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Closed board has no admin - cannot reopen board "Institution"

Mr_ Gold Oils

I have a Trello board called "Institution" that is currently closed. When I try to access it, I see the message: "You're a member of this board, but only board admins are able to reopen it. Please contact support for assistance."

The problem is that the board has NO active admin. I checked the board memberships via the Trello API and found that the only member with "admin" memberType has an ID that does NOT appear in the active members list. This means the admin is a ghost/removed member.

The 4 active members all have memberType "normal" and none of us can reopen the board.

Could an Atlassian staff member please help? I have raised a private support request with the full details (board ID, member IDs, usernames, email) as recommended by Kevin Kadakas.

Thank you for your help.

Accepted answers

Kevin Kadakas

Hello @Mr_ Gold Oils ,

I would strongly recommend editing this post and removing sensitive/publicly visible information such as:

Email addresses
Usernames
Member IDs
Board identifiers/URLs

This is a public Community forum and that information is currently visible to everyone.

Since this involves account ownership, permissions, and a potentially orphaned Trello board, this is something that Atlassian Support should handle directly rather than through the public community.

I would recommend raising a support request here:
https://support.atlassian.com

Based on your description, this does appear to be a situation where the board no longer has a valid active administrator associated with it, so Atlassian Support should be able to investigate ownership and recovery options internally.

Hope this was helpful, please mark this answer as the accepted answer. Thank you!

All comments

Kevin Kadakas

Hello @Mr_ Gold Oils ,

I would strongly recommend editing this post and removing sensitive/publicly visible information such as:

Email addresses
Usernames
Member IDs
Board identifiers/URLs

This is a public Community forum and that information is currently visible to everyone.

Since this involves account ownership, permissions, and a potentially orphaned Trello board, this is something that Atlassian Support should handle directly rather than through the public community.

I would recommend raising a support request here:
https://support.atlassian.com

Hope this was helpful, please mark this answer as the accepted answer. Thank you!

Mr_ Gold Oils

Hi Kevin, thank you for your quick response. I have edited my post and removed all sensitive information (email addresses, usernames, member IDs, and board identifiers) as you suggested.

However, I tried raising a private support request at support.atlassian.com, but when I select Trello as the app, the form only offers Community Support and documentation links — there is no option to submit a private ticket. It says "Trello Free comes with Community Support. Upgrade to a paid plan to get one-on-one customer support."

Since this is an orphaned board with a ghost admin (which I cannot fix myself), could you please help escalate this to Atlassian Support internally, or advise on how a Trello Free user can get this kind of issue resolved? I can share the full details (board ID, member IDs, etc.) via private message if that helps.

Thank you!

Kevin Kadakas

Hi @Mr_ Gold Oils ,

Could you try starting a Trello Premium free trial from here:
Trello Premium Free Trial

After starting the trial, you should be able to contact Atlassian Support directly from:
Atlassian Support

If you have a credit card linked to your Trello account, make sure to cancel the trial before it ends to avoid being charged. If no payment method is linked, the trial should expire automatically without charging you.

If you have any further questions, feel free to ask!

Nivedhya Vikram1

Hi @Mr_ Gold Oils ,

I am raising a support ticket to assist you further with this issue. You will receive an email from our end with more details and next steps.

Thank you for your patience.

@Kevin Kadakas Thanks for your support!

Flavio_kjiomw

Dear all, dear @Nivedhya Vikram1

I have exactly the same problem, where can I raise a support ticket?
Do I still need to start a Premium Trial before being able to raise a support ticket?

Thank you very much in advance.

Best regards,
Flavio

Nivedhya Vikram1

Hi @Flavio ,

Could you please help with your Trello user name ?

Flavio_kjiomw

Hi @Nivedhya Vikram1

Where can I find the username? I just see that I'm using this Atlassian account I'm currently using here. I also had to create a new Workspace to recover one boards, but for the other one I just see "You're a member of this board, but only board admins are able to reopen it."

Best regards,
Flavio

Nivedhya Vikram1

@Flavio ,

Apologies for the delay in getting back to you!

To find your Trello username:

Log in to Trello at trello.com
Click on your avatar/profile icon in the top-right corner
Select "Profile and Visibility"
Your username will be displayed there

I wasn't able to track your account on my end, as it appears you replied to a different community post. So, I would require Trello username to look into your account and assist further.

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