When someone no longer needs access to your member portal — an employee who has moved on, a duplicate invite, or a test account — you can remove their portal user in seconds, right from the Portal Users table. Unlike most deletes in Cornerspot, this one is permanent, so it's worth knowing exactly what happens. This guide walks you through it.
How to delete a portal user in Cornerspot
Deleting a portal user takes just a few clicks from the Portal Users page — no need to open the record first.
1. Open Portal Users and find the person
From the dashboard, open Members Portal in the left-hand menu, then choose Portal Users. Locate the person you want to remove — you can use the search box or the filters to narrow the list — and click the trash (Delete portal user) icon at the end of their row.
2. Review the confirmation
A confirmation dialog appears so you don't remove anyone by accident. It spells out exactly what will happen: the portal user record is permanently deleted and this cannot be undone. Importantly, it also reminds you that the person's contact record(s) and audit history are preserved — only their portal access is removed.
3. Confirm the deletion
Click the Delete button in the dialog to confirm. The portal user is removed from your Portal Users list immediately and any active sign-in sessions they had are ended.
4. The portal user is removed
The row drops out of the list right away. That person can no longer sign in to your portal, and their invitation (if one was outstanding) is no longer valid. That's all there is to it.
What happens when you delete a portal user
Deleting a portal user is permanent — it is not a soft delete and there is no 30-day Trash recovery for it (that recovery window applies to CRM records such as accounts, contacts, and deals, but not to portal users). Here's exactly what's affected:
- Portal access is removed: The portal user record is destroyed and any active portal sessions are ended, so the person can no longer sign in.
- The contact is preserved: The person's underlying contact record (and their account) stay exactly where they are in your CRM — deleting the portal user only removes their portal access, not their contact.
- Audit history is kept: The audit trail of their portal activity is preserved for your records.
- It can't be undone: The confirmation dialog states this clearly. To give the person access again later, you'll re-invite them as a new portal user from their contact (which starts a fresh invitation).
Delete, suspend, or revoke — which should you use?
Deleting isn't always the right tool. Because it's permanent, consider whether a reversible action fits better:
- Suspend: Temporarily pause access while keeping the portal user intact. You can reactivate them later — handy for a short break or while you investigate something.
- Revoke access: Remove the person's access across every account but keep the portal user record. They can be re-invited later, which starts a fresh invitation flow.
- Delete: Permanently remove the portal user record altogether. Choose this for duplicates, test users, or when you're certain the person should no longer exist as a portal user.
Tips for removing portal users safely
- Read the confirmation dialog: It tells you the delete is permanent and that the contact and audit history are preserved — review it before confirming.
- Prefer suspend or revoke when in doubt: If you might restore access later, suspend or revoke instead of deleting — both keep the record and can be reversed.
- Re-inviting starts fresh: If you delete someone and need them back, invite them again from their contact; they'll receive a new invitation.
- The contact stays put: Deleting a portal user never touches your CRM contact, so your customer data and history remain intact.