This article explains how to invite external users into your intranet, covering the differences between invited and seated users, step-by-step invitation methods, and best practices for managing external access securely and efficiently.
đź’Ľ Package information: Inviting users is available to all package users.
🗒️ Note: Invited users will come with a standard cost (they occupy a seat like any other user).
What are invited users?
Invited users are people who are added to your Happeo environment individually, or through a Google Group or Microsoft Group. They are typically not part of your organization’s primary domain but are brought in to collaborate in specific areas of your intranet.
Invited users can be particularly valuable for organizations working with consultants, contractors, or subsidiaries, ensuring external collaborators can access relevant information without being granted full internal accounts.
Invited vs. seated users
Both invited and seated users take up a seat (license) in Happeo, but they differ in how they’re provisioned:
- Seated users: Created automatically via your provisioning source (Google Workspace, Entra ID, or Okta).
- Invited users: Added manually by an admin or through group invitations, often for people outside your domain.
This distinction helps organizations separate internal employee access from external or temporary collaborators, keeping governance and compliance straightforward.
When should I invite users?
Inviting users is ideal when someone has a Google or Microsoft account but is not part of your internal organization (e.g., with a different email domain).
Common use cases include:
- External consultants.
- Third-party service providers.
- Partner companies or subsidiaries.
This ensures that the right people have access to the intranet content they need, without requiring changes to your domain structure.
Best practices for managing invited users
Inviting external users extends the reach of your intranet while keeping information access controlled. To ensure smooth collaboration, consider the following best practices:
- Limit external access: Only invite users who truly need to collaborate (e.g., consultants, partners).
- Avoid premature invites: Since invited users consume a standard-cost seat, invite only when necessary.
- Watch seat usage: Check available seats before inviting users, especially with a seat cap.
- Plan ahead: Coordinate with your Customer Success Manager if a large batch of invited users is expected.
- Use CSV imports: Rely on CSV batch invites instead of many manual invites.
- Leverage groups: Organize invited users with Google/Microsoft Groups for easier permission management.
- Track reserved seats: Monitor pending invited users in the Seats Overview.
- Review regularly: Audit invited users periodically to ensure accounts remain relevant.
How does inviting users work?
🔑 Permissions: Only admins can invite users.
Steps to invite users manually:
- Click your avatar in the top-right corner of your intranet’s main navigation.
- Go to Admin Settings → User Management → Invites.
- Click Invite new users.
- Enter the user’s email address.
- Assign their role (User or Admin).
- Click Invite user.
Invited users receive an email invitation. Once accepted, they are moved from the Invited list into the Users section, where you can manage their permissions like any other user.
⚠️ Note: Invitation emails are always sent, regardless of whether email notifications are disabled in Admin Settings → Security → Email sending.
Bulk invitations with CSV
If you need to invite many users at once, you can upload a CSV file.
-
Prepare a CSV with one row per email address.
- Include a Role column with either Normal or Admin.
- Maximum of 500 emails per file.
- You can download an example CSV directly from the Invite by CSV section.
- Go to Admin Settings → User Management → Invites → Invite by CSV.
- Upload your file.
- Review the preview, adjust roles if necessary, and send the invites.
After sending, you can:
- View results in Happeo to check whether invites were successfully created.
- Download results as a CSV for a complete record of successes, errors, and timestamps.
If you have seat capping enabled, Happeo will show how many seats are available before sending.
Pending and reserved seats
When a user is invited but hasn’t accepted yet, their seat is reserved. This guarantees immediate access once the invite is accepted.
If you no longer want to hold that seat, simply cancel the pending invitation. Reserved seats will then be released back into the available pool.
Where can invited users be added?
- Entire platform: Admins invite them as full Happeo users.
- Channels: Invited individually or via Google/Microsoft Groups to collaborate on posts and shared Drive/OneDrive folders.
- Page groups: Added to a specific page group via Google/Microsoft Groups for targeted collaboration.
This flexibility allows organizations to manage access in a least-privilege model, ensuring external users only see what they need.
Common error messages
- No seats available → Add more seats or check your seat cap settings.
- Invite failed → Retry by re-uploading the CSV; Happeo will only resend failed invites.
- Invitation already created → The user has already been invited; they must accept the original invitation.
- Missing invitation email → Check spam. To avoid delivery issues, whitelist:
🗒️ Note: Happeo sends invitations via Mandrill/Mailchimp.
Microsoft limitations ⚠️
Due to Microsoft tenant restrictions:
- Invited Microsoft users can only access files and folders that live in their own tenant.
- They cannot search or open files stored in a different tenant, even if shared with them.
- This affects both file access and Happeo’s search function.
This is a Microsoft limitation, not a Happeo restriction, so plan accordingly when collaborating across tenants.
FAQ
Identity & provisioning
Can invited users be made admins?
Yes—invited users have the same privileges as synced (provisioned) users and can be assigned admin roles as needed.
What’s the difference between invited users and external or guest users?
- Invited users are directly added to your Happeo organization and can behave like internal users once accepted.
- External users belong to a different Happeo org and can only be added to specific channels or pages.
- Guest users aren’t part of any Happeo org and are limited to channel/page access. None of these have admin privileges.
🔎 See more information in User Types and Statuses.
Seat & invitation behavior
Do invited users reserve seats?
Yes—once an invitation is sent, a seat is reserved immediately so the invitee can access the platform as soon as they accept.
What happens if I invite someone but there are no available seats?
Invitations will fail with a "No seats available" error. In this case, either add more seats (watching your seat cap) or free up reserved seats by canceling outdated invitations.
Onboarding & access control
How do invited users appear in the system before and after acceptance?
- Before acceptance: They appear under Invited status with a reserved seat.
- After acceptance: They move to the Users list with a “Seated” status, and access can be managed like any other user.
Are invited Microsoft users able to access shared folders from other tenants?
No—a Microsoft-invited user can only access files that reside in their own tenant. This is a Microsoft restriction and affects both document access and Happeo search capability.
Troubleshooting
Why didn’t my invited user receive the invitation email?
If an invited user has not received the expected invitation email, please follow these steps:
- Verify the address: Double-check that the invited email matches the user’s actual address. Typos or misspellings are common causes.
- Check spam or filters: Look in the spam/junk folder or any organizational filters that may have redirected the email. Invitation emails are titled: “[Your Name] has invited you to join Happeo.”
- Whitelist senders: Ensure your organization’s email system allows messages from:
- Contact support: If the issue persists, submit a support ticket. Our team will investigate and assist with resolving delivery issues.
Why am I seeing a “No seats available” message?
If you receive a “No seats available” message, you’ve reached your seat cap. To proceed:
- Free up seats by removing or unseating users.
- Cancel outdated pending invitations to release reserved seats.
- Or, contact your Customer Success Manager to purchase additional seats.
What does “Invitation already created” mean?
If you see “Invitation already created,” it means the user has already been invited previously. A new invite will not be sent. The recipient must accept the original invitation.
Why did my invitation fail to send?
If an invitation fails, try the following:
- Re-upload the same CSV file. Happeo will automatically retry only the failed invitations.
- For single invites, resend directly from Admin Settings → User Management → Invites.
Why can’t invited Microsoft users access shared folders or documents?
If invited Microsoft users report they can’t access shared folders or documents:
- Confirm they are accessing documents within their own Microsoft tenant.
- Note that users cannot access files or search documents stored in a different tenant—this is a Microsoft limitation, not a Happeo issue.