Jira inactive users

[Rajan Dangol]

Hi, is there a way to email inactive Jira users after a defined period to confirm whether 

they still require a Jira licence, or are their accounts automatically deactivated after a certain number of days?

[Jack Brickey · Accepted solution]

Hi @Rajan Dangol , not natively, unless something has changed. What I have historically done was had a calendar reminder every three months or so to investigate inactive users. I would export the list of users, including the last date they logged in. I then used excel and some formulas to flag users and contact them or deactivate them if it had been a significantly long time.

[Rajan Dangol]

Thanks Jack. Has this been raised as a feature request by any chance?

[Jack Brickey]

Hi @Rajan Dangol , I am not sure. I did a quick search in JAC (Jira.atlassian.com) but didn't uncover any suggestions. I do know there are quite a few posts in the Community on the topic so you might do a search here. You might consider opening a support ticket to inquire. 

[James - Seats Management]

Hi @Rajan Dangol
To answer your question directly - no, Atlassian doesn't natively auto-deactivate users after a period of inactivity, and there's no built-in way to email users before deactivation.

A few automation paths worth considering:

1. REST API + scripting - You can pull last login data via the Atlassian Admin API and write a script that flags users inactive beyond your threshold (30/60/90 days). Add email notifications before calling the deactivation endpoint. Works, but requires maintenance.

2. Jira Automation rules (limited) - These can't directly query user login activity or deactivate users - they operate on issues, not user management.

3. Marketplace apps - There are a few apps built for this. Full disclosure - I work on one called User Management Automation for Jira & Confluence. It monitors user activity across all Atlassian products, and can automatically deactivate users who haven't logged in within your defined window. It also sends notification emails and handles unmanaged accounts, which is a gap in most other tools.

There's also a long-standing feature request on jira.atlassian.com (ID-7726) for native inactivity-based deactivation -- open since 2019.