How to Add a User to Google Search Console (Step by Step)
Adding a team member, agency, or contractor to Google Search Console is a routine task — but the details matter. Assign the wrong role, share the wrong property, or send the invitation to the wrong Google account and you end up either locking someone out of the data they need or giving an outside party more control over your site than they should have. This guide covers every scenario: URL Prefix properties, Domain properties, delegated ownership, agency access, subdomain restrictions, and how to cleanly remove users when the relationship ends.
GSC User Roles Explained
Google Search Console has three user roles, each with a different level of access. Understanding what each role can and cannot do is essential before you decide what to assign.
Owner is the highest level of access. Owners can see all reports, submit sitemaps, use all tools, and — critically — add and remove other users. There are two types of Owners: Verified Owners (those who completed DNS or file verification during property setup) and Delegated Owners (those granted Owner-level access by an existing owner). Both types have identical permissions within the property, with one exception described in the ownership section below.
Full user can access all reports and data in the property — performance data, index coverage, sitemaps, URL inspection, and all other reports. A Full user can take some actions like submitting a URL for indexing. However, Full users cannot add or remove other users and have no administrative control over the property itself.
Restricted user is a read-only role with access to only a subset of reports. Restricted users can typically see the Search Results (Performance) report but are locked out of coverage details, sitemap reports, and manual actions. This role is designed for stakeholders who need to view top-level search performance metrics but do not need full operational access.
Who Can Add Users
Only Property Owners can add new users to a Google Search Console property. If you are logged in as a Full user or Restricted user, you will not see user management options in the Settings menu — those controls are hidden entirely. This is by design: Google restricts user management to people who have demonstrated ownership of the property either through direct verification or delegation by a verified owner.
Before attempting to add a user, confirm your own access level by clicking the gear icon (Settings) in the left sidebar. If you see "Users and permissions" in the Settings list, you are an Owner. If that option is absent, you are a Full or Restricted user and will need to ask an Owner to add the new user on your behalf.
Step-by-Step: Add a User to a URL Prefix Property
The following steps apply when you have a URL Prefix property (for example, https://www.example.com/) and want to grant access to another Google account.
- Open Google Search Console and make sure the correct URL Prefix property is selected in the property selector at the top left.
- In the left sidebar, click the gear icon to open Settings.
- Click Users and permissions. You will see a list of all current users and their roles for this property.
- Click the Add user button in the top right corner of the Users and permissions panel.
- Enter the Google account email address of the person you are adding. This must be a Gmail address or a Google Workspace account — not a generic email. Double-check the address before proceeding.
- Select the appropriate permission level: Owner, Full user, or Restricted user.
- Click Add. The user immediately gains access — there is no email invitation to accept. They can log in to search.google.com/search-console and see the property right away.
Note that access is granted at the property level. Adding someone to a URL Prefix property for https://www.example.com/ does not give them access to https://example.com/ or any other property, including Domain properties for the same root domain.
Step-by-Step: Add a User to a Domain Property
Adding a user to a Domain property follows the exact same interface flow as a URL Prefix property. The key difference is scope: a Domain property covers all subdomains and all protocol variants of your root domain. Anyone you add as a user on the Domain property will see data from every subdomain — including ones you may not want them to access.
- Select your Domain property (shown as
example.comwithout a protocol) in the property selector. - Click Settings in the left sidebar, then Users and permissions.
- Click Add user, enter the Google account email, select the role, and click Add.
Before adding someone to a Domain property, confirm you want them to see data for all subdomains. If you only want them to access one specific subdomain, use a URL Prefix property for that subdomain instead (see the section below on restricting access).
Difference Between Owner and Delegated Owner
The distinction between a Verified Owner and a Delegated Owner matters most when it comes to removing users and managing the property long-term.
A Verified Owner is someone who proved ownership of the property directly — by adding a DNS TXT record, uploading an HTML file, or using another verification method. Their ownership is tied to the presence of that verification artifact. If the HTML file is removed from the server or the DNS record is deleted, their verified ownership lapses.
