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Deactivate or reactivate a user

This feature is only available to organization owners and administrators.

Deactivate (ban) a user

To properly remove a user’s access to a Zulip organization, it does not suffice to change their password or deactivate their account in an external email system, since the user’s API key and bot API keys will still be active. Instead, you need to deactivate the user’s account using the Zulip administrative interface.

Note that organization administrators cannot deactivate organization owners.

  • Via the user's profile
  • Via organization settings

  1. Hover over a user's name in the right sidebar.

  2. Click on the ellipsis () to the right of their name.

  3. Click on the ellipsis () in the user's profile summary.

  4. Click Manage this user.

  5. Click the Deactivate user button at the bottom.

  6. Approve by clicking Deactivate.

  1. Go to Users.

  2. Click the Deactivate button to the right of the user account that you want to deactivate.

  3. Approve by clicking Deactivate.

The user will be logged out immediately and not be able to log back in. The user's bots will also be deactivated. Lastly, the user will be unable to create a new Zulip account in your organization using their deactivated email address.

Notify users of their deactivation

Zulip can optionally send the user an email notification that their account was deactivated.

  • Instructions for all platforms

  1. Go to Users.

  2. Click the Deactivate button to the right of the user account that you want to deactivate.

  3. Check the checkbox labeled "Notify this user by email?".

  4. Optional: Enter a custom message for the user in the provided textbox.

  5. Approve by clicking Confirm.

Here is a sample notification email:

view-of-admin

Reactivate a user

Organization administrators can reactivate a deactivated user. The reactivated user will have the same role, stream subscriptions, user group memberships, and other settings and permissions as they did prior to deactivation. They will also have the same API key and bot API keys, but the bots will be deactivated until the user manually reactivates them again.

  • Instructions for all platforms

  1. Go to Deactivated users.

  2. Click the Reactivate button to the right of the user account that you want to reactivate.

You may want to review and adjust the reactivated user's stream subscriptions.