---
schema_version: "1"
id: 4e4f64f11834482e0dd9034974b4ef96846608b727eda1261f01959f21957768
title: Deactivate Users
collection: admin
version: current
locale: en-us
portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/admin/current/en-us/platform/264-0-0/how_to_deactivate_users.md
canonical_url: https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.how_to_deactivate_users.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5
source_site: help.salesforce.com
content_type: documentation
content_hash: f77aa2c912318a1425d81f8a595be0f9f0dd67a22751587ede9c9273a21ebd9a
description: To deactivate a user’s account so they can no longer log into Salesforce, complete these steps.
products:
  - Security
  - Salesforce Platform
release: "264"
---
# Deactivate Users

To deactivate a user’s account so they can no longer log into Salesforce, complete these steps.

### Required Editions

<table class="slds-table slds-table_bordered slds-max-medium-table_stacked slds-m-bottom_small edition"><colgroup><col></colgroup><tbody><tr class=""><td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;">Available in: both Salesforce Classic and Lightning Experience</td></tr><tr class=""><td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;">Available in: <strong>Essentials</strong>, <strong>Contact Manager</strong>, <strong>Group</strong>, <strong>Professional</strong>, <strong>Enterprise</strong>, <strong>Performance</strong>, <strong>Unlimited</strong>, <strong>Developer</strong>, and <strong>Database.com</strong> Editions</td></tr></tbody></table>

<table class="slds-table slds-table_bordered slds-max-medium-table_stacked slds-m-bottom_small permission">
        <colgroup>
          <col style="width:50%">
          <col style="width:50%">
        </colgroup>
        <thead class="slds-text-title_caps ">
          <tr class="">
            <th scope="colgroup" class="slds-cell-wrap" colspan="2" style="text-align:center;vertical-align:top;" id="d54034e88">User
              Permissions Needed</th>
          </tr>
        </thead>
        <tbody>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="User Permissions Needed" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d54034e88 ">To deactivate users:</td>

            <td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d54034e88 ">Manage Internal Users</td>

          </tr>
        </tbody>
      </table>

You can deactivate users, but you can’t delete them outright. Deleting a user can result in orphaned records and the loss of critical business information. Deactivating a user prevents access but preserves all historical activity and records.

1. From Setup, in the Quick Find box, enter Users, then select **Users**.
2. Click **Edit** next to a user’s name.
3. Deselect the Active checkbox, and then click **Save**.

Watch a Demo: [![Watch Video Demo](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-platform-access-264-0-0-production-enus/a92be132-3cbc-412a-9262-130636120c14/resources-global/_corporate/images/play_btn.png) Removing Users’ Access to Salesforce (Salesforce Classic—English only)](https://salesforce.vidyard.com/watch/a2dlF9wVpM3oKcDh4XaD3A)

Keep in mind that after deactivation:

- The user remains in the list of users, but is shown as not active.
- The user still appears as a member of public groups they’ve been a part of and any default accounts and sales teams.
- Deactivating the user doesn’t affect the records they owned until ownership is transferred to others.
- All the user’s overrides remain, but they’re frozen.
- In Chatter, the user’s profile remains, but it shows they’re inactive. However, the user remains the owner of any Chatter group they owned until an admin reassigns ownership.

You’re prevented from deactivating a user if the user is the:

- default owner of leads
- default or automated case owner
- default lead creator or owner
- default workflow user
- recipient of a workflow email alert
- a user selected in a custom hierarchy field
- a customer portal administrator.

In these cases you can prevent the user from accessing their accounts by freezing them. Freezing a user is done from the user’s User Record. Later, after updating ownership and other processes, you can deactivate the user’s account.

Finally, if the deactivated user was an approver, you must remove the user from all approval processes, or reassign their approval responsibilities to other users.

#### See Also

- [Considerations for Deactivating Users](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.users_deactivate_considerations.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Note these considerations when deactivating users.")
- [Freeze or Unfreeze User Accounts](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.users_freeze.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "In some cases, you can’t immediately deactivate an account, such as when a user is selected in a custom hierarchy field. To prevent users from logging in to your organization while you perform the steps to deactivate them, you can freeze user accounts.")
- [Mass Transfer Records](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.admin_transfer.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Use the Mass Transfer tool to transfer multiple accounts, leads, service contracts, and custom objects from one user to another.")