What happens with the data when a user is deactivated or deleted?
There are two ways to remove an active user from your Pipedrive company account:
- Deactivate a user – removes their access to Pipedrive and frees their seat for another user. Their name and email remain in the account.
- Delete a user – permanently removes their name, email and profile picture from the account. A user must be deactivated before they can be deleted.
Before you deactivate a user, Pipedrive shows the items and data they own so you can review and reassign anything that’s still needed.
Deactivated users
When you deactivate a user, here’s what happens to their data and account setup:
User details stay visible
The deactivated user’s name, email and profile picture remain in your company account.
To see an overview, open the account menu in the top-right corner, go to Manage users > Deactivated and click “...“ > User overview next to their name.
Items stay assigned to them
Leads, deals, contacts, products, activities, projects, tasks, subtasks and milestones remain assigned to the deactivated user unless you transfer ownership.
Notes and files remain
Notes, comments and files remain under the deactivated user’s name.
Account syncs stop
Email sync, contact sync, calendar sync and Google Drive sync stop automatically.
Shared email templates and emails remain, while private emails are deleted
- Shared email templates the user created stay in account
- Shared emails linked to items stay in the account
- Private emails linked to items are deleted after 30 days
Meeting scheduler links stop working
The user’s public meeting scheduler link stops working once they’re deactivated.
Filters can still reference deactivated users
Public filters created by the deactivated user remain in their account. Existing filter conditions that reference deactivated user continue to work, but you can’t create new filters using a deactivated user.
Insights changes
When a user is deactivated:
- Shared dashboards automatically transfer to the account’s first admin
- Public dashboard links the user created are automatically disabled
- Shared reports with other users in the company become inaccessible
- The deactivated user remains included in reports and goals they were already part of
- You can still create new filters in Insights that include deactivated users as conditions
LeadBooster reassignment behavior
- Live Chat: the deactivated user is unassigned from chats, allowing other users to take over
- Chatbot: another user automatically replaces the deactivated user in the playbook editor. Review the email address if a custom email was previously used.
- Web forms: another user automatically replaces the deactivated user in the saving preferences. Review the email address if a custom email was previously used.
Smart Docs access changes
- Documents: to view or edit a document the user created, open the cloud storage folder where it’s hosted. Learn more about where documents are stored.
- Templates: to use a template the user created, they need to grant permission before being deactivated. You’ll also need access to the cloud storage folder hosting it.
- eSignatures: you can access documents sent for signing by deactivated user if you have permission to view the deal they’re linked to
Access DocuSign documents
You can still access documents a deactivated user sent for signing through the DocuSign app.
Access QuickBooks invoices
Invoices a deactivated user created stay accessible if another user is connected to QuickBooks.
Campaigns still send as planned
Scheduled campaigns a deactivated user created still send as planned.
Transfer automations
Before you deactivate a user, Pipedrive shows how many automations they own and lets you transfer ownership to another active global admin directly from the deactivation view.
We strongly recommend transferring ownership to another global admin before deactivating the user. This helps ensure each automation has an active owner who can review its setup, keep required apps and features connected, and prevent avoidable execution failures.
If you transfer ownership
- The automation is deactivated for everyone
- The users who can trigger the automation stay the same
- The automation appears in the new owner’s automations list view
The new owner is notified in Pipedrive and via email, with a direct link to the automation, so they can review it and reactivate it once everything checks out.
If you don’t transfer ownership before deactivating the user
- If the automation was set to trigger for all users, it’s deactivated for everyone
- If the automation was set to trigger for selected users, it’s deactivated only for the deactivated user. The list of users who can trigger the automation stays intact, with each user’s active status unchanged. Executions may still start failing if the automation relies on the former owner's access to apps or other features that are no longer available after deactivation.
- You can find the automation later using the “Owned by deactivated users” filter in the automations list, from the overview dashboard or data cleanup
The company account owner gets an email with a link to review the automations owned by the deactivated user and update their ownership.
Automatic assignment rules fail
If a deactivated user is part of an assignment rule, the rule keeps running but fails when it checks that user’s status. Review any activate automatic assignment rules that include a deactivated user.
Marketplace apps get uninstalled
Apps the deactivated user installed are automatically uninstalled. If they had global admin permissions, any Marketplace apps they added to other users are also uninstalled.
Webhooks get deactivated
Webhooks a deactivated user created are automatically deactivated.
Deleted users
Deleting a user includes everything above, plus the following.
User details are removed
The user’s name, email and profile picture are removed from the company account. They’re displayed as deleted user or deleted user, IDxxxxxxxx.
Leads, deals, projects, people, organizations, automations, products, activities, tasks, subtasks and milestones stay assigned to a deleted user unless you transfer ownership before deleting them. Since their name and email are gone, you can’t search for or select that specific person anymore.
Transfer ownership before deletion if you need to find their items later.
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