A Delegated Owner is someone granted Owner-level access by an existing owner. They can do everything a Verified Owner can do inside GSC — add users, remove users, submit sitemaps — with one important exception: a Delegated Owner cannot remove a Verified Owner. This prevents a scenario where an external party could lock the actual site owner out of their own property. Verified Owners can always remove Delegated Owners, but not the reverse.
If you want to grant Owner-level access to a trusted internal team member without requiring them to touch DNS or your server, add them as a Delegated Owner through the Users and permissions screen. Assign them the "Owner" role — this automatically makes them a Delegated Owner.
How to Give an Agency Access
When working with an SEO agency or external consultant, the best practice is to add them as a Full user, not an Owner. Here is why this matters:
- A Full user can access every report the agency needs — performance data, index coverage, sitemap status, URL inspection, and manual actions — so nothing is hidden from them operationally.
- As a Full user, the agency cannot add other users, remove existing users, or modify verification settings. This prevents scenarios where a departing agency removes your access or adds their own users without your knowledge.
- If you need to end the relationship, you retain full control and can remove the agency's access without any complications.
Ask the agency for the specific Google account email address they use for GSC access — ideally a shared team account like seo@agency.com rather than an individual employee's personal Gmail, which would need to be updated every time there is staff turnover on their side.
How to Restrict Access to One Subdomain
If you want to give someone access to data for a specific subdomain only — for example, your blog team should only see blog.example.com/ data — you need a URL Prefix property for that subdomain.
- First, check whether a URL Prefix property for the subdomain already exists in your GSC account. Open the property selector and look for
https://blog.example.com/in the list. - If it does not exist, add it: click Add property, choose URL Prefix, enter
https://blog.example.com/, and verify ownership using your preferred method. - Once the URL Prefix property for the subdomain exists and is verified, switch to that property in the selector.
- Go to Settings → Users and permissions and add the user to this property only.
The user will now see only the subdomain property in their GSC account. They will not have visibility into your Domain property or any other URL Prefix properties. This is the correct architecture for scoping access to content teams or contractors working on a specific section of a site.
How to Remove a User from GSC
Removing a user is straightforward and takes effect immediately. Follow these steps:
- Open the property from which you want to remove the user. Make sure you are an Owner on that property.
- Click Settings in the left sidebar, then Users and permissions.
- Find the user you want to remove in the list. Click the three-dot menu (⋮) to the right of their name and email.
- Select Remove access.
- Confirm the removal. The user loses access immediately — no notification email is sent to them.
If you are removing an agency after a contract ends, repeat this process for every property they have access to. It is common to forget a subdomain property or a staging property where they were separately added.
Common Mistakes
A few recurring errors cause problems when managing GSC users. Being aware of them ahead of time saves troubleshooting later.
Adding the wrong Google account email. GSC access is tied to a specific Google account. If you enter john@company.com but the person's GSC-linked Google account is actually john.smith@gmail.com, they will not see the property when they log in. Always confirm the exact Google account email the person uses for GSC before sending the invitation.
Adding an agency as an Owner. This is the most consequential mistake. An agency granted Owner access can add their own team members, remove your users, and in edge cases, complicate the offboarding process. Agencies need Full user access — not Owner. The only time an external party should have Owner access is if they are responsible for verification and you have a strong trust relationship.
Confusing property-level access with account-level access. GSC does not have global account-level user management in the way Google Analytics does. Every GSC property is managed independently. Adding someone to one property does not give them access to other properties in your account. If an agency needs access to three properties — your main site, a subdomain, and a staging environment — you need to add them to each of the three properties separately.
Assuming the user received a notification. Unlike some platforms, GSC does not send an email notification to users when they are added to a property. You need to tell the person directly and confirm they can see the property when they log in. If they cannot see it, the most common cause is that they are logged into a different Google account in their browser.