Manage users and teams in Dropbox Sign
Manage users, assign roles, organize teams, and transfer ownership to keep your Dropbox Sign account running smoothly.
7 minute read
A new employee joins the team. Another changes roles and needs different permissions. Later, someone leaves the organization and their documents, templates, and apps need to be transferred to a new owner.
That's where Dropbox Sign adminis comes in.
In this module, you'll learn how to manage users, roles, and teams while maintaining access to the documents, templates, and workflows your organization relies on.
Inviting users
As your organization grows, you'll need to add new users to your Dropbox Sign account.
To invite a user:
Open the Admin console.
Navigate to Users.
Click Invite.
Enter the user's email address.
Select the appropriate role.
Send the invitation.
The user will receive an email with instructions to join the account.
Note
Users don't need an existing Dropbox Sign account to accept an invitation. Once they follow the link in the invitation email and complete the setup process, they'll appear as active in your Users list.
If a user hasn't accepted their invitation after a few days, you can resend it from the Users section.
Understanding user roles
Choosing the right role helps ensure users have the access they need while maintaining appropriate administrative controls.
Member
Members can send and manage their own signature requests and templates.
This is the most common role for everyday users.
Developer
Developers can access API-related functionality and build integrations.
This role is typically assigned to technical users working with the Dropbox Sign API.
Team Manager
Team Managers can manage users and settings within their assigned team.
This role is useful when administrative responsibilities need to be delegated without granting full account administration privileges.
Admin
Admins have the highest level of access.
They can manage users, teams, settings, reporting, and security across the organization.
Best Practice
Assign the lowest level of access needed for a user's responsibilities.
This helps maintain security while ensuring users can perform their work effectively.
For most users, the Member role is the right starting point. Additional permissions can be granted later if responsibilities change. This approach helps reduce the risk of giving users more access than they need.
Managing users
The Users section of the Admin console allows you to manage account access throughout the user lifecycle.
Common actions include:
Updating roles
Locking accounts
Removing users
Edit roles
As responsibilities change, you can update a user's role without removing and re-adding them.
For example, you might promote a Member to Team Manager or grant Developer access to a technical user.
Lock accounts
Locking an account temporarily prevents a user from accessing Dropbox Sign without removing them from the team.
This can be useful when:
Investigating security concerns
Managing temporary leaves of absence
Preventing access during internal transitions
Note
Locking an account doesn't remove the user or their content. Their documents and templates remain available, and you can restore access later by unlocking the account.
Remove users
When a user no longer requires access, you can remove them from the account.
However, before removing a user, it's important to determine whether any documents, templates, or API resources need to remain accessible.
Tip
If you're unsure whether a user will need access again, lock the account before removing it. Locking is a reversible way to restrict access while preserving the user's documents, templates, and other resources.
Ownership transfer
Ownership transfer is one of the most important responsibilities of a Dropbox Sign admin.
When a user leaves the organization, important assets may still be associated with their account.
These can include:
Documents
Templates
API Apps
The Transfer ownership option allows you to move those assets to another user before the account is removed.
This helps preserve access and prevents business-critical resources from being lost.
Before removing a user
Review whether ownership should be transferred for:
Documents
Templates
API Apps
Ownership transfer is one of the most important steps in the user removal process. Documents, templates, and API apps that are still being used by the team should be transferred to a new owner before the account is removed.
Taking a few moments to review ownership can help prevent disruptions and ensure important resources remain accessible.
Note
Removed users no longer appear in future reports. If you need reporting data related to that user, generate and export any required reports before removing their account.
Best Practice
Whenever possible, transfer ownership before removing a user rather than trying to recover access later.
Understanding teams and sub-teams
Organizations can use teams to group users based on departments, functions, or business units.
Examples:
Human Resources
Sales
Legal
Operations
Teams help organize users while maintaining appropriate visibility and access controls.
Parent teams
A parent team sits at the top of the organizational structure.
Admins at this level typically have broader visibility across the organization.
Sub-teams
Sub-teams allow organizations to create smaller groups within a larger team structure.
For example:
Parent Team:
Operations
Sub-teams:
Recruiting
Procurement
Customer Operations
This structure helps organizations scale administration while maintaining separation between groups.
Team visibility
Team members cannot automatically access documents or information belonging to other teams.
This separation helps maintain privacy and supports organizational governance requirements.
Tip
If a user can't find a document or template they know exists, check whether it was created in a different team. Team visibility restrictions may prevent users from accessing resources outside their assigned team, even when they're part of the same organization.
You've learned how to keep the right people connected to the right documents, templates, and teams.