Creating users and groups

In Nextcloud, every user is a separate account with its own storage, its own files, its own configuration. As admin you create them, assign quotas and control permissions via groups.

Creating a user

1. Profile icon top right → Users.
2. Top left, + New user.

In the dialog:

Field	Value
Username	technical ID (used in URLs, lowercase recommended)
Display name	visible name (“Anna Müller”)
Password	initial password, the user should change it on first login
Email	important for notifications
Groups	optionally assign right away
Storage quota	how much storage this user may use

Click Create. The user is active immediately.

Alternatively you can send an invitation by mail directly: check “Send welcome mail” — the user gets a link to set their own password, without you handing out an initial one.

Understanding quotas

The quota is the upper limit for personal storage. Once the user hits it, they can’t upload new files — existing ones stay.

Recommendations from our experience:

• Family member with photo sync: 50–100 GB
• Business users with documents: 10–25 GB
• Role address / shared account: 50 GB+
• Club member with standard use: 5 GB

Quotas can be adjusted at any time — open the user entry, change the quota.

Careful: the sum of all quotas must not exceed your plan’s storage. The dashboard shows total usage.

Creating and managing groups

Groups are organizational bundles of users. Benefits:

• Assign sharing rights per group (instead of per individual user)
• Enable or disable apps per group
• Quotas per group (with the “Group folders” plugin — see below)

Creating a group:

1. User management → left sidebar → + Add group.
2. Pick a name (e.g. “Board”, “Family”, “Accounting”).
3. Assign users with a click.

Default groups that always exist:

• admin: admins of the Nextcloud
• everyone: all users (can’t be removed)

Users in multiple groups

A user can be in any number of groups. For sharing, all groups count — if a user is in “Board” AND “Family”, they see shares for both.

Group Folders — shared folders per group

By default every user has their own storage. With the Group Folders app (in the app store, free) you can create folders that belong to a group and are available to all group members.

Example setup:

• Group “Board”
• Group folder “Board documents” with a 50 GB quota
• All board members automatically see the folder in their file list

Enabling:

1. Administration settings → Apps → Group Folders → Enable.
2. A new menu item Group Folders appears in the administration settings.
3. Create the group folder, assign the group, set the quota.

From our experience, very popular for clubs, family setups and small teams.

Disabling users instead of deleting

When a user leaves the organization (employee leaves, club member quits):

• Disable: the user can no longer log in, all files stay. Shares stay active.
• Delete: account gone, all personal files (in their home folder) deleted. Group folder files stay.

Our recommendation: disable first. After 30–60 days, check whether anyone still needs something from that user. Only then delete.

User edit → Status → Disable.

Data export before deletion: if the user still needs personal files, click “Download data” in the user edit — exports a ZIP with all their files. Hand that to the user.

Sub-admins

If you want to delegate management tasks (say, someone should be allowed to manage users in the “Board” group without being a server-wide admin):

1. User management → select user → edit → assign group.
2. Check the group admin box for that group.

That user can now manage users within this group — create new ones, disable, set passwords — but can’t change admin settings.

Login options

Per user: in Personal settings → Security they can set up additional authentication mechanisms:

• App passwords: for mail clients, mobile apps, desktop sync. We actively recommend using them, especially with 2FA.
• 2FA (TOTP, U2F, etc.): see 2FA and security.
• WebAuthn / hardware keys: for maximum security, with a YubiKey or similar.

As admin you can enforce 2FA for specific groups — also covered in 2FA and security.

Automatic user provisioning

For larger setups, automation pays off:

• LDAP / Active Directory: import users from a directory service. App in the app store, configuration is complex.
• SAML / OAuth: single sign-on against an external identity system.
• OCC user:add: script users via command line, with SSH access.

From our experience: for 5–50 users, manual creation is fine. Above 50 users → automate. We help with setup questions — open a ticket.

Frequently asked questions

What happens if I delete a user directly? Their home folder and all personal files are gone. Shares they created are removed too. Files in group folders stay.

Can a user have multiple email addresses? One primary, plus additional ones in the profile. Notifications go only to the primary one.

How do I change a user’s password? User management → select user → password field → set a new password.

What’s the difference between “display name” and “username”?

• Username is the technical ID, visible in URLs (https://cloud.example.de/u/<username>), not changeable.
• Display name is what other users see — changeable at any time.

Choose carefully at creation, because the username can’t be changed. Typo? Delete the user, create them again.

Does user login via email address work? Since Nextcloud 22, yes, by default — a user can log in with username or mail address.

How many users can I have on my plan? On shared plans: unlimited. On server plans: depends on the hardware size — we build the machine big enough for you.

How do I stop users from using unlimited storage? Quota per user. Plus group folders with their own quota for shared areas. That way everyone has their own limited space, and shared things are limited separately.

What’s next

• Sharing internally and externally
• Sharing links with password and expiry
• 2FA and security