Search Console Add User: Permissions, Owners and Safe Removal

At some point someone else needs to see your Search Console data: a developer fixing indexing errors, an agency running audits, a colleague who writes the content. The wrong way to share is to hand over your Google login. The right way is a Search Console add user action, which gives each person their own access at a level you choose and lets you take it away later without changing a password.

Getting this right has a second half that people skip. When someone leaves, removing their name from the list is not always enough. If they verified ownership with a file, a tag or a DNS record, that token can stay on your site and let them come back. This guide explains the permission levels in plain terms, shows how to add and change users, and gives a complete offboarding routine, so the only people with access are the people you chose.

It is for whoever owns the site or the account. It does not cover Google Analytics access, Google Business Profile, or Google Workspace admin roles, which have their own settings.

Short answer: To add a user in Search Console, an owner opens Settings, then Users and permissions, selects Add user, enters the person's Google Account email, and picks Owner, Full or Restricted. To remove someone, choose Remove access, then delete any verification tokens they added so they cannot re-verify.

Before you begin

Only property owners can add or remove users, and only owners can see the Users and permissions page. If you cannot see it, you are not an owner of that property, and you should ask whoever is. Google also allows an owner of a parent property to manage users on a child property; if you own https://example.com, you can manage https://example.com/blog/. For how property types relate, see Domain Property vs URL Prefix in Search Console.

Collect the Google Account email address of each person. It must be a Google Account; Google says email groups cannot be added, so add people individually. If an agency uses a shared mailbox, ask who will actually sign in, because shared logins are hard to audit.

Decide the minimum level each person needs before you open the page. Allow ten minutes. The risk is access: an owner can add and remove other users, including you, so be cautious with ownership.

Search Console add user: which permission level should I choose?

Level	What it is	Typical person
Verified owner	Proved ownership with a token (HTML file, meta tag, DNS record and so on); cannot be downgraded, only removed	You, or the person responsible for the domain
Delegated owner	Made an owner by another owner, without their own token	A trusted manager or lead developer
Full user	Can view all data and take some actions	Developer, SEO, content lead
Restricted user	Basic view access to most data; receives only messages that specifically affect them	Writer, stakeholder who only needs to look
Associate	Can perform certain tasks for the site, such as linking a Chrome Web Store or Merchant Center account; cannot open the account or its data directly	A service or colleague linking an account

Google's permissions table lists what each level can do. The points that matter most:

Owners only: add or remove property owners, add users, and link Google Analytics accounts.
Owners and full users: submit sitemaps, use the disavow tool, send reconsideration requests, remove URLs, share report links and use the URL Inspection tool and Verify fix more fully than restricted users.
Full and restricted users: view performance, links, rich result status and the main reports.
Restricted users: several areas, such as Change of Address, Index Coverage and Remove URLs, are view-only for them.

Treat that list as a summary and read the current table on Google's page before relying on a fine detail, since permissions change as the product does. A good habit is the principle of least privilege: give Restricted unless the person must act, Full when they must act, and Owner only for people who must manage access.

How many users can a property have?

Google's page sets these limits: up to 100 users who are not owners (full, restricted or associate), delegated owners until verified plus delegated owners together reach 500, and no maximum on verified owners. Every property needs at least one verified owner, or no one will have access.

Step-by-step instructions

Step 1: Open the right property

Select the property in Search Console. If you have both a Domain property and a URL-prefix property for the same site, decide which one the person should see. A Domain property covers all subdomains and protocols; a URL-prefix property is narrower. Permissions are set per property, so adding someone to one does not add them to the other.

What success looks like: You are on the property you intend to share, and the name at the top matches.

Step 2: Go to Users and permissions

Open Settings for the property and choose Users and permissions. This page is visible only to owners. You will see current users, their level, and whether an owner is marked Verified.

What success looks like: You can see the list of current users and the Add user button.

Step 3: Add the user

Select Add user, type the person's Google Account email, choose a permission level and save. They can then open the property when signed in with that account. If you see the message "This user may only be added as 'Owner'", the person already owns a parent property, so they can only be added as an owner of this child property.

What success looks like: The new person appears in the list with the level you chose, and they confirm they can open the property.

Step 4: Give ownership only when it is needed

To add an owner, use the same Add user flow and choose Owner. That creates a delegated owner, who does not need a token. To make someone a verified owner, they must generate their own verification token, place it on the site (HTML file, tag, DNS record or another method Google offers) and click Verify. Ask whether they truly need that: delegated ownership is easier to withdraw, because removing it is a click, whereas a token left on your site keeps working until it is deleted.

What success looks like: Each owner is listed as Owner, with or without Verified, and you know why.

