> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://elephas.app/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Remove a Member from Your Team

> Remove someone from your Elephas Team workspace, or from one Team Brain. What happens to their access, their computers, the Team data on them, and their seat.

<Warning>
  Draft. This article depends on an open product question and is not ready to publish.
</Warning>

You can remove someone from the whole Team, or only from one Team Brain. Removing someone from the Team frees their seat, takes away every Team Brain, and deletes the Team's data from their computers the next time Elephas runs there.

<Info>
  Available in **Team workspaces**. Owners and Admins remove people from the Team. Owners, Admins and a Brain's Managers remove people from a Brain.
</Info>

## Before you start

* You are the Owner or an Admin (to remove from the Team), or a Manager of the Brain (to remove from one Brain).
* Every Team Brain still has another Manager. Elephas refuses to remove the only Manager of a Brain. See [The only Manager of a Brain](#the-only-manager-of-a-brain).
* You can't remove the Owner, and you can't remove yourself.

## Steps

### Remove someone from the Team

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open Members">
    Go to **Team Settings › Members** and find the person.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose Remove from Team">
    Click **Actions** on their row, then **Remove from Team…**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Confirm">
    Read the summary and click **Remove from Team**, or **Cancel** to change nothing.
  </Step>
</Steps>

The confirmation tells you exactly what happens:

* They lose every Team Brain.
* Their seat becomes free.
* Team data on their devices is deleted the next time Elephas runs there, signed in and online.
* Changes they made that have not reached the Team yet are lost.
* Their private Team chats on their devices are deleted.

"You can invite them again later. Their old access to Brains does not come back by itself."

### Remove someone from one Team Brain

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the Brain's access list">
    Go to **Team Settings › Team Brains** and open **Who has access** under the Brain.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose Remove Access">
    Click **Remove Access…** on the person's row.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Confirm">
    Click **Remove Access**. "They stay in the Team and keep their seat. You can share this Brain with them again later."
  </Step>
</Steps>

## What happens next

| Where | What | When |
| - | - | - |
| The Elephas server | They lose access. Their seat is free | At once |
| Your screen | They move to the **Removed** group and the seat count updates | Within a few seconds |
| Their computers | That Team's Brains, files, chats and keys are deleted. Their Personal workspace and other Teams are not touched | The next time Elephas runs there, signed in and online |
| Each Brain they could open | Gets a new key, so they cannot read anything added later | About a minute, once a Manager's computer is online |

On their computer, Elephas says: "You have been removed from this Team. Local Team data will be cleaned up." For a single Brain: "Your access to" the Brain "was removed. Its copy on this device was deleted."

## How it works

### The new key after a removal

Every Team Brain is locked with a key that everyone with access holds. After a removal, a Manager's computer makes a new key and gives it only to the people who stay. While that happens, reading keeps working, but new files wait:

* People adding a file see: "Saved on this device. It will reach the Team when this Brain's new key is ready."
* A Manager sees: "This Brain needs a new key. Keep Elephas open for a minute."
* Everyone else sees: "Waiting for a Manager of this Brain to open Elephas."

Nothing is lost. If no Manager is online, the change waits until one opens Elephas.

### What removal cannot undo

* What the person already read, they have seen.
* A copy they made outside Elephas is out of reach.
* A computer that stays offline, stays signed out, or never opens Elephas again keeps its encrypted copy. It never receives the new keys.

### The only Manager of a Brain

Elephas refuses to remove someone who is the only Manager of a Brain. Make someone else a Manager first:

1. Open **Who has access** on that Brain.
2. Change another person's role to **Manager**.
3. Wait until their row shows Manager as active.
4. Remove the first person.

## Troubleshooting

| Message | What to do |
| - | - |
| "\[email] is the only Manager of \[Brain]. Make someone else a Manager there first." | Follow [The only Manager of a Brain](#the-only-manager-of-a-brain). |
| "The member list changed. Review it and try again." | Someone else changed the list. Check it and try again. |
| "Only a Team Owner or Admin can remove members." | Ask your Owner or an Admin. |
| "The Team Owner cannot be removed." | The Owner always stays. |
| "Removing members is not switched on yet." | Removal is not available for your Team yet. |
| "Elephas could not remove this member. Nothing was changed." | Check your connection and try again. |

More fixes in [Team errors](/docs/troubleshooting/team-troubleshooting).

## FAQ

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Does removing someone lower my bill?">
    No. Removing a member frees a seat for someone else, but your subscription keeps the same number of seats. See [Seats and billing](/docs/teams/team-seats-and-billing).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can a member leave a Team on their own?">
    Not at launch. An Owner or Admin removes them.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I suspend someone instead of removing them?">
    Not from the app.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Related articles

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Team Brains" href="/docs/teams/team-brains" />

  <Card title="Seats and billing" href="/docs/teams/team-seats-and-billing" />

  <Card title="Team devices" href="/docs/teams/manage-team-devices" />

  <Card title="Roles and permissions" href="/docs/teams/team-roles-and-permissions" />
</CardGroup>


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