---
id: KB-AD-009
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/administration/what-happens-if-you-lose-your-administrator
idioma: en
categoria: administracion
audiencia: administrador
nivel: avanzado
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-AD-002, KB-AD-007]
citadoPor: [KB-AD-020]
---

# If you lose your administrator

_The scenario nobody prepares for, and that blocks the whole organisation._

**Responde a:** our only administrator left · nobody can change the settings · recover control of the account · the administrator lost access

The organisation keeps working: people sign in, cases progress, third parties deliver. What cannot be done is anything requiring an administrator — inviting someone, changing a permission, topping up, closing the account of whoever left. And that is discovered exactly when it is needed.

## The three scenarios

| What happened | Severity | How you get out |
| --- | --- | --- |
| The administrator lost their second factor | Low, if there is another | The other administrator restores it |
| They left the company and nobody took over | High | It needs handling from outside |
| They were the only one and are uncontactable | Very high | This is the case to prevent, not to solve |

> [!IMPORTANT]
> All three are prevented by the same five-minute measure: **two administrators, always**. Not one in case they fail, nor five, because then nobody feels responsible. Two people who know each other and will not leave on the same day.

## What to have ready

**En corto**

- Two administrators, and both aware of it.
- Two-factor recovery codes, kept where one person cannot lose them.
- And someone else knowing who handles the commercial relationship, for what cannot be solved internally.

> [!WARNING]
> When someone leaves the company, check whether they were an administrator **before** closing their account. Closing it while they are the only one creates the problem, with the added twist that you can no longer ask them to hand anything over.

## In the meantime

Whatever does not require an administrator keeps working: requesting, signing, reviewing, closing cases. What is blocked is managing the account itself. Knowing that avoids the panic of thinking everything has stopped when what has stopped is one specific part.

> [!NOTE]
> It is the five-minute check that returns most in the whole of administration: look at how many administrators exist right now. If it is one, fix it today.

**How many administrators is right?**

Two. One is risk, many means nobody takes responsibility.

**Can an administrator appoint another?**

Yes, and that is exactly what to do today if you are one.

**Is anything lost meanwhile?**

No. Work continues; what stops is account management.

## Ejemplos

**A company discovers its only administrator left a month ago when trying to invite someone new.**

- Recovers control with outside help
- Appoints two administrators

→ A lost week that the five-minute check would have prevented.

**The only administrator leaves the company.**

- Names a second before it happens

→ The account is not left ungoverned.

**The administrator is unreachable and a change is needed.**

- Keeps two administrators active

→ Work does not stop.

**The problem is discovered once there is nobody left.**

- Reviews who is an administrator periodically

→ The gap shows sooner.

**A second is named and nobody explains what they do.**

- Gives them access and context from the start

→ The deputy is genuinely useful.

**Administration notices go to a single address.**

- Addresses notices to both

→ The notice reaches somebody who can act.