How to Add a User to Google Search Console

You need to give someone access to your site’s data in Search Console. Maybe it is a new SEO agency, a developer fixing errors, or a colleague who builds your reports. To add user to Google Search Console, you must be an owner of the property. Go to Settings > Users and permissions, click Add user, enter their Google Account email, pick a permission level and save.

That part takes less than a minute. The harder part is choosing the right level, adding them to the right property and removing access cleanly later. This guide covers all of it, including the old verification tokens that let removed owners come back.

Who Should Get Access, and Why It Matters

Search Console is not just a reporting tool. People with enough access can remove URLs from Google, submit disavow files, change the site’s address and link other Google accounts. A wrong click in the wrong hands can hide your pages from search for months.

So before I add anyone, I ask one question: what does this person actually need to do? Most people only need to read reports. A smaller group needs to take action, like submitting sitemaps or requesting indexing. Very few need to manage other users.

Here is how I usually match people to roles:

• Business owner or in-house marketing lead: owner. Keep at least two people from your own company as owners.
• SEO agency or freelancer doing hands-on work: full user. That covers almost everything they need.
• Developer fixing technical errors: full user while the work is happening, then downgrade or remove.
• Someone who only reads reports or builds dashboards: restricted user.
• Another Google service, like Google Analytics or Merchant Center: an association, not a user.

Search Console Permission Levels Explained

Search Console has four kinds of access. Two of them are types of owner, so it can feel like five. Here is what each one means in plain words.

Owner: Verified vs Delegated

An owner has full control. Owners can see all data, use every tool, change settings and add or remove other users. Every property needs at least one verified owner, or nobody can use it.

There are two kinds of owner, and the difference matters a lot when you remove someone:

• Verified owner: someone who proved ownership with a verification token. A token is a small proof placed on your site or domain, like an HTML file, a meta tag or a DNS record (a setting at your domain provider). Their access depends on that token staying in place.
• Delegated owner: someone an existing owner gave owner rights to, without a token. Any owner can add or remove a delegated owner from the Users and permissions page.

In the user list, a verified owner shows as “Verified owner” and a delegated owner shows as just “Owner”.

Full User

A full user can see all data and take most actions. They can submit sitemaps, request indexing in the URL Inspection tool, use the Removals tool, submit disavow files and validate fixes. What they cannot do is add or remove users, link Google Analytics or use the Change of Address tool.

In my experience, full user is the right level for almost every agency. If an agency asks to be an owner, I ask them which task needs it. The answer is usually “none”.

Restricted User

A restricted user can view most data but cannot change much. They can read the Performance, Links and other reports. They can inspect a URL, but they cannot request indexing, submit sitemaps or use the Removals tool. They also only receive messages that directly affect them.

This is the level I give to people who build monthly reports, to sales teams and to anyone who just wants to look.

Associates

An associate is not a person you add on the users page. It is a link between your property and another Google service, such as a Google Analytics property, a Google Ads account, a Merchant Center account or a Play Console account. You manage these under Settings > Associations.

Associates cannot open Search Console or see the property directly. Keep in mind, though, that a Google Analytics link shares Search Console performance data with that Analytics property. Anyone with access to the Analytics property may see that data.

What Each Level Can Do

Google keeps the full permission list in its Search Console help page on managing users and permissions. I check it whenever I am unsure about a single task.

How to Add User to Google Search Console, Step by Step

Before you start, get the exact email address of the Google Account the person will use. It must be a Google Account. It does not have to be a Gmail address, but it does have to be registered with Google.

1. Sign in to Search Console with an owner account.
2. Pick the right property in the property selector at the top of the left menu. Check whether it is a Domain property or a URL-prefix property (more on this below). Since 2026 the list can also hold platform properties for social accounts, so make sure you are on the website one.
3. Click Settings at the bottom of the left menu.
4. Click Users and permissions. If you cannot see this option, you are not an owner of this property.
5. Click the Add user button at the top right.
6. Type the person’s Google Account email address.
7. Choose Full or Restricted from the permission menu. Choose Owner only if they truly need to manage users.
8. Click Add.

