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Unmanaged users have access to your organization’s content, but they are not controlled or monitored by your Admin, Co-Admin, or your organization’s security policies. As a result, they might pose a potential security and compliance risk. Box advises you to convert them to managed users as soon as you can. When you convert an unmanaged user to a managed user, they receive a notification about joining your organization 14 days before the conversion. If the user does not want to join your organization, they can change the primary email address for that account to a private one. If they do not perform any action, their account is automatically converted. Alternatively, if the unmanaged users that you want to convert to managed users have active email inboxes associated with their Box accounts, you can expedite their migration by sending them invitations to join your enterprise. This method provides immediate access to Box. When viewing the Unmanaged Users list, the Collaborations column indicates any access to your organization’s content.
When unmanaged users are converted to managed users, there is no interruption or change to their work, content, or Box experience. We recommend you send a note to your unmanaged users in advance, alerting them to expect the conversion notification.
The Unmanaged Users list may not show all unmanaged users associated with your domain. Unmanaged users who do not have access to your organization’s content are listed only on Enterprise and above plans, and only if your domain was verified using a DNS check or was added by Box Product Support. If your domain was registered through initial setup or is a legacy domain, these users are not displayed.Because the Admin Console does not indicate which verification method was used for your domain, you may not see expected users without a clear reason. If you believe unmanaged users are missing from the list, contact Box Support to confirm your domain’s verification method. If your domain is not yet verified through a DNS check, see Domain Management, Verification, and Auto Enrollment for instructions on verifying your domain.

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Convert unmanaged users to managed users

  1. Go to Admin Console > Users & Groups.
  2. Select the External Users tab.
  3. In the drop-down list, select Unmanaged Users.
  4. Optionally filter the list by collaborations or invite status. Select all applies only to users that match the filters you set. For filter details, see Viewing and filtering user lists.
  5. Select the users to convert:
    • To convert a single user, hover over the name of that user and select Make Managed User () at the end of the row.
    • To convert multiple users, select each user’s check box at the end of the row, or select Select all in the table header. Then select Make Managed User at the top of the list.
  6. In the confirmation dialog box, select Confirm.
  7. In the Make Managed User dialog box, select Send.
A notification about joining your Box organization is sent to the email addresses of the unmanaged users. After 14 days, if a user does not change their email address to a private one, that user displays in your managed user list.
If your selection includes users who were already sent an invite, the confirmation dialog tells you that those users are skipped and do not receive another invite notification. Only users who have not yet been invited receive the invite. Users already in their active 14-day invite window are not invited again.

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Invite unmanaged users using the email address associated with their Box account

Use this method only if the user that you want to invite has access to their email inbox so they can accept the invitation.
  1. Add a managed user with the current email address of the unmanaged user that you want to invite.
  2. When an error message displays stating that the user failed to be added, ignore the error, and select Save again to send the invitation.
When the user accepts the invitation, they become a managed user in your enterprise.
Last modified on October 28, 2026