Admin and super admin roles in Asana

In Asana there are two organization-wide admin roles - admin and super admin. Admins have access to user and team management features as well as security settings for individual users. Super admins have access to the full set of admin features as well as security settings for the entire organization.

As super admins can oversee organization-wide security features, the super admin role should be given to an IT administrator. The first super admin for an organization must go through a verification process. Once verified, super admins can then also give others super admin status without verification. This process restricts access to critical security settings to a limited number of users.

Only organization members can hold admin or super admin roles; guests cannot.

Super admin vs admin

If you need to access additional controls, proceed with the super admin verification process.

• Super admins are usually IT administrators of an organization. They oversee capabilities such as SCIM and organization-wide password reset.

• Admins tend to be IT helpdesk or business leaders. They can access individual password reset and custom branding, as well as user- and team-management features.

Permissions when enabling and disabling Asana Intelligence features

Super admins of organizations can enable on or disable Asana Intelligence features as outlined here. Admins of organizations that do not have any super admins can disable these features, but cannot enable them again. To enable them, you will need to complete the super admin verification process or contact the Support team. A warning banner will be displayed in-product before an admin makes this change. This also applies to divisions in Asana as divisions do not have super admins. In order to enable Asana Intelligence features for a division, a division admin would need to complete the super admin verification process and become a super admin of the organization.

Super admin verification

In most cases, you will not need a super admin in your domain; if you do, you’ll see a message in the admin console that will guide you through verification. If you would like to pre-verify, you can do so by navigating to the admin console and clicking the Security tab, then click Admin Access and select to add a new super admin.

To protect the security and privacy of your company’s data within Asana, we require the first super admin in an organization to complete a verification process. This involves demonstrating the ability to modify the DNS records associated with the domains associated with your company’s Asana. Specifically, we will ask you to add a TXT record in a way that does not impact the operation of your website but does prove your ownership.

In organizations, only the first user wishing to become super admin must undergo this verification process. That super admin can then add additional super admins once verified. DNS records can be deleted after verification.

Adding the first super admin

To add your organization’s first super admin, click the Add a super admin button in the Admin Access section of your Security page in the admin console.

The super admin verification process

1. You will then receive instructions via email, similar to the above, from Asana, which will request that you add a DNS TXT record to one of the domains associated with your company’s Asana. The email from Asana will outline the steps you’ll need to complete.
2. Once you’ve updated the DNS records, you will need to wait for the changes to become visible, which may take up to 48 hours but often happens much faster.
3. Once the DNS changes are visible, use the link from the email you received to return to the admin console. Reopen the Admin Access section of the Security page and click on Check Verification.
4. If you have successfully updated the DNS records, you will be promoted to super admin.

If unsuccessful, you will be shown an error message and a link to contact our support page. Verification attempts expire after one week.

Adding further super admins

In organizations, super admins can add other super admins

To add additional super admins, click the Add a super admin button in the Admin Access section of your Security page in the admin console

View and manage admins

View admins and super admins

1. Click your profile picture and navigate to the Admin console.
2. Click the Members tab and filter by Member type to view a list of admins and super admins for the organization.

Manage admins and super admins

1. Click the 3-dot-icon to view options to remove the admin or edit the admin's profile.

View admins as an organization member

To view the admins for your organization:

1. Click your profile picture in the upper-right corner
2. Select About my organization
3. Click Admin access to view a list of admins and super admins for the organization