The person now has access. Do not wait for an email to tell them. I always send a short message myself: “You now have Full access to example.com in Search Console. Sign in with this email and pick the property from the top left menu.”

How to Add a Delegated Owner

Follow the same steps and choose Owner as the permission level. This creates a delegated owner. They get owner rights, but their access depends on you and the other owners, not on a token.

If you must hand someone owner access, delegated is safer than verified. It is one click to remove later.

How to Add a Verified Owner

You cannot make someone a verified owner from the users page. They have to verify themselves with their own token:

1. The new owner opens the property selector in their own Search Console account and clicks + Add property.
2. They choose Website property, pick Domain or URL-prefix and enter the exact address.
3. Search Console gives them a personal token, such as an HTML file, a meta tag or a DNS TXT record. If you need time to place it, they can click Verify later (see Google’s guide to adding a property).
4. You or your developer place that token on the site or at the domain provider.
5. The new owner selects the property and clicks Verify.

Do not remove or overwrite tokens that belong to other owners while doing this. Each owner has their own. If you want to learn more about the methods, Google explains them in its guide to verifying site ownership.

How to Change a User’s Permission

Open Settings > Users and permissions, click the three-dot menu (More settings) next to the user and choose Change permissions. Pick the new level and save.

You can change the level for full users, restricted users and delegated owners. You cannot change a verified owner’s level from this menu. To downgrade a verified owner, you first have to remove their verification.

Domain vs URL-Prefix Properties: Add Users to the Right One

Search Console has two kinds of property, and this trips up many people.

• Domain property: covers the whole domain, like example.com. It includes every subdomain (www, m, shop and so on) and both http and https. It can only be verified with a DNS record.
• URL-prefix property: covers only URLs that start with the exact address you entered, like https://www.example.com/. A version with or without www, or with http instead of https, is a different property.

Each property has its own user list. If you add someone to https://www.example.com/, they do not automatically get the Domain property, and the other way around.

Here is what I recommend:

• If you have a Domain property, add people there first. It shows data for the whole site, so they see the full picture.
• If your team also uses a URL-prefix property, for example for a blog folder or a subdomain, add the person to that one too.
• Before you add anyone, check the exact property name in the selector. I often see people add an agency to the old http:// property that has had no data for years.

There is one more rule around parent and child properties. A Domain property is the parent of the URL-prefix properties under it. If you verify the parent, child properties you add are verified automatically. And if someone already owns a parent property, you can only add them to a child property as an owner. Search Console will not let you add them at a lower level. You will see the message “This user may only be added as ‘Owner'” when this happens.

Platform Properties for Instagram, TikTok, X and YouTube

Search Console now has a third kind of property. A platform property shows how one social account, like instagram.com/username, performs in Google Search. Each account is its own property, verified by signing in to the platform or through a link with your website property, not with a token on your site. Google explains it in its help page about platform properties.

So access to your Domain property does not include your social data. Google’s help pages do not yet explain how sharing works here, so I check the platform property’s Settings before I promise anyone access.

How to Remove a User From Search Console

Removing a full user, restricted user or delegated owner is simple:

1. Go to Settings > Users and permissions.
2. Click the three-dot menu (More settings) next to the person.
3. Choose Remove access and confirm.

Their access ends right away. If Search Console shows a warning that the user may get access again, stop and read the next section. That person was a verified owner and their token is still on your site.

Removing Verified Owners and Old Verification Tokens

This is the part most guides skip, and it is the one that causes real security problems.

Removing a verified owner from the user list does not delete their verification token. If their HTML file, meta tag or DNS record is still in place, they can simply click Verify again and get full owner access back. Search Console will notify current owners if this happens, but by then they are already back in.

Here is how I remove a verified owner properly:

1. Go to Settings > Users and permissions and remove the person. Search Console then shows the tokens linked to them.
2. Note each token and the method it uses.
3. Delete each one from the site or domain:
   • HTML file: delete that person’s verification file from the root of your site.
   • HTML tag: remove only their google-site-verification meta tag from the homepage. Leave other owners’ tags alone.
   • DNS record: remove their TXT record at your domain provider.
   • Google Analytics or Google Tag Manager: remove their access to the Analytics property or Tag Manager container used for verification.
   • Google Sites or Blogger: change the account that owns the site.
4. Go back to Users and permissions and check Unused ownership tokens. It lists tokens that still sit on the site for people who are no longer owners.
5. Open Ownership history in Settings to confirm the change was recorded.

