Replace a licensed user when all licenses are allocated

To do so, use the following instructions.

A part of this process puts Smartsheet items owned by the person you're removing into a temporary read-only state. Make sure that everyone in your account is aware that there may be a brief period of time when items they use may be viewable, but not editable. (They become editable again once the steps below are complete.)

Transition your new user

Take the following steps to ensure that your new user is shared to everything that they need to take ownership of transitioning items.

Step 1: Add the new user without a license

1. Sign in to Smartsheet and select your Profile icon in the upper-right corner of the window.

2. Select User Management > Add User.

3. In the Add User window that appears, type the email address of the new person.
   
   Make sure that the Licensed User checkbox is unchecked. We’ll grant this person a license later.

4. Select OK.

They’ll receive an email invitation to join your account. Once they accept the invite, you can proceed with Step 2.

Step 2: Remove the prior license but not the user

After the new user has accepted their invitation as an unlicensed user, remove the license from the person being replaced.

During the license removal process, you’ll be prompted to transfer sheets from this user to someone else, but don't transfer their Smartsheet items at this time.

All items go into a temporary read-only state until the process is over.

In the User Management window:

1. Locate the user who you want to remove.

2. Right-click their email address and select Edit User.

3. Uncheck the Licensed User and Transfer Owned Smartsheet Items boxes and select OK.

You’ve now freed up a license to give to the new person in the next step!

If the person was a Group Admin, you need to transfer their owned groups. Groups can be transferred to any System Admin or Group Admin during this step.

Step 3: Grant a license to the new user

Now that you’ve made a license available, you can grant it to the new person in the account.

In the User Management window:

1. Locate the new user that you’ve added to the account.

2. Right-click their email address and select Edit User.

3. Check the Licensed User box and select OK.

With a license, the new user can accept ownership of the sheets from the user transitioning out of the account.

Step 4: Transfer ownership of all Smartsheet items to the new user

If the old user owns items in a workspace that they administrate but don't own, those items are automatically removed from the workspace and shared to the workspace collaborators at the item level. To avoid this, ensure that the new user is shared to the workspaces with Admin-level permissions before proceeding.

In the User Management window:

1. Right-click the email address of the person who is transitioning out of the account.

2. Select More Actions > Transfer Owned Items to Other User.

3. Locate and select the new user, then select OK.

All items have now been transferred to their new owner. Once this step is complete, the items become editable again.

Step 5: Share other items to the new user and complete the transition

Download a Sheet Access Report and make sure the new user is shared on the same items as the user you’re removing from the account.

In the User Management window:

1. Select the More Actions > Download Sheet Access Report (csv).
   
   The Sheet Access Report downloads to your computer as a .csv file.

2. Open the Sheet Access Report in Excel and filter on the email address of the person you're removing.

3. The Sheet Access Report also provides you with the email addresses of the sheet owners. Reach out to each of them and request that they share their sheets with the email address of the new person in your account.

Your new user is now up and running! You can now remove the prior user from your account if desired. For more information, see Manage Users in an Enterprise or Business Plan.