Adding a user in Google Workspace

Step-by-step instructions for adding a new team member to your Google Workspace organization from the Admin console.

When someone new joins your team, you add them as a user in Google Workspace. This gives them a professional email address at your domain, access to Drive and Docs, and a seat in your organization.

Quick summary

Go to admin.google.com, open Directory → Users, and click Add new user. Enter their name and choose their email address. Google can generate a password for you to pass on, or email the account details to a second address they already use. Each new user uses one license on your subscription, and it can take up to 24 hours before every Google service is available to them.

What you'll need

Admin access to the Google Admin console, with a user management privilege
The new person's first name, last name, and preferred email address
Ideally, a second email address they can already read, so Google can send them their account details

Adding a new user

Go to admin.google.com and sign in with your admin account.

Open the Menu and go to Directory → Users.

At the top of the user list, click Add new user.

Enter the user's details. Fill in their first and last name and their primary email address (e.g. sarah@yourcompany.com). Google recommends also adding a secondary email — a current address where they can receive their new account details. A phone number is optional.

Set the password or organizational unit if you need to. These sit behind the optional Manage user's password, organizational unit, and profile photo link. If you're not sure, leave them alone — you'll still get a password to pass on at the end.

Click Add New User.

Send them their account details. Click Copy Password if you want to pass it on yourself, by phone or text rather than email, or click Preview And Send to email the details to their secondary address. Then click Done.

Give it a little time

The account is created as soon as you click Add New User, but Google says it can take up to 24 hours for all of its services to be available to a new user. If they try one too early, they'll see a message saying they don't have access. New accounts can also take up to 24 hours to show up in the searchable directory.

The emailed welcome link expires

If you email the details, the welcome message includes a link to reset their password, and that link expires after 48 hours. If it lapses before they use it, reset their password to send a fresh one.

After the account is created

The new user should:

Sign in at mail.google.com with the password you gave them, or with the link in their welcome email.

Set their own password when Gmail prompts them to.

Secure the new account. Turn on 2-step verification — especially important for anyone with sensitive access.

You may also want to:

Add them to any groups or email aliases they need (like team@ or support@).
Share relevant shared drives with them.
Share any calendars they need access to.

Adding multiple users at once

If you're onboarding several people at once, Google Workspace lets you upload a CSV (spreadsheet) file with all their details instead of adding them one by one.

In Directory → Users, click Bulk update users at the top of the page.

Click Download blank CSV template. Fill it in with each person's details.

Upload the completed file. Click Bulk update users again, select your file and click Upload. Your Tasks list opens and shows the progress, and you get an email report when it finishes.

Billing note

Each user you add uses one license on your Google Workspace subscription, and which plan you're on changes what happens next:

Flexible Plan — adding a user automatically increases your monthly payment. Google charges monthly for the number of users you had per day over the previous month, prorated per day.
Annual/Fixed-Term Plan — you may need to buy licenses before you can add people.

If you can't add a user at all, the usual reason is that you have no license free. Business Starter, Standard and Plus can be bought for at most 300 users; to go beyond that you switch to an Enterprise plan. For current prices, check workspace.google.com/pricing.

Common questions

Can I choose any email address for the new user?

Almost any username at your domain. A few are reserved by Google and can't be created, such as abuse and postmaster. If the address belonged to someone who has left, you don't have to wait: Google lets you reassign a deleted user's address to another user in your organization at any point in the 20 days after the account was deleted, and removes the address from Workspace once those 20 days are up. Allow up to 24 hours for a reassignment to take effect. See Removing a user safely.

The new user didn't get a welcome email — what happened?

Google only sends one if you chose Preview And Send when you created the account. If you clicked Copy Password instead, the details never went anywhere: pass them on yourself. If they did get the email but the password link has expired (it lasts 48 hours), reset their password to send new details.

How do I give the new user admin access?

You need to be a super administrator for this. In Directory → Users, click the user's name to open their account page, scroll down and click Admin roles and privileges. Click the role you want — Super Admin gives full control, and there are narrower roles such as Help Desk Admin or User Management Admin — then click the slider next to it so it reads Assigned and click Save. It usually takes a few minutes, but can take up to 24 hours.

What's an organizational unit?

Organizational units (OUs) are sub-groups within your organization. You can apply different settings and policies to different OUs — for example, allow a specific team to use certain apps. If you only have a small team, you probably don't need to use OUs.

Need a hand?

If you're stuck, email support@chykalophia.com and we'll help. Include your website address and a screenshot if you can.