What happens when admins deactivate or delete a user from Okta?
Deactivating and deleting a user in Okta are two different actions:
Deactivate a user |
Delete a user |
The account is disabled but not deleted. | The user must be deactivated first. |
The user loses access to Okta and all connected applications. | All user data is permanently removed from Okta. |
Data and account history are retained. | Action is irreversible. |
Useful for reporting, auditing, or reactivation. | The user must be manually recreated if needed again. |
Status in Okta changes to deactivated. | Deletion does not remove them from external applications unless SCIM deprovisioning is enabled. |