This article explains how to remove or deactivate a user from your business account, who can be removed, and what happens to their documents afterwards.
Before you start
To remove or deactivate a user, you must be an Admin in your business account. If you need access, contact an Admin in your account, or your accountant/bookkeeper if they manage it for you.
If you're a Business Admin, you can remove or deactivate any user. If you're a User Admin, you can only remove or deactivate other User Admins or Standard Users.
You can't remove or deactivate yourself, even as an Admin. Ask another Admin, or your accountant/bookkeeper if they manage your account, to do this for you.
Account owners (usually the first user added to the business) can't be removed, deactivated, or have their role or permissions changed, unless ownership is transferred to another user.
Important: To remove or change the account owner, or to remove yourself when no other Admin has access, contact the Dext support team.
You can identify the account owner on the Users page. The account owner has (Owner) next to their name, and the option to remove them isn't available.
Remove or deactivate a user
Removing and deactivating a user follow the same steps, with one difference at the final step.
Deactivating works for any user and keeps their account so you can re-enable it later.
Removing only works for users with login access, and deletes their account completely — you'll need to add them again as a new user if they return.
Either way, their previously submitted documents stay in your account.
To remove or deactivate a user:
Open your business account.
Go to Users in the sidebar.
Select Manage next to the user.
Choose Deactivate user or Remove user.
Review the summary, then select Deactivate or Continue to confirm.
Note: If a user has submitted documents before, removing them doesn't delete those documents. Dext keeps a record of the user as a document owner under the Deactivated tab, so you can still find and export what they submitted.
Re-enable or remove a deactivated user
Deactivated users stay listed under a separate tab, where you can restore their access or remove them for good.
To manage a deactivated user:
In your business account, go to Users.
Open the Deactivated tab.
Select Manage next to the user.
Choose Enable user to restore access, or Remove user to permanently remove them.
Frequently asked questions
Why can't I see the option to remove a user?
There are four common reasons:
The user is the account owner. Account owners can't be removed, deactivated, or have their permissions changed by another user. You can identify the account owner on the Users page by the (Owner) label next to their name. To change the account owner, contact the Dext support team.
Your role doesn't allow it. If you're a User Admin, you can only remove other User Admins or Standard Users. User Admins can't remove Business Admins.
You're trying to remove or deactivate yourself. This isn't possible for any role, including Business Admins. Ask another Admin, or your accountant/bookkeeper if they manage your account, to do this for you. If nobody else has access, contact the Dext support team to request the removal of your own profile.
The user doesn't have login access. Some users are added purely as document owners, without login access to Dext. You can check this in the Login access column on the Users page. If Login access is set to No, the user can't be removed — you'll only see the option to deactivate them.
Why can't I see the Users page?
If you can't see the Users page, you're a Standard User in the business account. Standard Users don't have permission to manage other users. Contact an Admin, or your accountant/bookkeeper if they manage your account, to upgrade your role or complete the action for you.
Why is a user in the Deactivated tab showing without a Remove option?
This happens when a user submitted documents before you removed them. Dext keeps their document owner record under the Deactivated tab, so you can still find and export those items. The user's account is already fully removed, so there's no option to enable or remove this entry.