I get the error “is in use by a user” when I add a support address or set a user as staff

Issue symptoms

When I try to add a new support address or set a user as staff, I get the error is in use by a user. Remove it from the user before adding it here. What does this mean?

Resolution steps

This error means a user with this email address already exists in your account. Run a search to confirm. You can't use one email address as both a support address and a user identity at the same time. To use the email address as a support address, remove it from the user it's linked to.

To resolve this issue:

Sign in to your Zendesk account

Click the magnifying glass icon in the upper-right corner, then search for the email address

On the search results page, select Users

Select the user. This opens the user's profile.

Choose one of these actions:

Change the email address for the user to another address within the user's profile. If it's a legitimate user, use a valid email address they can receive mail at.

Delete the user. If the user is a test user or isn't a legitimate end user or agent, remove the profile. This makes the email address available again as a support address.

If you want to add the user as staff, change the User type from End user to Staff member. After you update or remove the user, you can use the email address as a support address.

To see how to fix this error, watch the video below:

For a high-level look at how to set up email in your account, see How do I start using email in Zendesk?