How to rename SharePoint 2013 group using browser and PowerShell?

Introduction:
In this article we will discuss how we can rename a SharePoint 2013 group name using the browser and SharePoint PowerShell. This works for SharePoint 2913 and SharePoint 2016.

Requirement:
On a site, a site owner wants to rename the “Approver” group name to “HR Approver” as it makes more sense to him.

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To rename a SharePoint 2013/2010 user group follow below step:

1. Click on Site Settings gear >> Site permissions >> double click Approvers group.

2. Click on “Group Settings” from Settings Menu.

3. Replace Approvers with the HR Approvers name for your SharePoint permission group.

4. Click on OK to save your changes.

Pretty straightforward, isn’t it?

Rename SharePoint group using PowerShell:

Renaming SharePoint groups can be achieved using PowerShell too. Here is my PowerShell script to rename a group in SharePoint 2013.

Add-PSSnapin Microsoft.SharePoint.PowerShell -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

#Variables

$SiteURL = “Site url”

$GroupName = “Approvers ”

$GroupNewName =”HR Approvers”

#Get site and Group objects

$Site = Get-SPSite $SiteURL

$Group = $Site.RootWeb.SiteGroups[$GroupName]

if($Group -ne $null)

{

#sharepoint rename permission group

$Group.name = $GroupNewName

#Update the group

$Group.Update()

Write-host “Group Name has been updated!”

}

#dispose site object

$site.Dispose()

Note:
The target audience cannot resolve SharePoint group name when renamed.

For example,
There seems to be an issue whenever you try to set certain audiences for Navigation Links (/_layouts/areanavigationsettings.aspx) – The selected SharePoint Groups are automatically removed from audiences when renamed.