1. Slack Help Center
  2. Workspace administration
  3. Manage members
    4. Change a member's role

Change a member's role

Owners and admins of a Slack workspace or Enterprise Grid organization can assign a role to any member, and change members’ roles as needed.

Warning: Proceed with caution when promoting members to owner or admin roles. Depending on your role, you may be unable to demote them later. 


Who can manage roles

Only people in administrative roles can manage roles for other members and guests. Here’s an overview of the actions each administrative role can take:

Free, Pro, and Business+ plans

Enterprise Grid plan

  Workspace Admins Workspace Owners Workspace Primary Owner
Promote Workspace Owners   ✓  ✓
Demote Workspace Owners      ✓
Promote Workspace Admins ✓  ✓  ✓
Demote Workspace Admins    ✓  ✓
Manage guest roles ✓ ✓ ✓

Org-level permissions

  Org Admins Org Owners Org Primary Owner
Promote Org Owners   ✓ ✓ 
Demote Org Owners     ✓ 
Promote Org Admins ✓  ✓  ✓
Demote Org Admins    ✓ ✓ 


Workspace-level permissions

  Workspace Admins Workspace Owners Workspace Primary Owner
Promote Workspace Owners   ✓  ✓
Demote Workspace Owners      ✓
Promote Workspace Admins ✓  ✓  ✓
Demote Workspace Admins    ✓  ✓
Manage guest roles ✓ ✓ ✓

Tip: The current Primary Owner of a workspace or org can transfer ownership to another member, but only one person can have that role a time.


Manage owner and admin roles

Review your role's permissions, then use the steps below to promote or demote owners and admins.

Free, Pro, and Business+ plans

Enterprise Grid plan

  1. From your desktop, click your workspace name in the sidebar.
  2. Select Tools & settings from the menu, then click Manage members.
  3. Click the   three dots icon next to the member whose role you'd like to change and select Change account type.
  4. To promote someone, select Workspace Owner or Workspace Admin. To demote someone, click Workspace Admin or Regular Member.
  5. Click Save.

Org level

Org Owners and Admins can manage org-level administrative roles from the admin dashboard.

  1. From your desktop, click your organization name in the sidebar.
  2. Select Tools & settings from the menu, then click Organization settings.
  3. Click  People in the left sidebar, then select Members. 
  4. Search for a member, then click their name to view their profile.
  5. Click Manage in the top right. To promote someone, choose Make Org Owner or Make Org Admin. To demote someone, choose Remove from Org Admins.


Workspace level

Org Owners and Admins can manage workspace-level administrative roles from the admin dashboard. 

  1. From your desktop, click your organization name in the sidebar.
  2. Select Tools & settings from the menu, then click Organization settings.
  3. Click   Workspaces, then select All workspaces and choose a workspace. 
  4. Click People, then click Members & guests. 
  5. Click the   three dots icon next to the member whose role you'd like to change and select Change account type. 
  6. To promote someone, select Workspace Owner or Workspace Admin. To demote someone, select Workspace Admin or Regular Member.

Workspace Owners and Admins can manage administrative roles for their workspace(s).

  1. From your desktop, click your workspace name in the sidebar.
  2. Select Tools & settings from the menu, then click Manage members. If you're an owner or admin of more than one workspace, choose a workspace from the drop-down menu and click   Open. 
  3. Click the   three dots icon next to the member whose role you'd like to change and select Change account type.
  4. To promote someone, select Workspace Owner or Workspace Admin. To demote someone, click Workspace Admin or Full Member.
  5. Click Save.

Tip: Org Owners and Workspace Owners can assign members to system roles to help with specific administrative tasks. 


Manage guest roles

On the Pro, Business+, and Enterprise Grid plans, you can invite guests to your workspace(s). Use the steps below to manage guest roles.

Change a guest's role

Pro and Business+ plans

Enterprise Grid plan

  1. From your desktop, click your workspace name in the sidebar.
  2. Select Tools & settings from the menu, then click Manage members.
  3. Click the  three dots icon next to the guest whose role you'd like to change and select Change account type.
  4. Select Regular Member, Multi-Channel Guest or Single-Channel Guest and click Save or Next.
  5. If you chose Multi-Channel Guest or Single-Channel Guest, enter the channel(s) the guest will have access to and set a time limit if you’d like. Then, click Make Multi-Channel Guest or Make Single-Channel Guest.

Org level

If a guest belongs to multiple workspaces, Org Owners and Admins can change them to a regular member.

  1. From your desktop, click your organization name in the sidebar.
  2. Select Tools & settings from the menu, then click Organization settings.
  3. Click  People in the left sidebar, then select Members. 
  4. Search for a guest, then click their name to view their profile.
  5. Click Manage in the top right and select Make Org Member.

Note: A user cannot be a guest in some workspaces but a member in others.


Workspace level

Workspace Owners and Admins can change a guest to a regular member if the guest only belongs to one workspace.

  1. From your desktop, click your workspace name in the sidebar.
  2. Select Tools & settings from the menu, then click Manage members. If you're an owner or admin of more than one workspace, choose a workspace from the drop-down menu and click   Open. 
  3. Click the  three dots icon next to the guest whose role you'd like to change and select Change account type.
  4. Select Regular Member, Multi-Channel Guest or Single-Channel Guest and click Save or Next.
  5. If you selected Multi-Channel Guest or Single-Channel Guest, enter the channel(s) the guest will have access to and set a time limit if you’d like. Then, click Make Multi-Channel Guest or Make Single-Channel Guest.

Note: To promote guests to Workspace Owners or Admins, you'll need to make them a regular member first, then promote them.


Change a regular member to a guest

Pro and Business+ plans

Enterprise Grid plan

  1. From your desktop, click your workspace name in the sidebar.
  2. Select Tools & settings from the menu, then click Manage members.
  3. Click the  three dots icon next to the member whose role you'd like to change and select Change account type.
  4. Select Multi-Channel Guest or Single-Channel Guest and click Next.
  5. Enter the channel(s) the guest will have access to and set a time limit if you'd like.
  6. Click Make Multi-Channel Guest or Make Single-Channel Guest.

Note: If a member only only belongs to one workspace, Org Owners and Admins can’t change them to a guest from the admin dashboard, but Workspace Owners and Admins can do so from workspace settings.

  1. From your desktop, click your organization name in the sidebar.
  2. Select Tools & settings from the menu, then click Manage members.
  3. Click the  three dots icon next to the member whose role you'd like to change and select Change account type.
  4. Select Multi-Channel Guest or Single-Channel Guest and click Next.
  5. Enter the channel(s) the guest will have access to and set a time limit if you'd like.
  6. Click Make Multi-Channel Guest or Make Single-Channel Guest.

Note: To convert Workspace Owners and Admins to guests, you’ll need to change them to a regular member first.

Who can use this feature?
  • Org Owners/Admins and Workspace Owners/Admins
  • Available on all plans

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