes longer) for these newly added or updated attributes to appear. This delay applies to any changes made to profile card attributes.

Update Role using Extension Attribute

Now, let’s move on to updating the Role attribute using extension attributes in Microsoft Entra ID.

Currently, the Role field in the profile card does not have a direct mapping with any standard attribute. To address this, we can use extension attributes available in Entra ID (ExtensionAttribute1 to ExtensionAttribute15) and map one of them to the Role field in the profile card.

In this example, we will use ExtensionAttribute3 and map it to the Role field in the profile card.

First, let’s update ExtensionAttribute3 with a sample value.

In this example, we will set the value as Admin for the same test user.

PATCH https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/users/{user-id}

{

  "onPremisesExtensionAttributes": {

    "extensionAttribute3": "Admin"

  }

}

If you validate the changes, you will see the updated details reflected as shown in the screenshot below.

Now, let’s map CustomAttribute3 to the Role property in the profile card.

ExtensionAttribute3 in Microsoft Entra ID is the same as CustomAttribute3 in Exchange. The naming differs depending on the interface, but both refer to the same underlying attribute used to store additional user

POST https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/admin/people/profileCardProperties

{
"directoryPropertyName": "CustomAttribute3",
"annotations": [
{
"displayName": "Role"
}
]
}

After updating the Role attribute, the user’s profile card will appear as shown below.

Why This Profile Card & Attributes Matter

This small customization can significantly improve:

•  Internal collaboration
• User visibility across departments
• Organizational clarity

For example:

• Quickly identify which division a user belongs to
• Understand whether a user is a contractor or a full-time employee
• Display meaningful business roles beyond the standard job title

Final Thoughts

This is one of those features that many organizations tend to overlook — but once implemented, it delivers real business value with minimal effort.

From my experience, customers truly appreciate:

• Better visibility across the organization
• Cleaner and more structured identity data
• An improved user experience in tools like Teams and Outlook

While the Microsoft Entra ID portal (GUI) has limitations when it comes to updating certain attributes, Microsoft Graph provides the flexibility to manage them efficiently. I’ve noticed that many administrators hesitate to use Graph due to its complexity , but this is where automation and proper integration make a big difference.

By integrating with HR systems or using automated workflows, organizations can keep these attributes consistently updated with minimal administrative effort. This not only reduces manual work but also ensures data accuracy across the environment.

This is exactly where Microsoft Entra governance capabilities come into play , helping organizations maintain reliable identity data, enforce consistency, and improve overall identity hygiene.

In short, a small enhancement like profile card customization can go a long way in strengthening collaboration, clarity, and identity management across the organization.