How to give access to Google Tag Manager

This is a short tutorial for my clients who need Google Tag Manager services, and anyone who is wondering how to add a new user to a Google Tag Manager account or container. It won’t take you more than a minute. This article complements another one on how to add users to Google Ads.

Short step-by-step version of this guide

1. Log in to your Google Tag Manager account.
2. Click on Admin in the menu beneath the logo.
3. Select User Management in the account section.
4. Click the blue plus button in the top right corner.
5. Enter the email and set the container permissions.

Complete step-by-step guide with screenshots

You can add a new user at the account level or at the container level. It’s more convenient to manage users at the account level, as you can assign permissions for one or many containers at once.

Once you are in Tag Manager, click on the Admin tab in the navigation beneath the Google Tag Manager logo and you will see this screen:

Click on User Management in the account section (first column). It will show who has access to the account or any nested containers, along with their role, which can be either User or Administrator.

• User: has limited access only to the containers you select for that user.
• Administrator: has full access to everything and can add or remove anyone.

There is no account owner in Google Tag Manager. Every administrator is a co-owner and can remove any other administrator, including you, so use this role with caution.

Click on the blue plus button in the top right corner and select Add users:

In the appearing screen, you need to enter the new user’s email and select the account and container permissions. You can also add multiple users at once.

If you are adding a User, you will need to assign container permissions for that user. Select a container by clicking on it. Or click Set all to set the permissions for all of your containers.

This will show the container permissions screen:

Permissions	When to use
Publish	can publish container versions
Approve	can create container versions
Edit	can add, edit, and remove variables, triggers, and tags
Read	can view variables, triggers, and tags

Each level inherits permissions from the previous one: a user cannot publish a new version without first creating it, or edit a tag without first viewing it.

When to use which, you might be wondering. I’ve never seen a user with the Approve permissions, nor have I received such. And here is the breakdown of the main used permission levels:

• Select Publish if you want the added user to set everything up in your container.
• Select Edit if you want the added user to set everything up in your container, but you want to check and publish the changes yourself.
• Select Read if you want the added user to review your setup.

If you are adding an administrator, simply check the corresponding checkbox, and the container permissions will be automatically set to Read. You don’t actually have to assign container permissions because they will be an admin and can set their own permissions. I know, it’s odd that they don’t get full permissions right away.

How to remove a user or change the permissions

In the Admin section select User Management where you will see all the users who has access to the account and its containers:

Here simply click on the row with the user and you will see this screen:

You can remove a user, make them an Administrator or change the container permissions.

How to remove yourself from the account

Again, in the Admin section, select User Management, find the row with your email, and click on the three-dot icon, then select Remove yourself:

If you are the last (only) account administrator, you won’t be able to remove yourself. However, you can remove the entire account, as I explained in this article.