Step 5: Change a level later

Owners can change another person's level from the menu beside their name, using Change permissions. If that option is greyed out, the person is a verified owner and cannot be downgraded, only removed. Review levels when a person's role changes, for example when a freelancer moves from fixing to monitoring.

What success looks like: The level in the list matches what the person does today.

Step 6: Remove a user, then remove their tokens

To remove someone, open the menu beside their name and choose Remove access. If they were a verified owner, Search Console may show a notice listing tokens that could let them regain access. Remove those tokens, or the person can verify again. The method depends on how they verified:

Verification method	How to remove the token
HTML file	Delete the file from the site
HTML meta tag	Remove the tag from the home page source
DNS record	Delete the TXT record in your DNS
Google Analytics or Tag Manager	Change the linked account or revoke the person's access to it
Google Sites or Blogger	Switch the site's owner

Use the Unused ownership tokens list on the page to find leftovers. One caution from Google: the same token may verify other Google services such as Merchant Center or Google Workspace, so check before you delete one. Do not delete the record that your own account relies on (Google says that for DNS verification you should not remove the record, even after verification succeeds, and that removing a verification file removes verification too); losing the last verified owner means everyone else loses access after a grace period, and data is collected but cannot be viewed until someone verifies again. See Search Console Verification Failed: Fix Every Common Cause if verification stops working.

What success looks like: The person is gone from the list and their tokens are gone from the site or DNS.

Step 7: Review ownership history

Owners can open Ownership history on the Users and permissions page to see owners added and removed, verification attempts and removed tokens. If it shows an owner you do not recognise, treat it as a possible compromise. Google warns that removing a tag may not be enough, since a hacker can add it again, so secure the site or bring in a security professional; see Hacked Site SEO Spam: Find and Clean Injected Spam Pages and Search Console Security Issues.

What success looks like: Every event in the history is one you can explain.

How do I check who has access to my Search Console?

For your own level, open Settings and read the Ownership verification row. For everyone else, owners can open Users and permissions: a person listed as Owner and Verified is a verified owner, and one listed as Owner without Verified is a delegated owner. The Ownership verification details option on a user's menu shows the methods a verified owner used. Do this review on a fixed schedule, for example when a contractor finishes or every quarter, and note the date.

Worked example: offboarding an agency

Here is a hypothetical case. An agency finishes its contract. The owner opens Users and permissions, sees two agency accounts: one Full, one Owner with Verified. She removes the Full user. For the verified owner, she first notes the method in Ownership verification details: a DNS TXT record. She removes access, then deletes that TXT record in her DNS panel after checking it is not shared with another Google service she uses. She reopens Ownership history to confirm the removal and token events appear, and confirms her own verification record is still in place. Total time: about fifteen minutes. Compare this with Set Up Google Search Console, where the verification record was first added.

Final verification checklist

You are an owner of the correct property.
Each person was added by individual Google Account email, not a group.
Each level is the lowest that lets the person do their job.
The number of owners is kept small, and each owner is known by name.
Departed people are removed and their unused ownership tokens are deleted.
Your own verification record is still in place and verified.
Ownership history contains only events you can explain.
A review date is in the calendar.

Common mistakes to avoid

Sharing your own Google login. Add the person by email instead; you can then remove them without changing your password.
Making everyone an owner. Owners can add and remove users. Use Full or Restricted unless management of access is part of the job.
Removing a verified owner but leaving the token. The person can re-verify. Remove the token as well.
Deleting a token still in use. It may verify other Google services, and removing the last verified owner cuts off the rest. Check first.
Trying to add an email group. Google does not support it. Add individuals.
Adding people to the wrong property. Permissions are per property; check Domain versus URL-prefix.
Never reviewing the list. Old freelancer accounts persist until someone removes them.

Frequently asked questions

How do I add a user to Search Console?

An owner opens Settings, then Users and permissions, selects Add user, enters a Google Account email, picks a permission level and saves.

What is the difference between full and restricted users in Search Console?

Both can view most reports. Full users can also take some actions, such as submitting sitemaps or sending reconsideration requests, and restricted users have more view-only areas and only receive messages that specifically affect them.

Why can I not see Users and permissions?

The page is visible only to property owners. Ask an owner to add you as one, or to make the change for you.

Can an agency or freelancer see my data without being an owner?

Yes. Full or restricted users can view data, and associates can perform specific linked tasks, but associates cannot open the account or its data directly.

What happens if I remove the last owner?

Google says remaining users lose access after a grace period. Data keeps being collected, but nobody can view it until someone verifies ownership again.

Official references

Next step: Try the free website sample to see how your own site does on a few of these checks. This guide provides technical information, not a guarantee of rankings, traffic or index inclusion.