Can You Delete a User in SalesForce? No, But Here’s How To Deactivate a User

Salesforce has become one of the most popular customer relationship management (CRM) programs. While its innovative tools may have helped you motivate your team and boost their productivity, some aspects of the software aren’t user-friendly. While most people can quickly create new users in Salesforce, deleting users might be more challenging. Fortunately, there are several ways to restrict a person’s access to your Salesforce data.

This article will discuss whether it’s possible to delete users in Salesforce. We’ll also cover deactivating and freezing a Salesforce account. Keep reading to learn more.

About Salesforce

To build a successful business, you have to create a viable data-driven strategy. This can be overwhelming if you’re forced to sift through customer data manually, but Salesforce takes the hassle out of scaling your business. It provides marketing, sales, and support teams with multiple tools to streamline workflow, improve service, and better organize information.

Salesforce administrators monitor the company’s interface and make sure all team members have access to the appropriate data. Depending on an employee’s tasks, you can assign them a specific role from the Salesforce settings. Their role is tied to the information they can view, so each team member can access the data necessary to bolster their performance.

Creating new users helps with the onboarding process, but what do administrators do when an employee leaves? They need a method to remove the account without corrupting the company’s Salesforce records.

Salesforce Can You Delete a User

When a new employee joins the team, the administrator adds a new account to introduce them to the CRM space. However, the management platform lacks this ease of use when it comes to deleting accounts. Many people struggle to delete users from their virtual workspace. If a team member has left the company, the administrator needs a way to eliminate the inactive account and declutter the CRM space.

Unfortunately, Salesforce still hasn’t rolled out a solution to this problem. The software offers no method of permanently deleting a user, but this doesn’t mean there aren’t ways to bypass the issue. Administrators may choose to freeze or deactivate a user to limit their access to the Salesforce workspace.

Reasons You Can’t Delete Users in Salesforce

Let’s look at the main reasons why Salesforce prevents you from deleting users.

Database Records

Each account is connected to a specific role, gaining access to certain levels of your Salesforce database. Deleting an account would corrupt data uploaded to the space and compromise your company’s database. You wouldn’t be able to use specific files, and the related data would also be ruined.

User Files

A Salesforce user can perform different tasks on the platform and own virtual entities such as Groups, Accounts, or Leads. This information is potentially valuable to other members. If you were to delete a user, this information would be lost.

Although it’s impossible to delete users, the good news is there are two alternatives. You can deactivate or freeze a user to restrict their access to the CRM space.

How to Deactivate a User in Salesforce on a PC

Having several unnecessary accounts tied to your Salesforce plan could negatively impact your billing system, so removing them is essential. Although it’s impossible to delete a user, Salesforce administrators can deactivate accounts from the workspace. Keep in mind that before deactivating a user, you have to save the associated data to avoid losing records. The “Mass Transfer Tool” will enable you to preserve the data. Once you’ve successfully transferred the information, deactivating the account is relatively straightforward. To do so:

1. Log into your account and press the gear icon in the bar in the upper right corner of the interface.
   
2. When a pop-up menu shows up, select the “Setup” option.
   
3. Salesforce will redirect you to the “Setup Home” window. Navigate to the “Users” tab and choose “Users.”
   
4. Scroll through the list of Salesforce users until you find the account you wish to deactivate. When you spot the account you want to modify, tap it.
   
5. The platform will display the user’s information on a new page. Press the “Edit” icon in the upper part of the window.
   
6. Several input fields will appear on the screen. Click on the user’s “Active” status to uncheck it.
   
7. Follow the on-screen instructions to finish the process.
8. Tap the “Save” button at the top of the screen to record the changes.
   

This action will deactivate a Salesforce user. When they attempt to log in using their account credentials, they’ll receive an error message. Additionally, if you’ve shared files with the users manually, they’ll lose access to them. However, the files they own will remain on the platform. To create a new owner for these files, an administrator must assign them to a different user.

After the deactivation, the account will appear on the list of users, but it will be inactive. If the account was added to sales teams or public groups, the user will still show up as a member.

You can deactivate a user in both Salesforce Classic and Salesforce Lightning Experience. Also, the option is available in Contact Manager, Group, Essentials, Enterprise, Professional, Developer, Unlimited, and Database.com versions.

How to Deactivate a User in Salesforce on an Android Device

Administrators who prefer using their mobile devices for performing administrative tasks can delete users with the Salesforce Android app. To do so:

1. Launch the app and go to “Setup.”
   
2. Navigate to “Users” and click on the “Users” option.
   
3. Go through the list of users until you find the one you wish to deactivate. When you spot the account, select its name to edit it.
   
4. Tap the three-horizontal dot status to disable it.
   
5. Click on “Save” to complete the deactivation.
   

How to Deactivate a User in Salesforce on an iPhone

The Salesforce iPhone app is relatively user-friendly and allows you to deactivate users without difficulty.

1. Open the app and find “Setup.”
2. Go to “Users” and press the “Users” option.
   
3. Scan the list of users and find the one you’d like to deactivate. When you see the user’s name, tap it.
   
4. Click on the account’s “Active” status to deactivate the user.
   
5. Hit the “Save” button to complete the action.

How to Deactivate a User in Salesforce on an iPad

Salesforce has also developed a responsive iPad app, allowing administrators to perform tasks such as deactivating users on the go. To do so:

1. Launch the SalesforceA app on your iPad and go to “Setup.”
2. Find the “Users” tab and choose “Users” from the list of options.
   
3. Go through the list until you notice the user you want to deactivate. Press their username to edit the account.
   
4. Tap the user’s “Active” status to disable it.
   
5. Click on “Save” to complete the deactivation.

How to Freeze an Account in Salesforce

Sometimes administrators can’t deactivate a user immediately. In such cases, it’s best to freeze the account temporarily. To freeze a user on a PC:

1. Find “Setup” and find the “Users” tab.
   
2. Select the “Users” option.
   
3. Scan the list of users and press the account you want to freeze.
   
4. Click on “Freeze” to restrict account access.

It’s possible to freeze users from the Salesforce Android app.

1. Navigate to “Setup,” go to “Users,” and press the “Users” option.
   
2. Scroll through the list and tap the account you wish to freeze.
   
3. Hit the “Freeze” button to complete the action.
   

Another way of freezing users involves using the SalesforceA iPhone app.

1. From “Setup,” find “Users” and tap “Users.”
   
2. Go down the list and press the account you want to disable temporarily.
   
3. Click on the “Freeze” button to finish the action.
   

You can also freeze users from the SalesforceA iPad app.

1. From “Setup,” go to “Users” and pick “Users.”
   
2. Scan the list of users and select the account you want to restrict temporarily.
   
3. Click on “Freeze” to disable the account.
   

Deactivate Users and Make the Most of Salesforce

Salesforce will help you scale your business only if you know how to access all of its features. While it still hasn’t introduced a method for deleting users, it allows you to deactivate or freeze accounts on your PC, Android smartphone, iPhone device, or iPad.

Have you deactivated or frozen a Salesforce account before? Which device did you use to do so? Let us know in the comments section below.