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The Users section in the absentify Settings module lets you manage user accounts efficiently. You can invite new users, archive or reactivate accounts, edit existing profiles, and assign or update department memberships — all in one central place.
The user list provides a comprehensive overview of all users within your organization. It offers powerful tools to filter, search, and sort users, making it easy to locate individuals or manage groups at scale. absentify remembers your filters until you close the tab.

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Key features of the user list

  • Department filter
    Quickly narrow down the list by selecting a specific department. This helps you focus on users within a particular team, unit, or function.
  • Role filter
    Use the Role dropdown to filter the list by admin status. Select All to show every user, Admins only to see who has administrator permissions, or Non-admins only to review regular users. This filter works together with the department filter, the status filter, and search, so you can combine them to narrow down results further.
  • Status filter
    Use the Status dropdown. Choose All statuses, Active (can sign in), or Inactive (cannot sign in). You only see this filter on the Active tab.
  • Search functionality
    Use the search bar to find users by entering their name or email address. Results update in real time as you type.
  • Sorting and pagination
    Adjust how many users are shown per page and use the pagination controls to navigate through the list. Each row in the table includes:
    • Name – Displays the user’s name and profile picture.
    • Departments – Indicates the number of departments the user is assigned to. Invisible managers are not shown to regular department members in this list.
    • Approver(s) – Lists the approver(s) responsible for this user’s absence requests.
    • Allowance – Shows the user’s current and upcoming year’s allowance.
  • Active vs. archived users
    Use the Active and Archived tabs at the top. The Active tab also includes inactive users. Open Archived to manage users who have left.
  • Add new users
    Located at the bottom of the user list, you’ll find three options for adding users:

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Join requests

When someone signs in to absentify and is not yet part of your workspace, they can submit a join request by selecting Request to join next to a matching workspace, optionally adding a message, and then selecting Send request. Requesters who signed up with email must confirm their address first. These requests appear in the Join Requests section at the top of the Users page in Settings. Each join request shows:
  • The requester’s name and email address
  • An optional message (up to 1,000 characters; at least 5 characters if provided)
Available actions for each request:
  • Invite: Opens the user invitation form with the requester’s email address pre-filled. Once the user is successfully invited to your workspace, any matching pending join request for that email address is automatically resolved.
  • Dismiss: Removes the join request from the list. The requester may receive an email notification that their request was dismissed.
Each requester can have only one pending join request per workspace. After each 5-minute wait, sending again to the same workspace refreshes that pending request rather than creating a duplicate. They can have up to 5 pending requests across workspaces. If a requester sends a new request after being dismissed, it appears in the list again.
You can also resolve join requests indirectly. If you invite a user through any standard method (manual entry, Excel import, or group sync) and their email matches a pending join request, absentify clears that request automatically.

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Default User Settings

On Settings > Users, select Default User Settings in the page header. These defaults apply when users are invited, imported, or created through synchronization. They do not change existing users.

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Key default preferences

  • Default time zone: Sets the time zone for all new users. Example: (GMT+1:00) Berlin. Users can update this in Your Preferences.
  • Default language: Specifies the default language for the workspace. Users can later change this in Your Preferences. For wording feedback, they can contact support@absentify.com with a screenshot.
  • Default date format: Specifies the date display format, such as DD.MM.YYYY or MM/DD/YYYY.
  • Default time format: Configures the clock format as either 12-hour or 24-hour.
  • Default week start: Defines the first day of the calendar week, such as Monday or Sunday.
  • Display calendar weeks: Determines whether calendar week numbers are displayed in the calendar overview and user views. Users can later change this in Your Preferences.
To adjust these preferences for an existing user, update that user’s profile.

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Allowance rules for new employees

Open Settings > Users and select Default User Settings. In Allowance rules for new employees, choose the rule new users should receive for each allowance type, or Manage manually if new users should get no automatic credit and you enter their amounts yourself. Each choice saves immediately and shows Organisation default updated. New users get that choice for each allowance, unless their department sets its own default. If you choose Manage manually, new users are set up for manual management right away. You then set each person’s yearly amounts under Settings > Users > Edit > Allowance. The most specific assignment wins: a choice you pick for the user during the invite or import, then the department default, then the organisation default you set here. If no default is selected yet, the dropdown shows Not set. Changing a default only affects users invited or imported from that point on. While an allowance migration is running, these dropdowns are disabled.

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Archive or activate users in bulk

You can easily archive or activate multiple users at once using bulk actions. This helps streamline user management, especially during large-scale organizational changes.
  • Archiving a user deactivates their account and hides them from all team overviews and user-visible sections. This allows you to keep inactive users organized while preserving their absence history.
  • Activating a user allows them to sign in and receive all notifications.
Archiving also switches off the user’s Outlook out-of-office reply if absentify set one. This applies to every way of archiving — the user list, the archive dialog in a user profile, the public API, and Microsoft Entra ID group sync. Reactivating the user restores the reply for absences that have not ended yet.
Interested in archiving users individually? You can also do so from the Access & Permissions tab.
To get started:
  1. Go to Settings → Users.
  2. Use the checkboxes to select the users you want to manage.
  3. Select the bell icon to activate users or the folder icon to archive them.
This is especially useful for:
  • Activating users in bulk during initial setup or onboarding phases.
  • Archiving users all at once when offboarding users or scaling down your organization.
  • Cleaning up your workspace to maintain an accurate and up-to-date user list.
Bulk actions are applied immediately, so double-check your selection before confirming any changes.

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Deleting users

Permanently deleting a user removes all their data from the system and cannot be undone. Deleting users is also a cost-saving option for organizations on paid plans, as it reduces the number of billable users.
Deleting is also the only way to free up an email address. An address exists only once in all of absentify, and an archived user keeps holding theirs. So if the same person needs to be added to a different workspace, or you want to reuse the address for someone else, archiving is not enough.
Steps to delete users:
  1. Go to Settings > Users > Archived.
  2. Select the red trash bin icon next to the user you wish to delete.
  3. A confirmation message will appear, warning you that this action cannot be reversed. Ensure any necessary data has been saved beforehand.
  4. Select the Delete button to permanently remove the user.

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Exporting user data before deletion

Before deleting users, you can export user data for record-keeping:
  1. Navigate to Settings > Export.
  2. Use the Export option to generate an Excel file of user data.
  3. Save the file for future reference, ensuring no critical data is lost.

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Handling open approval requests when deleting an approver

If a user you are trying to delete was an approver and still has open absence requests from their requestors, a notification will appear, preventing deletion. To proceed:
  1. Select “Details” to view the pending requests. This will display:
    • The type of absence request.
    • The user who submitted the request.
    • The request’s status and relevant dates.
  2. Overtake the approval process:
    • As an admin, you can manually approve or decline the request on behalf of the archived user.
    • Once all pending requests are processed, the user can be deleted without restrictions.
Deleting a user is permanent. Double-check that all necessary leave and allowance data has been exported before proceeding or use the archive feature if you need to retain historical records within the app.

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Best practices for managing users

  • Use bulk actions to save time: Apply updates to multiple users simultaneously, such as department changes or archiving inactive users.
  • Monitor costs on paid plans: Archived and inactive users still count toward billable user limits. Consider exporting data and deleting unnecessary users to save costs.
  • Review user roles and permissions: For a full overview of what each user can see and do in absentify, refer to the permissions and roles guide.
  • Understand the difference between inactive and archived users:
    • Inactive users: Still visible in team overviews but cannot sign in or receive system emails. If you’re unsure why a user isn’t receiving notifications, see our email delivery troubleshooting guide.
    • Archived users: Completely hidden from team overviews and all user-facing sections.