How to find unused Google Workspace licenses

An unused Google Workspace license is one you pay for that does no work: it sits on an account nobody uses, on a suspended account, or on no account at all. To find them, check what each person has actually done in Gmail, Drive and Chat over the last 90 days, not only when they last signed in, then compare that with the license each account holds and what it costs. At €13.60 per user per month for Business Standard, even a handful of idle seats adds up to real money over a year.

Why last sign-in isn't enough

The Admin console's user list shows each person's last sign-in, rounded to something like "2 months ago". It's the first place most admins look, and it misses the most common kind of waste:

• A sign-in isn't use. A mailbox left open on a phone keeps a login fresh for months, while nobody reads or writes anything.
• It says nothing about the license. The user list doesn't put the price of each account's license next to it, so a stale Business Plus seat looks the same as a stale Starter one.
• Suspended accounts don't stand out as a cost. Google bills a suspended user the same as an active one, but a suspended account looks dealt with.

What tells you whether a license is used is activity: emails sent, files created or edited, Chat messages. Google records it per user and per day in its usage reports.

Check activity in the Admin console

This works on every edition and costs nothing but time. Menu names in the Admin console change from time to time; the reports themselves have been there for years.

1. List users and their last sign-in. In the Admin console, open Users. The Last sign in column is approximate. Download the list as CSV or to Google Sheets.
2. Add activity. Open Reporting, then User reports. The Apps usage report shows per-user activity, for example Gmail and Drive, and the Accounts report shows account status and storage. Export them too.
3. Add the license. For each user, note which license they hold (the user's page, or the Billing section for the totals per subscription).
4. Mark the idle seats. A seat is a candidate when there has been no Gmail, Drive or Chat activity for the whole period you choose (90 days is a common line), and the account is older than that period. Check the doubtful ones with the person's manager before acting.
5. Price them. Multiply each idle seat by its edition's price. The Google Workspace pricing guide has the current list prices and a calculator.

For ten users this takes an afternoon. For a hundred, the join between three exports is the slow part, and it goes stale the day you finish.

Four kinds of unused license

• Idle users. Accounts with no real activity for months: people who left without being offboarded, interns, test accounts, "just in case" accounts.
• Suspended users. Suspended to block sign-in, still billed in full.
• Shared mailboxes on a paid seat. info@, office@, jobs@: accounts that receive mail but never create a file. A Google Group or an alias does the same for free.
• Licenses on no one. On an annual plan, licenses you pay for but haven't assigned to anyone. They don't show in the user list at all; compare the number you pay for with the number assigned.

What to do with each one

• Archive an account you need to keep, such as a leaver's mailbox and files. An archived user moves to a cheaper Archived User license and frees the full one. On Business editions you may have to buy Archived User licenses first; the Admin console asks when you archive.
• Delete an account you don't need, after transferring its Drive files and, if required, its email to someone else.
• Reassign the license to a new hire instead of buying another.
• Replace a shared mailbox with a Google Group or an alias on another account, then delete it.

Google warns that removing a license from a user can lose their data: when in doubt, archive.

When the saving reaches your bill

On the Flexible plan, a license you remove is off the next bill. On an annual plan, you can't reduce the number of licenses until the renewal date: removing users frees licenses for new hires straight away, but the bill only shrinks when you renew with fewer. So the best time to look is a month or two before renewal, with time to check the doubtful cases.

The Admin console or a tool?

The Admin console is enough for a small, stable team. A tool earns its place when there are too many accounts to check by hand, or when you need the answer again next quarter.

Find your unused licenses, free

WorkspaceRadar only reads, changes nothing, and asks for no email and no card.

Questions

How long should a user be inactive before the license counts as unused? 90 days is the usual line: long enough to cover holidays and parental leave in most cases, short enough to catch a leaver within a quarter. Whatever the line, check accounts that are new, on leave or used only occasionally before you remove anything.

Is a suspended user still charged? Yes. Google charges suspended users the same as active ones. Archive or delete the account to stop paying for the full license.

Does removing a user lower my bill straight away? On the Flexible plan, yes, from the next bill. On an annual plan, no: the license stays on the bill until renewal, but you can give it to someone else in the meantime.

What about Gemini licenses? Since January 2025, Gemini is included in the Business editions. Some organisations still hold separate Gemini add-on licenses bought before that, and those are worth checking the same way: who holds one, and whether they have used Gemini in Workspace apps.