Moderate users

GitLab administrators can moderate user access by blocking, banning, or deactivating users.

Blocking and unblocking users

GitLab administrators can block and unblock users.

Blocking a user

In order to completely prevent access of a user to the GitLab instance, administrators can choose to block the user.

Users can be blocked via an abuse report, or directly from the Admin Area. To do this:

1. Navigate to Admin Area > Overview > Users.
2. Select a user.
3. Under the Account tab, click Block user.

A blocked user:

• Cannot log in.
• Cannot access Git repositories or the API.
• Does not receive any notifications from GitLab.
• Cannot use slash commands.

Personal projects, and group and user history of the blocked user are left intact.

Users can also be blocked using the GitLab API.

NOTE: A blocked user does not consume a seat.

Unblocking a user

A blocked user can be unblocked from the Admin Area. To do this:

1. Navigate to Admin Area > Overview > Users.
2. Click on the Blocked tab.
3. Select a user.
4. Under the Account tab, click Unblock user.

Users can also be unblocked using the GitLab API.

NOTE: Unblocking a user changes the user's state to active and consumes a seat.

Activating and deactivating users

GitLab administrators can deactivate and activate users.

Deactivating a user

Introduced in GitLab 12.4.

In order to temporarily prevent access by a GitLab user that has no recent activity, administrators can choose to deactivate the user.

Deactivating a user is functionally identical to blocking a user, with the following differences:

• It does not prohibit the user from logging back in via the UI.
• Once a deactivated user logs back into the GitLab UI, their account is set to active.

A deactivated user:

• Cannot access Git repositories or the API.
• Will not receive any notifications from GitLab.
• Will not be able to use slash commands.

Personal projects, and group and user history of the deactivated user are left intact.

A user can be deactivated from the Admin Area. To do this:

1. Navigate to Admin Area > Overview > Users.
2. Select a user.
3. Under the Account tab, click Deactivate user.

Please note that for the deactivation option to be visible to an admin, the user:

• Must be currently active.
• Must not have signed in, or have any activity, in the last 90 days.

Users can also be deactivated using the GitLab API.

NOTE: A deactivated user does not consume a seat.

Activating a user

Introduced in GitLab 12.4.

A deactivated user can be activated from the Admin Area.

To do this:

1. Navigate to Admin Area > Overview > Users.
2. Click on the Deactivated tab.
3. Select a user.
4. Under the Account tab, click Activate user.

Users can also be activated using the GitLab API.

NOTE: Activating a user changes the user's state to active and consumes a seat.

NOTE: A deactivated user can also activate their account themselves by logging back in via the UI.

Ban and unban users

Introduced in GitLab 13.12.

GitLab administrators can ban users.

NOTE: This feature is behind a feature flag that is disabled by default. GitLab administrators with access to the GitLab Rails console can enable this feature for your GitLab instance.

Ban a user

To completely block a user, administrators can choose to ban the user.

Users can be banned using the Admin Area. To do this:

1. Navigate to Admin Area > Overview > Users.
2. Select a user.
3. Under the Account tab, click Ban user.

NOTE: This feature is a work in progress. Currently, banning a user only blocks them and does not hide their comments or issues. This functionality will be implemented in follow up issues.

Unban a user

A banned user can be unbanned using the Admin Area. To do this:

1. Navigate to Admin Area > Overview > Users.
2. Click on the Banned tab.
3. Select a user.
4. Under the Account tab, click Unban user.

NOTE: Unbanning a user changes the user's state to active and consumes a seat.