Removing a Licese

andrea lafrania

Hi - I am trying to determine when to Deactivate a user vs Removing their license.

If I were to Remove a license from a user and not transfer any of the items they previously owned to anyone,

What happens to those items?
Do they delete after a certain amount of days?

If I were to Deactivate the license from the user:

What happens to the owned items?
Can others still use those sheets actively?

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AngB789

@andrea lafrania

If you Remove a license from a user (but don’t transfer ownership of their items):

The user becomes a Free Collaborator.
All of their owned items (sheets, reports, dashboards, workspaces) remain in their account under their ownership.
Nothing is automatically deleted after a certain number of days.
Other people can still use those sheets actively, as long as they’ve been shared.
However, because the original owner is no longer licensed, they cannot:
- Create new sheets.
- Use premium features (Control Center, automation limits, advanced reports, etc.).

Risk: If that person ever leaves the company (and their account is deactivated or deleted), those items can be lost unless ownership is transferred.

If you Deactivate the user (remove them completely from your account):

Their login access is revoked.
They still technically own all the sheets, reports, dashboards, and workspaces they created.
Those items do not get deleted immediately. They continue to exist and remain accessible to others who were shared on them.
Collaborators can still open and use those sheets (edit, update, etc.) according to their sharing permissions.
The problem: nobody in your organization can change ownership, share with new people, or manage those assets — they are effectively “orphaned” under a deactivated user.

Best Practice:
Before you remove or deactivate someone, always:

Run a User Sheet Access Report in the Admin Center to see what they own.
Transfer ownership of critical assets to another licensed user or a “service account” (a generic licensed account for long-term ownership).

andrea lafrania

Angela, thanks for this information - this is very helpful.

Althought I should have been more clear, if you use the "Remove User" option (not Remove a license), what implications does that have? I assume this is the way you'd want to remove someone if they are termed from the company. But if we don't transfer items, where do they go, what happens?

Cassie L

@andrea lafrania

When you use the "Remove User" option in Smartsheet, here’s what happens:

🔄 Implications of Removing a User (vs. Removing a License)

✅ What Happens to Their Access

The user is permanently removed from your plan.
Their access to shared Smartsheet items is revoked.
Their Member designation is released, freeing up a seat.

📁 What Happens to Owned Items

You must transfer ownership of their sheets and assets before removal.
If you do not transfer ownership, those items may become inaccessible unless shared with other users who have Admin rights.
Smartsheet does not automatically delete the items, but they may become orphaned if no one has access.

🛡️ Plan Asset Admin Role

If no one else has Admin access to the sheets, access requests go to the Plan Asset Admin, who can:
- Grant themselves access
- Reassign ownership
- Prevent data loss

⚠️ Important Notes

If you remove a user without transferring ownership, you risk losing access to their sheets unless a Plan Asset Admin intervenes.
You can choose to maintain the user's sharing permissions during removal, but they still won’t be able to log in or manage items.

✅ Best Practice

Before removing a user (especially if they’re leaving the company):

Transfer ownership of all critical sheets and workspaces.
Ensure a Plan Asset Admin is in place to manage orphaned assets.
Consider deactivating instead of removing if you want to retain access flexibility.

Source: Copilot

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