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Reuse the username associated with an inactive User

Publiceringsdatum: May 26, 2026
Beskrivning

Some companies have predefined usernames and sometimes because of particular reasons, one username may need to be recycled or reused.

A couple of instances where this occurs is:
 

  • A previous employee, who had an existing User record has returned and instead of reactivating his User detail - the company decides to create a new record instead.
  • Alternatively, a new organization has been commissioned for a company and all Users need to be transferred over. In these situations, reusing old usernames is not possible, as Salesforce has strict security measures and do not allow deletion of User records. 
Lösning

As a workaround, you can edit the inactive User record and add a number to the end of the username. This change allows you to reuse the username.

In Salesforce, usernames must be globally unique and cannot be deleted. To free up a username associated with an inactive user record, modify the inactive user's username slightly (e.g., append a number), which makes the original username available for reassignment.

Steps to edit an inactive User's username

  1. Navigate to the User object:
In Salesforce Classic: Setup | Manage Users | Users
In Lightning Experience: Gear icon | Setup | Administration | Users | Users
 
  1. Edit the inactive record by clicking on the Edit link beside it or by clicking on the username to edit from there.
  2. Modify the username by adding a letter or a number at the end. For example: username@force.com change to username2@force.com.
  3. Click on Save.

By doing this, the old username retains all its records and activity logs under a different but similar username while the original username becomes available for use.

Knowledge-artikelnummer

000385815

 
Laddar
Salesforce Help | Article