One warning. Some tokens are also used by other Google services, such as Merchant Center or Google Workspace. Removing one can break that service’s verification too. And removing someone’s Analytics access to clean up a token also ends their Analytics access, which may be what you want, but check first.

When I take over a site, I check Unused ownership tokens and Ownership history before anything else. Old agencies and former staff often still have a working token years later.

What Happens If No Verified Owner Is Left

If every verified owner loses verification, all other users and delegated owners lose access after a grace period. Google keeps collecting data, but nobody can see it until someone verifies again.

Search Console also checks tokens from time to time. If a site redesign deletes the verification file or a developer cleans up DNS records, you can lose ownership without anyone noticing. That is why I keep two in-house verified owners, ideally using DNS verification, which survives site changes.

Common Issues and How to Fix Them

“I Can’t See Users and Permissions” or There Is No Add User Button

You are a full or restricted user, not an owner. Ask an existing owner to add the person or to make you a delegated owner. If nobody knows who the owner is, someone with access to the website or DNS can verify ownership and become a verified owner.

“The Email Is Not a Google Account”

Search Console only accepts Google Accounts. The person can create a free Google Account using their existing work email, without making a Gmail address. Email groups and mailing lists cannot be added as users.

“I Was Added, but I Can’t See the Property”

This is almost always one of three things:

• They are signed in to a different Google Account in the same browser. Ask them to check the account icon at the top right.
• They were added to a different property, such as the URL-prefix version instead of the Domain property.
• They are looking for the property in a list but did not open the property selector at the top left.

“I Never Got an Invite Email”

Do not wait for one. Access starts as soon as the owner clicks Add. Tell the person to sign in to Search Console with the email you used and open the property selector.

“I Removed Them, but They Came Back”

They were a verified owner and their token is still in place. Follow the token removal steps above and check Unused ownership tokens.

“I Can’t Add More Users”

A property can have up to 100 users who are not owners, and that count includes full users, restricted users and associates. Delegated owners can be added until verified and delegated owners together reach 500. There is no cap on verified owners. If you hit the user limit, it is a sign you need a clean-up anyway.

One Google Account can also hold up to 1,000 properties, which large agencies sometimes reach.

Security Tips I Follow on Every Site

• Never share your Google password. Each person should sign in with their own account. Shared logins make it impossible to see who did what.
• Use the least access needed. Start with restricted and upgrade only when a task requires it.
• Prefer delegated owners over verified ones for outside people. They are much easier to remove.
• Keep ownership in-house. The business, not the agency, should hold the verified owner accounts.
• Review users regularly. I check the user list every quarter and whenever a contract ends or someone leaves.
• Clean up tokens whenever you remove a verified owner.

The same rules apply to your other Google tools. If you are handing access to an agency, you will likely need to do the same in Analytics. My guide on how to give access to Google Analytics 4 and its roles walks through that part. If Analytics is not set up yet, start with the GA4 setup guide.

What Has Changed Recently

Here is what has changed lately that matters when you share access.

• Platform properties (July 2026): Google launched properties for Instagram, TikTok, X and YouTube accounts in early July and rolled them out to everyone at the end of the month. + Add property now asks if you are adding a website or a platform. For sharing, a social account is a separate property, so access to your website property does not cover it.
• Social channels in Insights (December 2025): Google started a test that shows a site’s linked social channels in Search Console Insights, for a small set of sites. It does not add a role or change the Add user steps.
• No change to roles or limits: As of November 2026, Google still lists owner, full user, restricted user and associate, with the same 100 and 500 limits.

Conclusion

To add user to Google Search Console, you need owner access, the person’s Google Account email and the right property selected. For most people, full or restricted access is enough. Save owner rights for the few who manage users, and keep verified ownership inside your business.

Removing access is where most mistakes happen, so always check for leftover verification tokens when an owner leaves. Once your access is in order, use Search Console data to work through the SEO checklist for 2025 and fix what matters most on your site.