---
type: howto
---

# Deleting a User account

Users can be deleted from a GitLab instance, either by:

- The user themselves.
- An administrator.

NOTE: **Note:**
Deleting a user will delete all projects in that user namespace.

## As a user

As a user, you can delete your own account by:

1. Clicking on your avatar.
1. Navigating to **Settings > Account**.
1. Selecting **Delete account**.

## As an administrator

As an administrator, you can delete a user account by:

1. Navigating to **Admin Area > Overview > Users**.
1. Selecting a user.
1. Under the **Account** tab, clicking:
   - **Delete user** to delete only the user but maintaining their
     [associated records](#associated-records).
   - **Delete user and contributions** to delete the user and
     their associated records.

### Blocking a user

In addition to blocking a user
[via an abuse report](../../admin_area/abuse_reports.md#blocking-users),
a user can be blocked directly from the Admin area. To do this:

1. Navigate to  **Admin Area > Overview > Users**.
1. Selecting a user.
1. Under the **Account** tab, click **Block user**.

### Deactivating a user

> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/63921) in GitLab 12.4.

A user can be deactivated from the Admin area. Deactivating a user is functionally identical to blocking a user, with the following differences:

- It does not prohibit the user from logging back in via the UI.
- Once a deactivated user logs back into the GitLab UI, their account is set to active.

A deactivated user:

- Cannot access Git repositories or the API.
- Will not receive any notifications from GitLab.
- Will not be able to use [slash commands](../../../integration/slash_commands.md).

Personal projects, group and user history of the deactivated user will be left intact.

NOTE: **Note:**
A deactivated user does not consume a [seat](../../../subscriptions/index.md#managing-subscriptions).

To do this:

1. Navigate to  **Admin Area > Overview > Users**.
1. Select a user.
1. Under the **Account** tab, click **Deactivate user**.

Please note that for the deactivation option to be visible to an admin, the user:

- Must be currently active.
- Should not have any activity in the last 180 days.

### Activating a user

> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/63921) in GitLab 12.4.

A deactivated user can be activated from the Admin area. Activating a user sets their account to active state.

To do this:

1. Navigate to  **Admin Area > Overview > Users**.
1. Click on the **Deactivated** tab.
1. Select a user.
1. Under the **Account** tab, click **Activate user**.

TIP: **Tip:**
A deactivated user can also activate their account by themselves by simply logging back via the UI.

## Associated Records

> - Introduced for issues in
>   [GitLab 9.0](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-foss/merge_requests/7393).
> - Introduced for merge requests, award emoji, notes, and abuse reports in
>   [GitLab 9.1](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-foss/merge_requests/10467).
> - Hard deletion from abuse reports and spam logs was introduced in
>   [GitLab 9.1](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-foss/merge_requests/10273),
>   and from the API in
>   [GitLab 9.3](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-foss/merge_requests/11853).

When a user account is deleted, not all associated records are deleted with it.
Here's a list of things that will **not** be deleted:

- Issues that the user created.
- Merge requests that the user created.
- Notes that the user created.
- Abuse reports that the user reported.
- Award emoji that the user created.

Instead of being deleted, these records will be moved to a system-wide
user with the username "Ghost User", whose sole purpose is to act as a container
for such records. Any commits made by a deleted user will still display the
username of the original user.

When a user is deleted from an [abuse report](../../admin_area/abuse_reports.md)
or spam log, these associated
records are not ghosted and will be removed, along with any groups the user
is a sole owner of. Administrators can also request this behavior when
deleting users from the [API](../../../api/users.md#user-deletion) or the
Admin Area.

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