Error: Email address can't be added

Users on your plan can add additional email addresses to their accounts. However, you must be a System Admin to merge accounts for others.

Overview

Each Smartsheet account is associated with one primary email address and that email address can’t be used with another Smartsheet account.

However, you can associate additional email addresses with an account to facilitate sharing. Learn more about adding alternate email addresses to your Smartsheet account.

You can also free up the email address if you receive the following message: "[email address] is already associated with another Smartsheet account, so it cannot be added to this account."

Notes

• If you’re on a Business plan, you can manage email addresses via the API. Learn more. 
• If you're on an Enterprise plan, learn how to merge user accounts via Admin Center.
• You can upgrade your plan to Enterprise to manage bulk email domain changes, user merges, and other related tasks. Learn about upgrade options.

To free up an email address

Before you get started, make sure you have access to an email address not in use with any Smartsheet account.

 Step 1: Add a third email address to the account from which you want to merge sheets

1. Sign in to Smartsheet using the email address you were attempting to associate with an account when you received the error message.
2. Go to Account > Personal Settings > Profile and select the Manage Email Addresses link.
3. From the Manage Email Addresses dialog box, select Add Email Address and add the third email address, which is the one not currently used anywhere in Smartsheet. You'll receive a message prompting you to check your email inbox.
4. Open the email message with the subject “Smartsheet Account Change Request.”
5. Select the Confirm Email button in the message to accept the invitation to join that email alias to the Smartsheet account. You’ll receive a message that reads “Confirmed! The alternate email address [address] has been added to your account.”

Step 2: Make the third email address the primary for the account

These instructions are for System Admins only.

Now, only System Admins on your Smartsheet plan may make the new email address the primary.

1. In Admin Center, select the Menu icon in the upper left corner to open the left sidebar.
2. Scroll down to User Management (Legacy Collaborator Model) or User Roles and Reports (User Subscription Model.)
3. Locate the user and select the kebab menu on the right to open the Edit User panel.
4. In the Alternate Emails tab, select the kebab menu next to the third email address.

5. Select Make Primary Email Address to make the third address the primary address associated with the account.

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Step 3: Free up the email address you want to use in the other account

Now that a System Admin has changed your primary address, you can remove the email address you'd like to use in the other account—the account you were using when you received the error message.

1. Sign back into Smartsheet using the third email address as your login.
2. Go to Account > Personal Settings > Profile and select Manage Email Addresses.
3. Remove the email address you'd like to use in the other account by selecting X to the right of the email address.
4. Sign out and then sign back into the account you want to use the email address.
5. Navigate to Account > Personal Settings > Profile and select Manage Email Addresses to add the desired email address.

Here’s what you should see when the process is complete

• The desired email address is listed in the Manage Email Addresses box of the desired account.
• All items shared to the email address you added are available from the new (target) account.

Transfer Owner permissions

If you want to transfer Owner permissions of items in the old account so they’re managed by the email address you added, see:

• Change Owner permissions of a sheet, report, or dashboard
• Transfer Owner permissions of a workspace