Let users delegate access to a Gmail account

This article is for Google Workspace admins who want to set up Gmail delegation for an organization. To add delegates to your own Gmail account, visit Delegate and collaborate on email. 

As an administrator for your organization (for example, your work or school), you control whether users can delegate access to their Gmail account. You can let everyone have the option to delegate their account. Or, only let people in certain departments set up delegation. For example,  you can:

• Add an administrative assistant as a delegate on your Gmail account so they can read and send email on your behalf. 
• Add a group, such as your sales department, in Groups as a delegate to give everyone access to one Gmail account.

Users can only delegate access to another user in the same organization, regardless of their domain or their organizational unit.

Delegation limits & restrictions 

• Allow users to grant their mailbox access to a Google group option: To use this option, it must be enabled for the OU of the delegated account and for each group member's OU. Group members that belong to an OU without this option enabled can't access the delegated account.
• With typical use, 40 delegated users can access a Gmail account at the same time. Above-average use by one or more delegates might reduce this number. 
• Automated processes that frequently access Gmail might also reduce the number of delegates who can access an account at the same time. These processes include APIs or browser extensions that access Gmail frequently.
• A single Gmail account supports up to 1,000 unique delegates. A group in Groups counts as one delegate toward the limit.
• Autocomplete isn't available to delegated users when using the Gmail search bar in the delegated account.
• Delegation does not increase the limits for a Gmail account. Gmail accounts with delegated users have the standard Gmail account limits and policies. For details, visit Gmail limits and policies.

Turn on Gmail delegation for your users 

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  AppsGoogle WorkspaceGmailUser settings.
3. (Optional) To apply the setting to a department or team, at the side, select an organizational unit. Show me how
4. Click Mail delegation.
5. Check the Let users delegate access to their mailbox to other users in the domain box.
6. (Optional) To let users specify what sender information is included in delegated messages sent from their account, check the Allow users to customize this setting box.
7. Select an option for the default sender information that's included in messages sent by delegates: 
   • Show the account owner and the delegate who sent the email—Messages include the email addresses of the Gmail account owner and the delegate.
   • Show the account owner only—Messages include the email address of only the Gmail account owner. The delegate email address is not included.
8. (Optional) To let users add a group in Groups as a delegate, check the Allow users to grant their mailbox access to a Google group box.
9. Click Save. Or, you might click Override for an organizational unit.

   To later restore the inherited value, click Inherit. 

10. (Optional) To turn on Gmail delegation for other organizational units, repeat steps 3–9.

Changes can take up to 24 hours but typically happen more quickly. Learn more

Have users set up delegates for their accounts

After you turn on delegation, your users go to their Gmail settings to assign delegates. Delegates can then read, send, and receive messages on behalf of the user.  

For details, direct users to Delegate and collaborate on email.

Turn off Gmail delegation

These steps turn off Gmail delegation for users in your organization. To remove a delegate from your account, go here instead.

When you turn off delegation, all delegation relationships in your organization are turned off, but not deleted. If you re-enable delegation, the old delegation relationships are immediately active again.

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  AppsGoogle WorkspaceGmailUser settings.
3. (Optional) To apply the setting to a department or team, at the side, select an organizational unit. Show me how
4. Click Mail delegation.
5. Un-check the Let users delegate access to their mailbox to other users in the domain box.
6. Click Save. Or, you might click Override for an organizational unit.

   To later restore the inherited value, click Inherit. 

7. (Optional) To turn off Gmail delegation for other organizational units, repeat steps 3–6.

Changes can take up to 24 hours but typically happen more quickly. Learn more

Managing delegation across your organization

Developers in large organizations can use the Gmail API to manage the delegates in any account in their organization (requires programming knowledge). For details, go to Managing Delegates.