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How to Rename a User in Google Apps for Work

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Dave Warfel

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2 minutes

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Have you recently added a new user to your Google Apps for Work account, but you misspelled her name? Or maybe you accidentally added an extra character in her email address. Luckily, there’s an easy way to rename a user in Google Apps. You can update the user’s first & last name, as well as change their email address. In this article, I’ll walk you through the steps of renaming a user in Google Apps.

Before Renaming a User in Google Apps…

…you should ask her to sign out of her account.

Ready to signup? Create your Google Apps for Work account »

Caveats to Renaming a Google Apps User

There are a few things you should keep in mind when renaming a user in your Google Apps for Work console:

  1. All contacts in the user’s Google Talk/Hangouts list will be removed
  2. Chat/Hangouts could be unavailable for up to 3 days
  3. It could take up to 10 minutes for the new name/email to take effect
  4. The current email address will automatically be turned into an alias, ensuring email deliverability for those that still send emails to the old email address

Steps to Rename a User in Google Apps

First, you’ll need to login to Google Apps for Work.

  1. Navigate to admin.google.com
  2. Login to the Admin Console (make sure you have Admin privileges)

Now let’s navigate to the users area.

  1. From the Home screen, click on “Users”
Google Apps for Work Users Menu
Google Apps for Work admin console home screen

We need to locate the user that you want to edit.

  1. Scroll down your list of Google Apps users until you find the one you want to edit
  2. Look for the icon with three vertical dots, all the way to the right of the users name
  3. Clicking the icon opens up a sub-menu
  4. Click “Rename user”
Google Apps edit users flyout menu
The Google Apps users list with sub-menu options displayed

Now, you can rename the user in Google Apps.

  1. Change the user’s first & last name, if applicable
  2. Change the user’s email address, if applicable
  3. Click “Rename User” at the bottom
Google Apps rename user modal window
The modal window that appears when renaming a user from the admin console

That’s all there is to it. Obviously, it’s best to double-check all your users before adding them, but if you have to rename a user in Google Apps for Work, luckily the process is simple, and the consequences are not severe.

Need help setting up Google Apps for Work? Contact me for a free quote »

Signup for Google Apps Today

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Dave Warfel

LinkedIn  •  X (Twitter)Dave has been working with WordPress since 2011. He's built 100s of client sites and almost a dozen of his own. He's tested almost every plugin you can think of, hosted with at least 10 different companies, and gone down every SEO rabbit hole you can imagine. When's he's not tinkering with new software, you'll find him in the mountains of Colorado, trail running, summiting peaks, and rippin' downhills on his mountain bike. 🏔️🏃🚴🤸

2 responses to “How to Rename a User in Google Apps for Work”

  1. Maurice Avatar
    Maurice

    Google Apps is indeed a great service that I’ve been using for over 8 years. Its reliability and feature-set is unparalleled. Even with Office365, reliability has been an issue for my clients. Sometimes, e-mails are delivered with a delay, and it is tricky to set up Outlook to sync with exchange, etc.

    Also, a little known secret is Google Apps was once free back before 2012, and those accounts are still free. While $60/user/year is certainly not a big deal IMO for reliable service and security, it does somewhat make a difference if you have more than 1 or 2 users..say for a 10 user account, that would be $600. Just in case anybody is interested, I have old domains from a while ago with 10-200 users associated with these free accounts that I don’t really need and can set up with your own domain.. visit https://www.gappsdomains.com to learn more. Didn’t want to spam anybody, just wanted to point out the existence of this edition of Google Apps in case anybody is considering purchasing the paid version.

    Reply
    1. Dave Warfel Avatar
      Dave Warfel

      Maurice — Interesting business idea. I agree with you that $60/user/year is a small price to pay, but for those with more than a few users, price becomes a factor. I’ve seen it firsthand with several clients.

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