# Merging user accounts
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/merging-user-accounts/275288
**Category:** Site Management
**Tags:** how-to, merge-user, users
**Created:** [August 15, 2023, 9:01pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/merging-user-accounts/275288 "2023-08-15T21:01:12Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Discourse](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Discourse)
#### Post date: [August 15, 2023, 9:01pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/merging-user-accounts/275288/1 "2023-08-15T21:01:12Z")
> đź”– This guide explains how to merge multiple user accounts into a single Discourse account. It covers merging non-staff users through the Discourse UI and merging staff users via the console.
>
> 🙋 Required user level: Administrator
Merging user accounts in Discourse allows you to combine multiple accounts into a single one. This process can be useful in several scenarios:
1. When a user creates multiple accounts, perhaps due to forgetting their previous registration.
2. If a user creates a new account with a new email address instead of updating their existing one.
3. When a user wants to consolidate multiple accounts used for different purposes (e.g., personal, business, or testing) into a single account.
## Merging non-staff users
Administrators can merge non-staff users directly through the Discourse UI.
> âš This action is irreversible. The source user account will be deleted after the merge.
To merge two non-staff users:
1. Navigate to the user admin page of the source user (the account you want to merge from).
2. Scroll to the bottom of the page.
3. Click the “Merge” button.
4. In the first popup window, enter the username of the target account (the account you want to merge into) and click “Transfer & Delete.”
5. A confirmation dialog will appear. Type the confirmation text shown (e.g., `transfer @source to @target`) and click “Transfer & Delete” to initiate the merge.
> â„ą Merging large accounts can be resource-intensive and may take some time to process, depending on the amount of data associated with the source user.
## What gets merged?
When merging user accounts, Discourse combines data from over 50 tables, including:
- Posts and topics
- Likes given and received
- Personal messages
- User profile information
- User preferences and settings
- User actions and activity (e.g., bookmarks, topic views)
- Badges and achievements
- Trust level and group memberships
- Associated accounts (e.g., social logins)
In case of conflicts, the target user’s details are kept. If both users had an [anonymous user](https://meta.discourse.org/t/enable-and-configure-anonymous-mode/155638) associated with their account, the one owned by the source user will be lost.
> ⚠Incoming links referencing the source user (e.g., `https://discourse.example.com/t/some-topic/17/3?u=source_username`) won’t be associated with the target user after merging.
## Important note about merging users and [DiscourseConnect](https://meta.discourse.org/t/13045?silent=true)
Merging user accounts can potentially impact [DiscourseConnect](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourseconnect-official-single-sign-on-for-discourse-sso/13045) (formerly SSO), depending on the implementation:
- If [DiscourseConnect](https://meta.discourse.org/t/13045?silent=true) is based on email address, there should be no issues as long as the target account’s email is used in the [DiscourseConnect](https://meta.discourse.org/t/13045?silent=true) system. Note that the source user’s email will become a secondary email on the target account after merging, which may cause login issues if that email is later used with [DiscourseConnect](https://meta.discourse.org/t/13045?silent=true). Consider removing secondary emails after merging if needed.
- If the [DiscourseConnect](https://meta.discourse.org/t/13045?silent=true) system uses a unique user ID different from the Discourse user ID, merging could cause issues if the source account’s unique ID is not correctly mapped to the target account.
## Merging staff users
For security reasons, merging staff users must be done via the console.
> â„ą If your site is hosted with Discourse, contact [team@discourse.org](mailto:team@discourse.org) for assistance with merging staff users.
To merge staff users via the console:
```rb
root@host:/var/discourse# ./launcher enter app
root@host-app:/var/www/discourse# rake users:merge['source_username','target_username']
Users merged!
root@host-app:/var/www/discourse#
```
> âš Ensure there are no spaces before or after the comma in the command.
## FAQs
**Q: What happens if the merge process seems to stall?**
A: If the merge progress screen shows no change for an extended period, try refreshing the page. The merge may have completed, but the UI didn’t update.
**Q: Can I undo a user merge?**
A: No, once two users are merged, the action cannot be undone. The source user account is permanently deleted after the merge.
**Q: Will merging users affect their posts and topics?**
A: All posts and topics from the source user will be transferred to the target user. The authorship of these items will change to reflect the target user as the creator.
> Last edited by @Moin 2026-09-14T09:50:47Z
>
> Last checked by @hugh 2024-07-09T03:47:16Z
>
> > **Check document**
> >
> > Perform check on document:
---
### Author:  [@tobiaseigen](https://meta.discourse.org/u/tobiaseigen)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2025, 1:05pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/merging-user-accounts/275288/16 "2025-03-19T13:05:06Z")
A post was split to a new topic: [Merge user button disappeared on my site](https://meta.discourse.org/t/merge-user-button-disappeared-on-my-site/357950)
---
### Author:  [@wesochuck](https://meta.discourse.org/u/wesochuck)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2026, 9:36pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/merging-user-accounts/275288/17 "2026-01-02T21:36:35Z")
> [@Discourse](#):
>
> Merging user accounts can potentially impact SSO
We also found another tricky situation with merging and SSO.
1. User creates an SSO account at **Organization A** with an email address of [first.last@organizationA.com](mailto:first.last@organizationA.com)
2. The User moves to **Organization B** and creates an SSO account with an email address of [first.last@organizationB.com](mailto:first.last@organizationB.com)
3. We merge the two accounts
1. The user’s primary email address is now [first.last@organizationB.com](mailto:first.last@organizationB.com)
2. BUT the merge process leaves [first.last@organizationA.com](mailto:first.last@organizationA.com) as the SECONDARY email address
4. The user moves BACK to **Organization A** , they attempt to sign in via SSO with [first.last@organizationA.com](mailto:first.last@organizationA.com), and they get stuck in the following login loop with this Discourse message: `Slow down, you’re making too many requests`
To fix, we removed [first.last@organizationA.com](mailto:first.last@organizationA.com) from the SECONDARY email address on the merged account in step #3. This created another _new_ account, which we then merged with the [first.last@organizationB.com](mailto:first.last@organizationB.com) account.
We’ve also adjusted our merge process so that after merging, we immediately remove the secondary email address on the account.
---
### Author:  [@roke\_julian\_lockhart](https://meta.discourse.org/u/roke_julian_lockhart)
#### Post date: [August 2, 2026, 11:33am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/merging-user-accounts/275288/18 "2026-08-02T11:33:59Z")
> [@Discourse](#):
>
> If both users had an [anonymous user](https://meta.discourse.org/t/enable-and-configure-anonymous-mode/155638) associated with their account, the one owned by the source user will be lost.
Why is this so? (Why are they not merely merged, too?)
---
### Author:  [@bluelionman](https://meta.discourse.org/u/bluelionman)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2026, 4:47am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/merging-user-accounts/275288/19 "2026-09-03T04:47:04Z")
I been reading how to merge accounts here but in the forum I am admin off that merge button does not appear next to the Anonymize User button? 🤷‍♂️
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### Author:  [@bluelionman](https://meta.discourse.org/u/bluelionman)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2026, 12:34pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/merging-user-accounts/275288/20 "2026-09-03T12:34:59Z")
When merging accounts which one is kept - how do you insure the right one is kept - do you merge from the one you want to lose or the one you wish to remain?
---
### Author:  [@Jonathan5](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Jonathan5)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2026, 2:39pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/merging-user-accounts/275288/21 "2026-09-03T14:39:41Z")
Using the terminology above, the “source” user is deleted and its posts etc are transferred to the “target” user. I did it for the first time the other day and it worked fine.