How to create, manage and organize Groups and Social Profiles in Sprout Social?

This guide provides a comprehensive walkthrough of how to effectively create, organize, and manage your social profiles within Groups in Sprout Social. Properly structured Groups are the foundation for streamlined publishing, detailed reporting, and efficient approval workflows, especially for teams managing multiple brands or accounts.

How do I use Groups to streamline workflows and increase efficiency?

Groups can be structured by brand, client, region, social network, team, or purpose to align with your organizational needs. Benefits include:

• Targeted Publishing: Assign specific teams or regions their own Groups to focus content scheduling and reduce noise.
• Granular vs. Aggregate Reporting: Create separate Groups for high-level overviews and detailed analyses, then combine data as needed.
• Efficient Approval Workflows: Use Groups to manage approval queues, ensuring that content only passes through relevant stakeholders.

Example: A global retail brand might have a “Global Brand” Group for executive reporting, and separate Groups for “North America,” “Europe,” and “Asia” to empower regional managers with targeted publishing and access.

How do I create a new Group in Sprout?

To create a Group, you must have the Manage Permissions right. If you're setting up the Group using a new profile, you’ll also need the Manage Profiles Permission.

You can create a new Group in two ways:

From Account and Settings

1. Click your profile icon in the bottom-left corner of the screen to open the Account and settings menu.
2. Click Settings.
3. Navigate to Groups & Social Profiles.
4. Click Create a group in the top-right corner.

From the Select Group screen

1. Click the current Group name (the colored folder icon) in the top-left navigation bar.
2. Click Add New Group in the Select Group modal that opens in the top-right corner.

Once you're in the Create Group flow:

1. Enter a name for your Group.
2. Choose how to set up the Group:
   • From New Profile – Connect a new profile.
   • From Existing – Select from profiles already connected to your account.
3. Click Proceed to complete setup.
4. Follow the authentication prompts for From New Profile to link your new profile.
5. Adjust roles and user access for the new profile if needed once the Profile access modal appears (users require at least Read Only to view the Profile and Group).
6. Click Save Changes to finalize your new Group.

Note: Not all social networks are currently available when using From New Profile during Group creation. At this time, supported options include: X (Twitter), Facebook Page, LinkedIn Page, Pinterest Profile, Instagram Profile, and TikTok. This doesn't reflect all social profile types supported in Sprout overall. If the one you need isn’t listed, you can either use a temporary profile (e.g. Facebook Page) to create the Group, or switch to From Existing and select one that’s already connected. After setup, you can add your desired profile and remove the temporary one. This is a helpful workaround when certain profile types aren’t supported during initial Group setup.

How do I change a Group’s folder color and name?

You need Manage Permissions to update a Group’s settings. Once you’re in the edit modal, you can customize the color and rename a Group’s folder to help visually distinguish it.

1. Click your profile icon in the bottom-left corner of the screen to open the Account and settings menu.
2. Click Settings.
3. Navigate to Groups & Social Profiles.
4. Click on the Group name whose folder you want to edit.
5. In the Group header, click the pencil icon next to the Group name.
6. In the edit modal that appears:
   • Folder Name: Update the Group name if desired.
   • Folder Color: Select a new color from the palette.
7. Click Save to apply your changes. 

How do I assign a connected profile to an existing Group?

To assign a profile that is already connected to your Sprout account into a specific Group, you must have the Manage Permissions right.

1. Click your profile icon in the bottom-left corner of the screen to open the Account and settings menu.
2. Click Settings.
3. Navigate to Groups & Social Profiles.
4. Click on the name of the Group you want to assign profiles to.
5. Scroll down to the Available For Connection section.
6. Locate the profile you want to assign (greyed out if not yet in this Group).
7. Click the Connect profile to [Group Name] icon that appears.
8. Adjust roles and user access for the new profile once the Profile access modal appears (users require at least Read Only to view the profile under the Group).
9. Click Save Changes.
10. The profile appears under Connected Profiles for that Group.

How do I remove a profile from a Group?
To remove a profile from a Group, you must have the Manage Permissions right.

1. Click your profile icon in the bottom-left corner of the screen to open the Account and settings menu.
2. Click Settings.
3. Navigate to Groups & Social Profiles.
4. Click on the name of the Group you want to remove profiles from.
5. Locate the profile you want to remove.
6. Click the three-dot menu next to the profile.
7. Select RemoveProfile from [Group Name].

How do I move a profile from one Group to another?

Moving a profile between Groups requires the Manage Permissions right. There is currently no automatic way to move a profile. You need to manually assign it to the new Group and then remove it from the old one.

1. Click your profile icon in the bottom-left corner of the screen to open the Account and settings menu.
2. Click Settings.
3. Navigate to Groups & Social Profiles.
4. Assign the profile to the new Group by following the steps under How do I add a connected profile to an existing Group?.
5. Remove it from the original Group once it appears in the new Group by following the steps under How do I remove a profile from a Group?.

How do I delete a Group?

Deleting a Group permanently removes the Group and its settings. You must have the Manage Permissions right to delete a Group.

