License History

Purpose

The License History report helps you understand how Microsoft licenses are used over time, not just how many you have right now.

It is designed to answer simple but important questions:

• When are licenses actually assigned?

• Do license needs change during the year?

• Can we plan license purchases better?

By showing license usage month by month, the report supports better planning, cost control, and transparency.

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What you can use it for

• Plan license purchases

  • See which licenses are always needed and which are temporary

  • Decide how many licenses should be yearly vs monthly

• Identify seasonal patterns

  • Lower usage during summer vacation or end-of-year

  • Temporary increases during projects or onboarding periods

• Track project licenses

  • Confirm that licenses bought for a project are assigned when expected

  • Detect licenses that were never used or assigned to someone else

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How to use the report

1. Select the license you want to analyze

Use the License Selector to choose one or more licenses (for example Microsoft 365, Copilot, or Entra ID).

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2. Review the trend over time

The chart shows how many licenses are:

• Assigned

• Unassigned

• Suspended

Use this to quickly see:

• Growth or decline in usage

• Monthly fluctuations

• Stable vs changing demand

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3. See who had a license and when

The table shows license assignment per user, per month.

This helps you understand:

• When a user received a license

• How long it stayed assigned

• How many users had the license in each month

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4. Group by department or other properties (optional)

Use the Breakdown filter to group data by:

• Department

• Company

• Country

• Other organizational fields

This makes it easier to see where licenses are used and how usage evolves.

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How this helps you plan better

A simple planning approach:

• Licenses used all year → good candidates for yearly subscriptions

• Licenses used only in certain months → better suited for monthly subscriptions

The report shows this clearly, using your own historical data.

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Key takeaway

The License History report turns license management from a snapshot into a clear timeline.

It helps you:

• Understand real usage

• Avoid over-buying

• Plan licenses with confidence