Organizations (organization accounts)

What it is

The workspace of an organization: shared spreadsheets, chats, projects and files for members, with roles, invitations by link and shared limits. The owner’s organization is the owner’s own account space. A member keeps their own Personal account, and the organization does not see its spreadsheets. People are managed in Members and limits.

How to use it

Getting an organization. There is no Create organization button. When an account has a plan with seats for members, your space becomes an organization by itself, with the same chats, spreadsheets and plan. Lowering the plan to the single-user level turns an empty organization back into a personal space. The name, lowering and transfer are described in Account space. On the single-user plan the product does not mention organizations.

Switching spaces is possible only if you have two or more (your own, and an organization where you are a member).

1. Open the profile menu. The top row shows where you are now: Personal account or the organization’s name.
2. Point at it (the list opens after half a second), or click it. A list of spaces appears.
3. Choose the one you need: the page reloads inside it. From an open spreadsheet or chat you go to the list of spreadsheets or chats; from Members and limits you go to Spreadsheets. On a phone it is the same: Settings → Profile → Space. At the next sign-in, the space where you worked last opens; if you chose nothing, your own space opens.

Roles

• Owner: one per organization. Manages people, limits, administrators, the plan and the name.
• Administrator: invites and manages members and their limits, and sees History. Does not appoint administrators, does not touch other administrators, the plan or the name.
• Member: works. Sees the list of colleagues (without their email) and their own usage.

Invite members (owner and administrator)

1. Profile menu → Members and limits → Invite.
2. Enter an email address or a login. Several can be entered, separated by a comma, a space or Enter.
3. Choose the Role (Member or Administrator; the second is only for the owner) and the Link lifetime (24 hours, 7 days, 30 days or No expiry), and click Invite.
4. Links appear with a Copy button. If email is set up on the server, each invited person also gets an email with the link (Emails); otherwise, send the links yourself. Addresses that did not get an invitation are listed with the reason, even if none of them went through. On the Invitations tab you see who is awaited and until when (expired invitations are not shown). New link issues a fresh link for 7 days (the old one stops working) and, if email is set up, sends it by email. Revoke cancels an invitation.

Join by link

1. Open the link. You see which organization is inviting, who invited you, and with which role.
2. If you are already signed in, click Accept invitation. If you have no account, click Create an account. If you have one, click I already have an account. After signing up or signing in, you return to the invitation page with the result.
3. You’re in the company → Open spreadsheets. If joining did not work, the reason is shown on the same page: no free seats, you are already in the organization, or the link was revoked or has expired.

Members (the Members tab): search by Name or email, filters by role and status. Managers tick people with checkboxes (or Select everyone in the list) and choose an action: Make administrators and Make members (owner only), Remove the ceiling, Enable, Disable or Remove. The role of one person is changed with the drop-down list in their row.

• Disable: access to all the organization’s data is closed at once, including by direct link. An open tab moves away within 25 seconds. The seat stays occupied, the data is intact, and Enable restores access (details).
• Remove: the person loses access to the organization’s spreadsheets and chats, and the seat is freed. Their personal account and personal spreadsheets stay with them.

Transfer organization (owner only). In the Members tab, tick one enabled member and click Transfer organization, then click Transfer in the window Transfer organization: ?. They become the owner, and you become a member.

Leave or rename. Settings → Profile → Space (the block is there if one of your spaces is an organization). The owner sees the Rename icon; everyone else sees Leave (with confirmation).

Other tabs. Plan and consumption shows the organization’s plan and usage. History shows the latest changes to membership, roles, invitations and the plan, in the language of your interface (visible to the owner and administrators). A person with no name and no login is labelled No name. On a phone, the organization’s tabs, like the tabs of Settings (Profile, Appearance, Plans and limits), wrap to a second row instead of going off the edge of the screen.

Limits

• Your own space is one per account. The plan makes it an organization; organizations are not created by hand.
• An invitation takes a seat at once. Seats = members (including disabled ones) + unanswered invitations whose deadline has not yet passed. An expired invitation does not hold a seat, and the same person can be invited again. If there are no free seats, you cannot invite.
• At one time, up to 50 addresses. No more than 30 invitations and new links per hour per person.
• Bulk actions: up to 100 people at a time.
• You cannot change your own role or disable yourself. The owner cannot be demoted, disabled or removed. The owner does not leave the organization (there is no Leave icon for them): first they transfer it to another member.
• The name, when renamed, can be up to 25 characters.
• History shows the last 50 events.
• Anyone who has an invitation link can use it. The address in the invitation is only a label.

If something goes wrong

What you see on the screen	Why	What to do
No free seats…	The seats are taken by members and invitations	Revoke an unneeded invitation, remove someone, or upgrade the plan
already in the company or already invited next to an address	The person is already a member, or is waiting with a live link	In the Invitations tab, click New link
Insufficient permissions	The action is not allowed for your role	Ask the owner
You cannot change your own role or disable yourself	An action on yourself	Ask another manager
The owner cannot be disabled or removed — transfer the organization first	The owner is protected	Transfer organization in the Members tab
The invitation didn’t work	The link was revoked or has expired, or there are no seats	Ask the person who invited you for a new link
Access to this space is closed	You were disabled or removed	Write to the owner of the organization
No access: Select space from profile menu	The section was opened without an organization	Switch to the organization