1. Click your profile icon in the bottom-left corner to open the Account and settings menu.
2. Click Settings.
3. Navigate to Groups & Social Profiles.
4. Click on the Group name you want to delete.
5. Click the trash icon next to the pencil icon (under the Group header).
6. Review the warnings in the Confirm Updates modal about removal of Notes, Scheduled Posts, Topics, and any profiles exclusive to this Group.
7. Click Confirm to proceed.

Profiles exclusively tied to the deleted Group will be removed from your Sprout account. Profiles that belong to multiple Groups remain connected to the other Group(s).

How do I manage User Permissions and Profile Visibility?

You must have the Manage Permissions to control access to  Groups and profiles. 

From Group & Social Profiles

1. Click your profile icon in the bottom-left corner of the screen to open the Account and settings menu.
2. Click Settings.
3. Navigate to Groups & Social Profiles.
4. Click on the name of the Group to see the list of connected profiles
5. Locate the profile you want to update visibility.
6. Click the three-dot menu next to the profile and click View Profile
7. Adjust roles and user access for the profile once the Profile access modal appears (users require at least Read Only to view the profile).
   • Note: Profile access will be updated across all groups where the profile is located and where the user has access. The name of the groups will be visible at the top of the Profile access modal.
8. Click Save Changes.

From Roles & Team Members:  Editing Individual Users

1. Click your profile icon (bottom-left) and select Account and settings > Settings.
2. Go to Team Members (or Roles & Team Members for Advanced plans).
3. (Advanced plans) Switch to the Team & Members tab.
4. Find the user you want to update and click the pencil icon next to their name.
5. Adjust Company Permissions. Read more about these permissions in the Help Center: What user permissions can I set up?
6. (Advanced plans) Move to the Profile Permission Set tab to update Group and profile access.
7. Select the Groups (under Group Access) to grant access to the user.
8. Under Profile Permissions, assign profile access for the user (users require at least Read Only access to view profiles).
9. Click Done to save changes.

From Roles & Team Members: Editing Roles (Advanced Plans Only)

1. Click your profile icon (bottom-left) and select Account and settings > Settings.
2. Go to Roles & Team Members.
3. On the Roles & permissions tab, identify the role you want to update.
4. Click the pencil icon to edit the role’s permissions.
5. Adjust Company Permissions. Read more about these permissions in the Help Center: What user permissions can I set up?
6. Select the Groups (under Group access) to grant access to the role.
7. Under Profile Permissions, assign profile access for the role (roles require at least Read Only access to view profiles).
8. Click Done to save changes.

FAQs

Why can't I see all the social profiles that my team manages?
Your visibility depends on user permissions. You can only see profiles that you’ve been granted ‘Read only’ access to the profile. To have visibility to the Group, you need to have at least one profile with this permission set. Contact your account admin for access.

Can a single social profile be in multiple Groups at the same time?
Yes, and it won’t count against your profile limit.

If I move a profile from one Group to another, what happens to its historical data?
Historical data is preserved and reports will reflect performance in the new Group.

How can pull a report for all of my company's social profiles at once instead of pulling each Group performance?
Cross-group analytics is not currently available. As a workaround, create a new Group and add all desired profiles. Reports for that Group will show aggregate performance.

I want to create a new Group for a new profile, but I don't see an option for the profile type I want to connect.  What should I do?
At this time, supported options when creating a new group are X (Twitter), Facebook Page, LinkedIn Page, Pinterest Profile, Instagram Profile, and TikTok. This doesn't reflect all social profile types supported in Sprout overall. 

If the one you need isn’t listed, you can either use a temporary profile (e.g. Facebook Page) to create the Group, or switch to ‘From Existing’ and select one that’s already connected. After setup, you can add your desired profile and remove the temporary one. This is a helpful workaround when certain profile types aren’t supported during initial Group setup at the moment.

What happens when I delete a Group? Will I lose my social profiles and their associated data?
Deleting a Group removes its folder and settings, including Listening topics if any. Profiles connected exclusively in that Group will be removed, as well as information attached to it; profiles in multiple Groups remain connected. 

How do Groups affect what I see in the Smart Inbox?
The Smart Inbox only shows messages from profiles in your currently selected Group. 

What specific permissions do I need to create and manage Groups?
You need the Manage Users permissions right to create, edit, or delete Groups. For detailed account permission information, see What user permissions can I set up?

How can I see which users have access to a specific Group?
Go to Settings > Groups & Social Profiles, select the Group name, and view the Users with access list under the Group header, hovering over the picture/name initial image. 

What happens to scheduled content if I move a profile to a new Group?
Scheduled posts will publish as planned, even after moving the profile.

Can I move multiple social profiles to a new group at once?
No. There is no bulk feature to move profiles. You must individually assign each profile to the new Group and then remove it from its original Group.

How many groups can I create in my Sprout Social account?
There is no hard limit on Groups for most accounts. However, some features work best with 2–20 Groups. On legacy accounts, a cap of 20 Groups may still apply. If you encounter this limit, please contact Sprout Social Support to request a free increase in your limit.