How to share access to your Google Admin Console

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Sharing management access with other users on Google Admin Console is a relatively simple task that doesn’t consume much time to perform. In this guide you will learn why you may want to share access to Google Admin console, how to provide other users in your organization with an administrative role to let them manage users, how to remove super administrator privileges, how to add external admins to your Google Workspace.

Why you need to share access to Google Admin console

Sharing access with external users is a convenient measure for businesses that want to outsource the issue of Google Workspace management to third-party organizations. Other use cases may include the situations when your IT specialists struggle with some aspects of your Google Workspace management, and the only way to resolve them is to invite external specialists.

How to assign an admin role to existing users

To assign an admin role to the users that already exist in you organization you need to:

Access Google Admin console (admin.google.com) using an account that has the admin privilege.
In the menu on the left go to Directory.
Open Users.
Choose the users you want to promote to an admin role.
Scroll down and click on Admin role and privileges.
Make sure the slider is set to Assigned next to Super Admin role.
Scroll all the way to the bottom and click on Save.

How to remove Google Workspace administrator privileges

Google Admin console allows you to remove a user’s admin privileges and revert it back to a normal user status. When the access is removed the selected users won’t be able to access Google Admin console. To remove admin privileges from the selected users follow the steps:

Go to you Google Admin console (admin.google.com).
Locate Directory in the menu on the left.
Click on Users.
Click on the user’s name, who’s admin privileges you would like to remove.
In the opened page scroll down to see the Admin roles and privileges section.
Click the slider to disable the privileges to the selected user.
Scroll all the way to the bottom and hit Save.

How to add an external administrator to Google Workspace

Adding an external administrator to Google Workspace might be useful in different situations, for example, if your organization needs to invite someone to perform admin functions for your Google Workspace.

Some users want to employ their personal emails for Google Workspace management, which is unfortunately not possible. Users with the domains that are different from the domain of your organization cannot be added to your Google Workspace and set as administrators.

The only option to add an unpaid account for strictly super administrator purposes is by using Cloud Identity service

How to use a free Cloud Identity account for Google Workspace administration?

As it has been stated above, there is no option to add a personal account to manage your Google Workspace. However, it’s possible to use Cloud Identity service to create a free unpaid account. This account isn’t licensed for paid Google services, but it may still be used for Google Admin Console. If you want to enable Cloud Identity domain for Google Admin Console management, follow the steps below:

Log in to your Google Admin console using a super administrator account.
In the menu on the left locate Billing.
Click on Get more services.
Choose Cloud Identity in the section of categories.
Review the conditions and finish the process.
When the Cloud Identity service is enabled, Google Admin Console may offer you to disable automatic licenses. Make sure it is disabled so that you don’t get charged for the users you create.
Create a new account. Ensure it doesn’t have Google license assigned.
Assign an admin role to the created user.
Depending on your needs you can remove super admin privileges from the other accounts.

Keep in mind that using Cloud Identity service won’t allow you to create a separate domain for the external users. You will have to stick to the standard domain that you already have. The best advantage of this approach is that you don’t have to pay for the user’s license.

How to use a 'secondary domain' for Google Workspace administration?

The use of secondary domains might also serve as an alternative option for external users. Especially when you there is a requirement to use a different domain for the new users. Bear in mind that in comparison with the previous solution this approach is relatively limited. On top of that, it requires more time and money.

To set up secondary domain for Google Workspace, you can follow the steps:

Log in to your Google Admin console using an account that has Admin privilege.
In the menu on the left locate Account.
Open Domains.
Click on Manage domains.
In the opened page, you can see all the existing domains that belong to your Google Workspace.
Click Add a domain in the top menu.
Enter a domain name.
Select a domain type.
Hit Add domain & start verification.
Now, when you have a secondary domain, you can create users using it.

Even though the official Google documentation states that you can manage separate of users or business at different domains, you should remember that your primary domain will be billed for the services that used by other domains. Moreover, you are not allowed to set up a separate billing address or a company logo for a secondary domain

Overall, the use of secondary domains isn’t worth the effort since the behavior of secondary domains in Google Admin console is also quite questionable.