Restoring Users

The Restore Users feature allows Site Administrators to recover users that were deleted accidentally, prematurely, or in error. Restoring a user brings the account back with its associated configuration, eliminating the need to recreate the user and manually rebuild access or credentials. Restore requests run in the background and do not interrupt other site activity, and you can track the status of a restore request after it is submitted, all through a self service process without needing to reach out to the Files.com support team.

When to Restore Users

Restore users when an account was deleted but is still required for access, ownership, or operational continuity. This commonly occurs during early off-boarding, role changes, cleanup actions, or automated processes that remove users sooner than intended. Restoring a user is helpful when recreating the account would require reassigning permissions, reconfiguring authentication, or issuing new credentials.

What Is Restored

When a user is restored, user settings and authentication methods are automatically recovered. For Site Administrators, full access is restored exactly as it existed before deletion. For non–Site Administrator users, folder access permissions and Child Site access permissions are restored only when the Restore User Permissions option is selected, and only the permissions the user had at the time the user was deleted are restored.

API keys and two-factor authentication methods are always restored. Other user settings, including protocol access, language, time zone, full name, company name, email address, notes, tags, and avatar, are also restored.

Group memberships are not restored when a user is restored and must be reassigned after the restore is complete. SFTP/SSH keys that were deleted as part of the user deletion are restored. Keys that were deleted before the user was deleted are not restored.

Creating a User Restore Request

A user restore request requires selecting a deletion date to identify which users are eligible for restoration. An optional username prefix can be provided to further narrow the request to users whose usernames start with a specific value. Selecting Restore User Permissions restores the folder and Child Site permissions that the user had at the time the user was deleted for non–Site Administrator users.

User restore requests run asynchronously in the background. Progress and status can be monitored from the Restore interface, and larger restore requests may take additional time to complete.

User Activity Logs

User activity logs are always retained, even if a user is deleted. Deleting or restoring a user does not affect log data. When a deleted user is restored, existing logs can again be filtered and viewed by username, and new activity continues to be recorded as normal.

Things to Consider

Restoring users re-enables the access they had before deletion, which can differ from current access and permission requirements. Review folder permissions, Child Site access, protocol access, API keys, group assignments, and authentication settings after restoration to confirm they align with current needs.

Restore is a recovery step within user lifecycle management, not a replacement for onboarding or off-boarding processes. If user restores are required frequently, review deletion workflows, expiration rules, and automation to reduce unintended user removals.