As a workspace administrator in SignNow, you can transfer files from one member’s account to another without losing access or disrupting ongoing workflows. This feature is especially valuable when team members change roles, leave the organization, or when projects are reassigned. Instead of manually downloading and re-uploading documents, you can securely reassign ownership in just a few clicks. File transfers help maintain business continuity, preserve document histories, and ensure that all important records remain accessible to the right people at all times.
1. Initiate the Transfer
From the All Members page, open the dropdown menu next to the user and select Transfer Document Ownership.
2. Choose a New Owner
Enter the new document's owner's email address.
📝 The system validates that both you (the admin) and the selected new owner are members of at least the same workspaces as the original owner. If this requirement is not met, the transfer option will be disabled or an error message will appear.
3. What Transfers
Documents/templates: All documents created by the original owner — pending, self-signed, and completed — are transferred.
Pending invites: All invites sent by the original owner are automatically reassigned to the new owner.
Completed documents: Ownership changes, but the original signature records remain intact.
Shared items: Any single-shared documents with pending invites are also transferred.
Team Spaces and Private Teams: Files remain in their original locations, and the new owner gains access to any private teams as needed.
Trash: Items in the original owner’s trash move to the new owner’s trash root folder.
4. During Transfer
The original owner’s account becomes temporarily inaccessible until the process is complete. Attempted logins will display a message that the account is unavailable.
5. After Completion
Once finished, the administrator and the new owner receive both in-app and email notifications confirming success.
The new owner will find the transferred content in a newly created folder named after the original owner, with the original folder structure preserved.
6. Before Removing a User
If you attempt to remove a member from their final workspace, a banner will appear warning you that their documents will be lost and prompting you to transfer them first.
This process ensures that no important files are lost and that all documents remain securely accessible to authorized workspace members.
📝 Self-Signed Documents: After transfer, self-signed documents still show the original owner as the signer. The new owner will not appear as the signatory in the audit trail, certificate, or signature field.