Unable to see 'Manage External Users' Button in Salesforce Contact Layout

Determine why 'Manage External User' is missing from the Contact page

Note: The 'Manage External User' button is‌ a series of nested buttons: 

• Enable Partner User
• Enable Customer User
• Enable Super User Access
• View Customer User
• View Partner User
• Disable Partner Super Access
• Log in to Experience as User

In Lightning Experience 

1. Check whether the actions required for managing external users are on the Contact page layout:

1. Navigate to Gear icon | Setup | Object Manager | Contact | Page layout.
2. Look for the nested buttons, and make sure all of them are added under 'Salesforce Mobile and Lightning Experience Actions.'

Note: If there are different layouts, determine which of those need this button, and repeat the above steps for every layout where the button is required.
 

2. If the button is not found, check whether Sites is enabled by following this click path:

1. Navigate to gear icon | Setup | Feature Settings | Digital Experiences | Settings.
2. If not enabled, then that is what is causing the issue. In this case, Enable Digital Experiences.

3. If Sites is enabled, check for the permission 'Manage External Users.' Depending on the user interface settings, you can check permissions in one of two ways:

• If Enable Enhanced Profile User Interface is selected
  1. Navigate to Setup | Users | Profiles | System Administrator | App Permissions.
  2. 'Manage External Users' is in the 'Partner Relationship Management' section.

• If Enable Enhanced Profile User Interface is NOT selected

1. Navigate to Setup | Users | Profiles | System Administrator.
2. 'Manage External Users' is in the 'Administrative Permissions' section.

In Salesforce Classic 

1. Check whether the nested buttons for 'Manage External User' are on the Contact page layout:

1. Navigate to Setup | Customize | Contacts | Page Layouts.
   
   Note: If there are different layouts, determine which of those need the button and repeat the above steps for every layout where the button is required.

2. Search for each of the nested buttons for 'Manage External User.'
3. Drag the nested buttons that are not yet added to the 'Button' section on the page layout.

1. Navigate to Setup | Customize | Digital Experiences | Settings
2. If not enabled, then that is what is causing the issue. In this case, Enable Digital Experiences.

• If Enable Enhanced Profile User Interface is selected: 
  1. Navigate to Setup | Manage Users | Profiles | System Administrator | App Permissions.
  2. 'Manage External Users' is in the 'Partner Relationship Management' section.

• If Enable Enhanced Profile User Interface is NOT selected: 

1. Navigate to Setup | Manage Users | Profiles | System Administrator.
2. 'Manage External Users' is in the 'Administrative Permissions' section.

Note: Be sure to check whether the Contact is associated with an Account. If the Contact is not associated with any Account, then the 'Manage External User' button will not be available.

For Partner Community license Users, if 'Manage External Users' is not available on the Contact layout

1. Go to the Account record that will be a Partner in the site.
2. Click Manage External Account. Select Enable as Partner.
3. Navigate to the Contact record that is related to the Partner Account.
4. The 'Manage External Users' button should now be visible.

Note: ​If all these checks are positive, and still the button is not visible, please raise a Case with Salesforce Support. See Create a Support Case.
 

In a Sandbox, if 'Manage External Users' is not available on the Contact layout

Make sure there are licenses available. For more, please review Experience Cloud  User Licenses.

• If the sandbox was created before the production org had a Community license, then the 'Manage External User' button will not be found in the sandbox. If this happens, make sure the production organization has the required license, then refresh the sandbox.
• Keep in mind that any customization you have performed in the sandbox will be lost after the refresh. Use caution when considering a refresh.

Note: 'Manage External User' does not appear on the page if the User has no access to the Account associated with the Contact. This occurs if access to the Contact is granted via the 'View All Records' permission on the profile or permission set. 

If you continue to experience difficulty locating the actions allowing you to enable ‌external users utilizing this article, please reach out to Salesforce Support.