Browse and Search the People Directory

🎯 Who this article is for: All users. Admin-specific steps are clearly marked throughout.

💼 Package requirements: The People Directory (including the Organizational Chart) is available for all packages. Custom User Attributes and People Directory Filters are only available for the Growth and Enterprise packages.

1. Overview

The People Directory gives everyone in your organization a single place to find colleagues, understand who does what, and make contact without having to ask around. Whether you're a new hire trying to understand the team structure or a manager looking for the right person to loop in, the People Directory surfaces the information you need without interrupting anyone.

People profiles pull directly from your Google Workspace or Entra ID directory, so the information stays current without anyone having to maintain it manually.

2. Before you begin

To get the most out of the People Directory and Organizational Chart:

• Make sure your Google Workspace or Entra ID directory is up to date and that all groups are configured correctly. Profile information in the People Directory is pulled directly from your directory, so anything missing or outdated there will be reflected in Happeo.

Admins can manage attribute visibility, filter settings, and directory-wide options from Admin Settings > People Directory.

3. Browse and filter the People Directory

You can browse everyone in your organization from the People tab. To narrow down the list, use the filters at the top of the page. You can filter by:

• Department
• Title
• Cost center
• Location
• Organization (if available)

You can also sort people alphabetically in ascending (A to Z) or descending (Z to A) order, and switch between grid and list view depending on your preference.

🗒 Note: To hide the filter bar, click Hide filters in the top-right corner of the People Directory.

4. Search for people

Use the search bar at the top of the People Directory to find someone directly. Search looks across a broad set of profile fields, so you can find colleagues not just by name but by role, team, location, and more.

What fields does search look across?

When you type a query, search matches it against the following profile fields:

• Full name
• Title
• Department
• Cost center
• Location
• Address
• Primary email
• Phone number
• Skills (set in your platform)
• Custom attributes
• "About me" section (set in your platform)
• Out-of-office (OOO) messages

Because search covers all of these fields, a result that looks unrelated often means your query matched something in that person's profile, such as a skill, a custom attribute, or an OOO message where they mentioned a colleague's name.

All filtering options remain available while you search, so you can combine a search term with department or location filters to narrow results further.

🔎 Learn more about searching for people using Happeo's main Search tool.

Searching by phone number

Phone number search matches on the full number or on any prefix from the beginning of the number. For example, if someone's number is +358407104945, all of the following queries will return them:

• +358407104945
• 358407104945
• 35840 (or any prefix of matching length)

Searching for a number from the middle or end of a sequence (for example, 407104945 without the country code prefix) will not return results.

5. Filter using custom attributes

Google Workspace custom attributes can be used as filters in the People Directory, making it easier to find people based on criteria specific to your organization.

(Admins): Manage custom attribute filter visibility

As an admin, you can control which custom attributes appear as filters in the People Directory. To do so:

1. Go to Admin Settings > People Directory and select Filters.
2. Toggle the custom attributes you want to make visible as filters.

A confirmation message will appear when the change is saved. To reset filter visibility to the default, click Reset to default in the top-right corner of the list.

Use custom attribute filters

In the People Directory, enabled custom attributes appear as filter options below the search bar. When you click on a custom attribute filter, you can:

• Select one or more values by checking the relevant boxes.
• Hover over the i icon for more information about the attribute.

🗒 Note: Greyed-out attributes mean no users have been assigned that attribute yet.

6. (Admins): Manage People Directory attributes

As an admin, you can control which profile attributes are visible across all user profiles in the People Directory.

1. Go to Admin Settings > People Directory > Attributes.
2. Toggle off any attributes you do not want displayed for all users.
3. To reorder how attributes appear, click Reorder in the top-right corner and drag attributes using the handle on the left.
4. To restore the default attribute visibility settings, click the Reset to default button in the top-right corner of the page.

🗒 Note: The visibility of custom user attributes in your platform’s user profiles is controlled through the Google Admin Panel, not from within your platform. If you need to make changes to custom attribute visibility, do so from the Google Admin Panel.

7. (Admins): Manage People Directory settings

Go to Admin Settings > People Directory > Settings to configure the following:

• Visibility of unseated users: When enabled, unseated users will appear in search results and the People Directory.
• Allow users to upload their own profile pictures: When enabled, users can upload a profile picture that overrides any image set in Google, Microsoft, or Okta.

8. User profiles and Organizational Chart

Clicking on any person in the People Directory opens their user profile, where you can view their contact details, role, team, and any additional information they've added.

🔎 Learn more about User Profiles.

To view your organization's structure visually, click Organizational Chart in the top-right corner of the People Directory.

🔎 Learn more about the Organizational Chart.

9. Frequently asked questions

Can I update my own profile information directly in the People Directory?

Not directly, but you can get there from the People Directory. Search for your name, open your profile, and click Edit profile to be taken to your user settings. The faster route is to click your avatar and go to User Settings directly.

🔎 Learn more about User Settings.

How often does the People Directory sync with Google Workspace or Entra ID?

If an admin hides an attribute in the People Directory, does it also disappear from individual user profiles?

No. Hiding an attribute only removes it from the People Directory view. The attribute remains visible on individual user profile pages.

Can I search for people from outside the People Directory?

Yes. You can search for colleagues from your platform’s main Search tool without navigating to the People Directory first. Use the People filter in Search to narrow results to people only.

🔎 Learn more about Search.

10. Troubleshooting

Unseated or unassigned users are appearing in my People Directory or search results

To prevent unseated or unassigned users from appearing, you have a few options as a Google admin:

• Disable directory sharing for each affected user individually via the Google Admin Panel. Note that this also hides the user in Google, which may not always be desirable.
• Suspend the user in Google first, then move them to an Organizational Unit (OU) that is not within Happeo's sync scope. It is important to follow this order to avoid triggering an orphan scan.
• If suspending users is not an option, move them to an unsynced OU and submit a support ticket to request an orphan scan. This will automatically suspend users who are no longer within scope but have not yet been marked as suspended.

Why can't I turn off email sending to secondary email addresses?

Toggling off Email in the People Directory settings only removes the primary email address from visible profile attributes. Secondary email addresses are controlled on the Google side. To manage secondary email visibility, please refer to your Google Admin settings.

Why is my search returning people I didn't expect?

People search is designed to match across multiple profile fields, so a result that looks unrelated often means the search term appears somewhere in that person's profile, such as in their "About me" section, skills, or an OOO message where they mentioned a colleague's name. If you're seeing results that seem completely unrelated, try narrowing your search using the available filters for department, title, location, or cost center.