How to suspend a Collaborator

Shopify Discussion
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Topic summary

A user encountered an error when attempting to suspend collaborators in Shopify’s role-based Users system, receiving the message “Cannot suspend or reactivate collaborators.”

Resolution provided:

  • Collaborators (third-party agency/partner accounts) cannot be suspended like regular staff accounts
  • The only option is to completely remove their access via Settings > Users and permissions > Remove collaborator
  • Removed collaborators can be re-invited later if needed

Current status:
The original poster finds this limitation counterintuitive, noting that suspend functionality would be most useful specifically for collaborators. The discussion remains open with no further workaround identified.

Summarized with AI on October 30. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
1

I’m still getting to grips with Shopify’s new role-based Users.

I have some collaborators (Product Uploads) not currently working on any projects so I want to Suspend them. But I get the error:

“Something went wrong”
"Cannot suspend or reactivate collaborators".

How do I do this?

2

In Shopify’s new role-based Users system, collaborators (people from third-party agencies or partners) cannot be suspended or reactivated like regular staff accounts. Instead, their access must be revoked entirely.

To Remove a Collaborator:1. Go to your Shopify Admin.

  1. Navigate to Settings > Users and permissions.

  2. Find the Collaborator account you want to remove.

  3. Click on their name to open their permissions.

  4. At the bottom, select Remove collaborator.

  5. Confirm the action.

Since Shopify doesn’t allow suspending collaborators, the only way to control access is to remove them entirely and re-invite them later if needed.

3

That’s weird. Surely, the best use case for having Suspend is for Collaborators.

1 Like