Options for adding users

For people in your organization to use your Google Workspace services, you must give each person a user account and a Google Workspace license. 

An account gives each user:

• A name and password for signing in to Google services
• An email address at any of your domains (if you're using Gmail) 
• A profile or contact name, which you can easily change later

Billing and licenses

• Flex Plan customers—Adding user accounts automatically increases your monthly payment.
• Annual Plan customers (before you begin)—If you make payments on the Annual Plan, you must first purchase a user license for each account you plan to add. If necessary, purchase more user licenses.
• A user needs a license to use a Google service. For example, a user must have a license for Google Workspace before they can use Gmail, Google Drive, or any other Google Workspace tool. A user can have a license for more than one service. Multiple users can’t share a single Google Workspace license, even if they don’t use all of the tools.

Learn more:

• How Google Workspace billing works
• How licensing works

 

Add accounts for new users

	Add one user at a time (easiest) Applies only for people who don't yet have a user account. To instead add an address for people who already have accounts, skip to options, below.  Easiest way to add users if you don’t have a large team. Identifies conflicting accounts—that is, whether a username you want to create matches an existing account. Follow the steps: Add a new user
	Add users in bulk (large organizations) Before you begin: Check to see if anyone you plan to add already has a Google Account. Then follow steps to avoid conflicts with those accounts. For more information, go to Find and resolve conflicting accounts. Here are options for adding up to thousands of users: If your organization uses an LDAP directory, such as Microsoft Active Directory Use Google Cloud Directory Sync to synchronize user data in your existing LDAP directory with your Google account (syncs groups, contacts, and organizations, too). If you have programming skills and want the most flexible option Use the Admin SDK Directory API to create a large number of users. If you need to provision thousands of users as quickly as possible Add 50,000 or more users at once using a third-party tool (requires experience using a command line) If none of the above options applies for you Add up to 150,000 users at once by uploading their names in a CSV file.
	After adding new users Users can start using their new account right away. It can take up to 24 hours for all Google Workspace services to be available. Recommended: Add 2-step verification for secure access Change the user’s profile (first or last) name Add the user to a group email list Options for businesses or schools Add the user’s employee information to your corporate Directory Add the user to an organizational unit (to customize feature or service access)

Add email addresses for existing users

You can create these addresses for users who already have accounts, at no extra charge. You don't have to pay for new accounts to create these addresses.

	Give a user another address  Create an email alias for the user's existing account. Mail sent to the address arrives in the same inbox as the user's regular mail. Follow all steps: Give an existing user another address (sales@)
	Create a group address (email list) Create a group mailing list for a department or team.  Add existing users to the group. Mail sent to the group arrives in each group member's inbox. Follow all steps: Create an email list (department@)

Related topics

• Name guidelines for users and groups 

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