Deactivate or reactivate a user
Stop someone opening your workspace when they leave the team, keep their history in place, and bring them back later with one click from the Users page.
Last updated 2 min read
When someone leaves your team, deactivate them instead of sharing passwords or leaving the access open. They lose access to this workspace straight away, and everything they wrote stays where it is. You can bring them back at any time.
Before you start
- Who can do this: owners and admins.
- Plan: all plans. Seats are unlimited, so deactivating someone never changes the price.
- Who cannot be deactivated: the workspace owner, and you yourself.
- Time: a few seconds.
Step by step
- Open Settings and choose Users.
- Find the person in the list.
- Press Deactivate next to their name.
- A message confirms it, for example "Aiza deactivated". The person moves to the end of the list with a Deactivated label.
To bring someone back, press Reactivate next to their name. They return with the role they had before.
What happens next
| Deactivated user | |
|---|---|
| Opening this workspace | Not possible from their next page load or action |
| Their workspace list | This workspace disappears from it |
| Their other workspaces and own account | Not affected |
| Replies, notes and history on tickets | Stay, with their name |
| Agent lists in the inbox and in rules | They are no longer offered |
| Role menu on the Users page | Locked until they are reactivated |
The count at the top of the Users page shows active people only, for example "4 active · unlimited seats on every plan". Each change is written to the audit log as "changed a user". See View the audit log.
Tips
- Reassign the person's open tickets first, so nothing waits for someone who is gone.
- Check rules that assign tickets to a named agent, and point them at a team or round robin instead.
- If a teammate is only away for a while, mark them as unavailable instead of deactivating them. See Set agent availability.
- If you think the person still has an open browser on a shared computer, deactivation already blocks the workspace. Ask them to change their password if the account itself may be at risk.
Troubleshooting
"The owner can’t be changed or deactivated here"
The owner's role and status are fixed on the Users page. Contact support if the owner must change.
"You can’t deactivate yourself"
Ask another owner or admin to do it, so the workspace is never left without someone in charge.
"Only admins can change workspace settings"
Agents and viewers cannot change users. Ask an owner or admin.
"User not found"
The person was already removed or the page is out of date. Refresh the page and try again.
"Ownership transfer isn’t available yet"
You tried to pick Owner for someone. Make them an Admin instead.
Frequently asked questions
How do I remove someone from my Hushdesk workspace?
Open Settings, Users and press Deactivate next to their name. They can no longer open the workspace, and it disappears from their list of workspaces. Their replies, notes and history stay on every ticket. There is no separate delete button, so deactivating is how you remove a person.
Does a deactivated user still count as a seat?
No seat is counted on any plan, because every Hushdesk plan has unlimited seats. Deactivating someone does not change your bill. The Users page shows how many people are active, for example 4 active, so you can see at a glance who can still sign in to this workspace.
What happens to the tickets of a deactivated agent?
Their past replies and notes stay on the tickets with their name. They are removed from the agent lists in the inbox and in rules, so nobody can pick them as a new assignee. Look for tickets still assigned to them and reassign them to someone active.
Can a deactivated user still sign in to Hushdesk?
They can still sign in to their own account and to any other workspace they belong to. Deactivation only closes this one workspace to them. To stop all access to Hushdesk, the person's account itself has to be turned off, which is done by the Hushdesk team for security cases.
Can I deactivate the workspace owner?
No. The owner cannot be deactivated or have their role changed on the Users page, and nobody can deactivate themselves. Ownership transfer is not available in the product yet, so contact support if the owner of a workspace has to change.
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Related articles
- Roles and permissions explainedWhat owners, admins, agents and viewers can and cannot do in Hushdesk, and how to change someone's role from the Users page.
- Invite your teamAdd teammates to your Hushdesk workspace as admins, agents or viewers. Seats are unlimited on every plan and invites can be revoked at any time.
- View the audit logSee who changed what in your workspace, from users and business hours to sign-in security, exports and support access, with the time of each change.
- See and sign out signed-in devicesCheck every device and browser signed in to your account, with where and how it signed in, and sign out any you do not recognise, or all others at once.
Still stuck?
Chat with the Hushdesk team. A person answers on every plan.