When a user leaves an organization, administrators can immediately delete a user’s account or suspend it for a certain period of time before deleting the account. If the account is deleted or suspended without taking steps to manage calendar events, this can leave behind orphaned Google Calendar events. Orphaned events are difficult to manage, because:
- Changed or deleted orphaned events may not update for all users.
- Orphaned events may hold resources that should otherwise be available for booking.
Orphaned events from deleted users
When you delete users in the Google Admin console, their events are also deleted from their primary calendars after 30 days. Only the deleted user’s event copies are purged, while the invitee’s copies continue to appear in their calendars and in the calendars of booked resources. The events that remain in guest or resource calendars are now orphaned events.
Orphaned events from suspended users
When you suspend a user in the Admin console, their events remain in Calendar and can’t be modified by their guests. Only super administrators can modify these events. These events are not technically orphaned, but if their organizer remains suspended, they can’t be managed.
Prevent orphaned events
As an administrator, you can prevent orphaned events in the following ways:
