Deleting Users

Deleting a user permanently removes the account and blocks all future access. This action is appropriate for final off-boarding scenarios where the account no longer has a valid purpose and restoration is not expected. Deletion provides a clear end state for access management and prevents inactive or obsolete accounts from remaining in the environment.

Site Administrators can delete users directly, and Partner Admins can delete users within their own Partner. Users can also be deleted through the API/SDKs or CLI, through identity provider–driven de-provisioning using SCIM or LDAP, or through automated User Lifecycle Rules. In all cases, login access is removed immediately.

User Lifecycle Rules provide automated control over deleting inactive or disabled accounts. These rules evaluate users based on authentication method, inactivity duration, group membership, tags, or Partner association. Lifecycle rules can first disable accounts and later delete them after a defined retention period, allowing time for review while enforcing consistent cleanup.

Manual User Deletion

Site Administrators and Partner Admins can choose to completely delete a user from the site. A re-authentication prompt will appear to confirm the deletion. When a Site Administrator deletes a user manually, they can choose what to do with resources owned by the deleted user, including Share Links, Automations, GPG Keys, Remote Servers, Custom Forms, or folder settings. The Site Administrator can either reassign these resources to another user to help maintain visibility and control, or leave them without an owner if reassignment isn’t needed.

Our Command Line Integration (CLI) App and SDKs can also be used to programmatically delete user accounts.

Automatic User Deletion

Users provisioned through LDAP or SCIM can be de-provisioned through the same LDAP or SCIM system used for provisioning.

User Lifecycle Rules enable automatic deletion of inactive users based on authentication method and inactivity duration. If a rule is configured with the delete action, eligible users will be removed, even if they were not previously disabled through other settings.

Disabled user accounts can also be automatically deleted using User Lifecycle Rules, which remove accounts that have remained disabled for a specified number of days.

User Lifecycle Rules help automatically delete user accounts that have been inactive or disabled for a specified number of days. This is useful for maintaining a well-managed user list by removing accounts that are no longer needed.

When a user is deleted automatically through any of these methods, their resources are not deleted and are not assigned to a new owner. These orphaned resources remain active and can be managed by a Site Administrator.

Effects of Deleting a User

Deleting a user account removes their login access but does not automatically delete the resources they own. If the user is deleted automatically through a User Lifecycle Rule, LDAP or SCIM provisioning, or automatic removal of disabled users, their login access is removed but their owned resources remain and are not reassigned. When deleting the user manually or through the CLI, the site administrator has the option to reassign those owned resources to another user or leave them without an owner.

Share Links

When deleting the user account, the Site Administrator can choose to revoke Share Links created by the user, assign them to another user, or orphan them. Orphaned links have no owner; they remain active and continue to be manageable by Site Administrators.

Automations, GPG Keys, Remote Servers, and Custom Forms

Site Administrators can assign Automations, GPG Keys, Remote Servers, and Custom Forms to another user or choose to orphan them while deleting the user. Orphaned resources remain functional but will no longer have an assigned owner.

Files and Folders

Deleting a user does not remove their stored files or folders. Storage usage and access remain unaffected unless folder permissions are modified.

Folder Settings and Notifications

Folder settings configured by the deleted user will remain in effect. Notifications set for the deleted user will no longer function. Folder settings can be reassigned to a new owner when deleting the user.

User Activity and Logs

User activity and settings change logs are retained even after a user is deleted. After deletion, the username continues to appear in the logs in italics to indicate that the account no longer exists, but those logs cannot be filtered by username until the user is restored.

Storage Usage

Deleting a user does not reduce your site’s storage usage. Files and folders stored in Files.com continue to count toward storage regardless of user status. User deletion affects access and ownership only and has no impact on storage consumption.

Restoring a Deleted User