--- title: "Account Access and Ownership" description: "Change your sign-in email or method, take over an organization whose owner has left, move apps between accounts, and keep your team from depending on one person" --- Your Shorebird account is identified by the email address you signed in with, and each organization has exactly one owner, whose plan the organization runs on. This page covers what to do when either of those needs to change. Several of these changes are made by the Shorebird team. Email from the address on your Shorebird account, and include what each section below asks for so Shorebird can act on the first message. ## Change your sign-in email You can’t change the email address on a Shorebird account yourself. Shorebird finds your account by that address every time you sign in. First sign in once with the new address, so an account at it exists. Then email with your current and new addresses. Shorebird moves your organizations, apps, and subscription to the account at the new address. ## Change how you sign in Your account signs in with the method you first used: Google, Microsoft, or your company’s SSO. Signing in with a different method for the same email shows **Wrong sign-in method**, with a message such as: ``` This email address signs in with Google. Please sign in with Google. ``` If your company manages your email’s domain with Google Workspace, Microsoft Entra ID, or a [SAML connection](/enterprise/saml/), signing in with that work account moves your existing account onto it, and your previous sign-in method stops working. Try it first. Otherwise, or if you see **Account configuration changed** after your company reconfigured its identity provider, email with your account’s email address and how you want to sign in. Shorebird can’t promise a particular sign-in method for an existing account. ## The organization’s owner has left Each organization has one owner. While the owner is still around, they make someone else the owner: in the organization’s settings, open **Members** and change that member’s role to **Owner**. Only the owner can do this. The previous owner becomes an Admin. ### On the Enterprise plan Your enterprise’s Owners and Admins can reassign ownership without the previous owner: 1. In the [Shorebird console](https://console.shorebird.dev), open **Manage enterprise** from the organization switcher, then **Organizations**. 2. Select the organization, open the ⋮ menu next to the new owner, and choose **Make owner**. The new owner must already be a member of the organization and one of your enterprise’s members, not a guest. If the current owner holds an enterprise Owner, Admin, or Billing manager role, only an enterprise Owner can do this. The previous owner becomes an Admin of the organization, or leaves it if your enterprise has deactivated them. See [Enterprise roles](/enterprise/roles/). ### Everyone else Email . Send this with your first message: * **If you’re an Admin of the organization:** send the request from the email address on your Shorebird account, and name the organization and who should become its owner. * **If you’re a member with another role:** include an email from the current owner saying they’re fine with ownership moving to you. * **If you’re not in the organization:** Shorebird needs proof that you control both the app and the company. For the app, Shorebird gives you a code to add to its App Store or Google Play listing. For the company, send a public company record that shows you act for it. Shorebird notifies the current owner before transferring the organization. ## What happens to the plan An organization’s plan comes from its owner’s subscription. After a transfer: * The organization uses the new owner’s plan straight away, and its patch installs count against that plan. * The previous owner’s subscription keeps billing until they cancel it, because it belongs to their account, not to the organization. See [Cancel your plan](/account/plans/#cancel-your-plan). * If your enterprise pays for the organization under an Enterprise agreement, the plan comes from the enterprise and doesn’t change. If the subscription itself needs to move to the new owner’s account, email . Afterwards, the new owner updates the billing email from the [billing settings](/account/billing/#billing-email), so invoices go to them. ## Move an app between your own accounts To [transfer an app](/account/orgs/#transfer-an-app), you must be an Admin or Owner of both its current organization and the one you move it to. If either organization is on a paid plan, its owner invites your other account to it as an Admin. Then transfer the app from the account that now holds a role in both organizations. If both organizations are on the Free plan, which can’t add members, email with both email addresses and the app ID (`app_id` in the app’s `shorebird.yaml`), and say which account should receive it. ## Keep your team from depending on one person * **Keep at least two Admins** in each organization, so someone can manage members if the owner is unavailable. * **Use [service accounts](/account/service-accounts/) for CI** instead of a person’s API key, so releases and patches keep working when someone leaves. When someone who owns an organization leaves, in this order: 1. They [transfer ownership](#the-organizations-owner-has-left) to someone staying. 2. They [cancel their plan](/account/plans/#cancel-your-plan), or ask Shorebird to [move it](#what-happens-to-the-plan) to the new owner if the organization should keep it. 3. They [delete their account](/account/delete-account/). Deletion is blocked while they own an organization with other members or have a subscription that will still bill.