The absence of a structured user de-provisioning procedure in Google Workspace poses significant risks to security, compliance, and operational efficiency. When organizations fail to properly offboard users, particularly those who leave or change roles, sensitive data and systems can be left exposed, creating entry points for various threats.
Without an effective de-provisioning process, former employees may retain access to confidential documents, shared drives, and even administrative settings, risking unauthorized access and potential data breaches. This can lead to accidental or malicious data leakage, particularly if ex-employees still have active access to sensitive information or company assets. Additionally, orphaned accounts can be vulnerable to attacks, as they often lack active monitoring, making them prime targets for hackers looking to exploit dormant credentials.
Compliance is another primary concern. Many regulatory frameworks require strict access control policies, including the immediate termination of access for users who no longer need it. Failing to meet these requirements can result in significant fines, penalties, and reputational damage.
Operationally, maintaining unmonitored or unnecessary accounts can lead to increased licensing costs, inefficient user management, and potential confusion in workflows. Implementing a deprovisioning process helps keep the Workspace environment streamlined and secure.
The steps need to be taken to remove the account depending on the identity provider used in your organization. Google Workspace has its built-in identity management functionality (users created via Google Admin Console) and also supports the usage of third-party providers, such as Active Directory, Microsoft Entra ID, and others.
To remove a user account in Google Workspace, follow these steps to ensure the account is fully deprovisioned and that any critical data is preserved or transferred as needed:
1. Go to the Google Admin Console.
2. On the left side, navigate to Directory>Users.
This screenshot illustrates the process of removing a user account in Google Workspace through the Google Admin Console, selecting directory and user options.
3. Select the user account you want to delete. Go to More Options > Delete selected users.
This step involves choosing the user account to be deleted in Google Workspace. To complete the account removal process, go to More Options and select Delete selected users.
4. Delete User wizard opens. Perform the necessary actions to preserve the data:
a. In the Data in Gmail section, review the options to transfer the mailbox data and to keep the address active. The feature could be useful if the mailbox owner communicated with clients/partners via email, and some important information can still be sent there.
This screenshot illustrates the delete user wizard in Google Workspace, highlighting options to transfer mailbox data and keep the email address active for continued communication.
b. In the Data in other apps section, section, configure the transport of information from Drive, Calendar, and Looker Studio. Use the search field to select the target user account, which will receive the selected information.
It displays the process of configuring data transfer in Google Workspace's Delete User wizard and shows how to move information from Drive, Calendar, and Looker Studio by selecting a target user account using the search field.
c. Press Delete User.
4. Press Done on the confirmation window.
This screenshot displays the final confirmation screen in Google Workspace, confirming that the user has been successfully deleted.
In case you need to perform bulk removal, you should enable checkboxes in front of all necessary accounts in step 3. In this case, if you want to transfer data to another account, ensure that the target user has enough Drive space to receive information from all removed users.
This image shows bulk user removal steps, emphasizing checkbox selection and ensuring the target account has enough Drive space for data transfer.
For organizations that manage numerous applications beyond Google Workspace, a third-party identity provider, such as Microsoft Active Directory (AD) or Microsoft Entra ID, enables centralized identity management, simplifying user provisioning, deprovisioning, and role-based access across all systems. This centralized approach ensures that as users join, move within, or leave the organization, their access rights are updated consistently and securely.
Additionally, this approach may offer advanced security measures that exceed Google Workspace’s default options, allowing for more granular access controls and conditions tailored to user behavior, location, or device type. For industries with stringent compliance requirements, such as healthcare, finance, or government, third-party identity providers also support detailed audit trails and provide security controls necessary to meet regulatory standards.
A third-party identity provider simplifies login experiences through Single Sign-On across all applications, giving users access to Google Workspace alongside other tools with a single authentication. For example, if your company uses Active Directory Domain-joined workstations, synchronization of AD with Google Workspace may improve productivity by reducing the need for authentication while also reducing the security risks associated with managing multiple passwords.
In organizations with such an approach to identity management, there are several possible scenarios for user removal.
In a scenario where you need to remove the user account from both the third-party provider and Google Workspace directory, the following actions should be performed:
If you need to remove an account from the external directory but preserve it in Google Workspace, you need to use a different user suspension configuration:
Sometimes, you may need to remove the user account from Google Workspace but preserve it in the external directory. In this case, the following steps should be taken:
More details can be found at Set up user sync.
If you removed an account by accident and need to restore it, you may recover it from the Google Admin console within 20 days. The recovered account will have all its email messages and files in Google Drive, and all the group memberships will be restored. Before recovery, ensure that there are available user licenses in your organization and that the user’s email address wasn’t reused (recovery is not possible in case the email address was assigned to another account since addresses must be unique).
To recover the deleted account, perform the following actions:
1. Go to the Google Admin Console.
2. On the left side, navigate to Directory > Users.
This screenshot shows the process of recovering a deleted user account in Google Workspace through the Google Admin Console, selecting directory and user options.
3. On the Users page, select Add a filter on the top row.
On the Users page, you can add a filter by selecting the "Add a filter" button located on the top row. This allows you to narrow down user data based on specific criteria.
4. From the drop-down list, select Recently Deleted.
5. From the list of deleted users, choose the Recover button in front of the one you want to restore.
In the drop-down list, select "Recently Deleted" to view a list of deleted users. Then, click the "Recover" button next to the user you want to restore.
6. Press Continue on the first page of the Recover User wizard.
It shows on the first page of the Recover User wizard, press the "Continue" button to proceed with the user recovery process.
7. On the next page, select Recover to confirm the account restoration.
Unmonitored or inactive accounts create vulnerabilities, potentially exposing data to unauthorized access, data leakage, or even compliance violations; therefore, removing unused user accounts in Google Workspace is an essential part of the user offboarding process. Following best practices for account deletion and knowing the steps for account recovery further ensure that an organization’s data remains protected and accessible only to authorized users.
