How to Add a User to Google Search Console (Step by Step)

By Umair Ali Sadaqat · Updated November 6, 2026 · Editorial policy

Add a user or owner to Google Search Console in four steps, pick the right permission level (Owner, Full, Restricted), and remove access safely later.

Short answer: Open your property in Google Search Console, go to Settings > Users and permissions, click Add user, enter the person's Google Account email, choose Owner, Full, or Restricted, and save. Only a property owner can see that screen, so if the option is missing, you aren't an owner yet.

What you need before you start

Owner status on the property. Google says you must be a property owner (or an owner of a parent property) to add or remove another user.
The other person's Google Account email. Users must have a valid Google Account, and an email group can't be added as a user.
The right property selected. Access is granted per property, so adding someone to your example.com domain property is separate from a URL-prefix property for the same site.

If you haven't verified your own site yet, do that first with our verification walkthrough. New to the tool in general? The Search Console beginner's guide covers what the reports mean.

How to add a user to Google Search Console

Open Search Console and pick the property from the property selector at top left.
Go to Settings, then Users and permissions. (This item is visible only to owners.)
Click Add user.
Enter the Google Account email of the person you're adding.
Choose a permission level (see the table below).
Save your changes. The person now shows up in the users list.

The new user can open Search Console with that Google Account and select the property from their own property list.

Permission levels: which one to pick

Google defines these levels. The wording below follows its help documentation (checked November 2026).

Level	What Google says it means	Can add or remove users?	Good fit for
Owner: verified	Verified ownership of the property using a token. Full control: add/remove users, configure settings, view all data, use all tools.	Yes	The site's technical owner, the person who controls DNS or the site files
Owner: delegated	Granted ownership by another owner without a token. Same permissions as a verified owner.	Yes	A trusted manager or an agency lead who shouldn't need to touch site files
Full user	View rights to all data, and can take some actions.	No	SEO specialists, developers, content leads
Restricted user	Simple view rights on most data.	No	Clients, stakeholders, writers who just need to check numbers
Associate	A person or account that acts on the site's behalf, such as the Chrome Web Store. Can't open or view Search Console.	No	Linking services to the property, not people

A detail worth knowing: Google notes that restricted users receive only the messages that specifically affect them, so if someone needs to see manual-action or security alerts, Full is the safer pick.

A simple rule for choosing

Default to Restricted for anyone who only reads reports.
Use Full when the person will submit sitemaps, inspect URLs, or work with the site's data day to day.
Reserve Owner for people you'd trust to remove everyone else. Owners can add and remove other users.
Prefer delegated over verified when you add a new owner, because it doesn't require them to place a token on your site and is easier to reverse.

Change someone's permission level

Go to Settings > Users and permissions.
Click the More settings (three-dot) menu next to the user.
Choose Change permissions.
Select the new level and save.

If Change permissions is greyed out, that user is a verified owner. Verified owners can't be downgraded, only removed.

How to remove a user from Search Console

Removing a Full, Restricted, or delegated owner

Go to Settings > Users and permissions.
Open the More settings menu next to the person.
Click Remove access.

They lose access to the property immediately.

Removing a verified owner

Verified owners need an extra step, because their access comes from a token on your site.

Click Remove access for the person. A notice lists the verification tokens they used.
Delete every token from the site: the HTML file, the meta tag, the DNS record, or whatever method they used. If they verified with several methods, remove all of them.
Check the Unused ownership tokens list in settings to confirm nothing is left behind.

If you skip step 2, Google warns the removed owner will be able to re-verify ownership. Also be careful before deleting a token: Google notes the same verification token can be reused across other services, so removing it may affect something like Merchant Center or Google Workspace.

Two further things to know:

The Ownership history log shows owners added and removed, plus verification attempts, which is handy for audits.
A property must keep at least one verified owner, or no users will have access. If every verified owner is removed, remaining users and delegated owners lose access after a grace period. Data keeps being collected, but nobody can see it until someone verifies the site again.

Common errors and how to fix them

Problem	Likely cause	Fix
No Users and permissions menu	You aren't a property owner	Ask an owner to add you as an owner, or ask them to make the change
"This user may only be added as 'Owner'"	The person already has owner rights on a parent property	Add them as Owner on the child property
Email rejected	Not a valid Google Account, or it's a group address	Use an individual Google Account (a work email can be linked to one)
Removed user still sees data	They are a verified owner with a token still on the site	Delete their tokens, then confirm in the ownership history
Change permissions is inactive	The user is a verified owner	Remove them, then re-add as delegated owner or Full user

A copyable access-review checklist

Run this every quarter, or whenever an agency, freelancer, or employee leaves:

[ ] Open Settings > Users and permissions for each property (domain and URL-prefix versions).
[ ] Confirm every listed email belongs to someone who still needs access.
[ ] Downgrade anyone who only reads reports to Restricted.
[ ] Remove former staff and agencies with Remove access.
[ ] For removed verified owners, delete their tokens from the site.
[ ] Review Unused ownership tokens and Ownership history for surprises.
[ ] Make sure at least two trusted people are owners, so you aren't locked out if one leaves.

Handing a site to an agency or client

When a project changes hands, add the new team first and only then remove the old one. A clean order is: add the new people as delegated owners, confirm they can open the property, then remove the previous owners and any tokens they placed. That way the property never drops to zero working owners.

For a deeper tour of what the new user will actually see, read our Google Search Console guide or the short Search Console glossary entry.

If you're still setting up the site itself

Search Console only works once you have a live site to verify. We.Inc's free plan lets you publish up to three sites from ready-made templates; the AI builder that drafts a site from a prompt starts on the Starter plan at $20 a month. You can sign up here and add the site to Search Console once it's live.

Frequently asked questions

Can I add someone to Search Console without a Gmail address?

The person needs a valid Google Account, but it does not have to be a Gmail address. Google's help page says users must have a valid Google Account. An email group cannot be added as a user, so you have to add each person individually.

Why don't I see "Users and permissions" in my Search Console settings?

That screen is visible only to property owners. If you are a Full or Restricted user, you can view data but you can't manage access. Ask an owner of the property, or of a parent property, to add you or to upgrade your permission level.

What is the difference between a verified owner and a delegated owner?

A verified owner proved ownership with a token on the site, such as an HTML file, meta tag, or DNS record. A delegated owner was granted ownership by another owner inside Search Console, with no token. Both have the same permissions. The difference shows up when you remove them: delegated owners are removed in the Users and permissions screen, while verified owners also need their tokens removed from the site.

How many users can one Search Console property have?

Google states that a property can have a maximum of 100 non-owners. Delegated owners can be added until the property reaches 500 total verified and delegated owners, and verified owners have no stated maximum.

I removed a user but they still have access. Why?

They were most likely a verified owner. Google notes that if you remove someone who verified with a token and leave the token on your site, they can re-verify ownership. Remove the Remove access entry, then delete every verification token that person added (HTML file, meta tag, DNS record, and so on).

Can I downgrade an owner to a Full or Restricted user?

You can change the permission level of any user who is not a verified owner. Verified owners can't be downgraded; they can only be removed, which means removing their verification tokens.

Related guides and tools

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