Move, rename, or delete an organizational unit

You can change your organizational tree from the Google Admin console by adding, renaming, moving, or deleting devices, users, or organizational units.

Access the organizational tree

1. Sign in to your Google Admin console.

   Sign in using your administrator account (does not end in @gmail.com).

2. In the Admin console, go to Menu  DirectoryOrganizational units.
3. Point to the organizational unit you want to update or delete.

Move an organizational unit

1. Follow the steps on this page to Access the organizational tree.
2. Click Move .
3. Select an organizational unit.
4. Click Continue.
5. Review the information about moving the organizational unit.
6. Click Move.

Rename an organizational unit

1. Follow the steps on this page to Access the organizational tree.
2. Click More Edit.
3. At Name of organizational unit, enter a new name.

   Note: You can't use a slash (/) in names.

   If you use Google Cloud Directory Sync, Google Workspace Admin SDK, or Google School Directory Sync to create or rename an organizational unit, the / is replaced by an underscore (_).

4. (Optional) At Description, enter text.
5. Click Update.

Delete an organizational unit

If you intend to delete a parent organizational unit, you must first remove any shared drives, child organizational units, users, and devices it might include.

Step 1: Update shared drives

1. Move shared drives to other organizational units. You need to move all shared drives out of the organizational unit you want to delete, and out of any of its child organizational unit so you can delete those, too.
2. (Optional but recommended) Review your shared drive creation settings and make sure that the organizational unit (and any child organizational units) you want to delete isn’t set as the default location for new shared drives. Otherwise, users won’t be able to create shared drives. However, you can still delete an organizational unit if it is set as a default location. Learn how to update shared drive creation settings

Step 2: Delete child organizational units

1. Follow the steps on this page to Access the organizational tree.
2. Click More Delete.
3. Repeat as needed for multiple child organizational units.

Note: Deletion can take up to 48 hours. Learn more about How changes propagate to Google services.

Step 3: Move or delete users

For details on:

• Moving users from one unit to another—Go to Move users to an organizational unit.
• Deleting one or more users—Read Delete or remove a user from your organization.

Note: Deletion can take up to 48 hours. Learn more about How changes propagate to Google services.

Step 4: Move or deprovision devices

If you get the error: "This organization can’t be deleted if it has child organizations, users, or devices", you might need to move or deprovision Chrome devices in the organizational unit. 

If needed, remove Google Meet hardware devices or Jamboard devices, and cloud-managed Chrome browsersfrom the organizational unit. (Mobile devices and endpoints are not connected to organizational units.)

Move or deprovision Chrome devices

To complete these steps, you need the appropriate administrator privileges. Depending on your privileges, you might not see all the controls needed to complete these steps. Learn more about administrator privileges.

1. Sign in to your Google Admin console.

   Sign in using your administrator account (does not end in @gmail.com).

2. From the Admin console Home page, go to  Menu  DevicesChromeDevices.
3. Select the organizational unit that you want to delete.

   By default, an organizational unit shows only provisioned devices.

   

4. Click StatusAllApply.

   

5. Check the box next to the devices you want to move or deprovision.
6. Choose an option:
   • To move devices, go to Move devices to another organizational unit .
   • To deprovision devices:
     1. Click Trash .
     2. Review the information, check the box to confirm that you understand the upgrade policy, deprovisioning steps, and enrollment stepsclick Deprovision.
7. Repeat these steps for any managed browsers and other devices in the organizational unit.

 

After you remove any shared drives, child organizational units, users, and devices, you can delete the organizational unit. To do so, follow the same steps (on this page) that you take to Delete child organizational units.

Related topics

• How the organizational structure works
• Organizational policies FAQ