topic Re: what CAN a view-only seat user do? in Tips, Tricks & Best Practices

what CAN a view-only seat user do?

CDay51 — Mon, 16 Jun 2025 10:36:28 GMT

Hi,
I would like help understanding the limits of what view-only users can do. In particular, can such users:

add emails to contact records using the appropriate outbound address in cc when emailing an existing content?
add contacts via the app using a business card scanner
Add notes - if so, what are any limitations?
Add tasks - if so, what are any limitations?
Edit or move on deals?

Re: what CAN a view-only seat user do?

karstenkoehler — Mon, 16 Jun 2025 10:49:58 GMT

Hi @CDay51,

Happy to help here.

No, using the BCC address requires personal email access which is not included in a view-only seat: https://knowledge.hubspot.com/connected-email/log-email-in-your-crm-with-the-bcc-or-forwarding-address#requirements-to-log-emails-to-the-crm-using-the-bcc-address
No, since a view-only user cannot create contact records, only view them.
No, since a view-only user cannot create notes, only view them.
No, since a view-only user cannot create tasks, only view them.
No, since a view-only user cannot edit deals, only view them.

See below:

Best regards

Re: what CAN a view-only seat user do?

HZ20 — Thu, 10 Jul 2025 12:12:15 GMT

well, about number 1:
I am a core seat user, have never given personal email access and, instead, use the bcc and forward address all the time.

my view-only users cannot use bcc?

Re: what CAN a view-only seat user do?

Victor_Becerra — Thu, 10 Jul 2025 20:28:12 GMT

Hey @HZ20 !

Unfortunately, view-only seat users cannot use the BCC address to log emails, even though you as a core seat user can use it without personal email access.

The key restriction is that HubSpot requires "personal email access" for BCC functionality, and view-only seats don't include this permission. So view-only users are blocked from this feature entirely, regardless of whether they've actually connected personal email or not.

You can find the full requirements here

Hope it helps!

Best,

Victor

Re: what CAN a view-only seat user do?

M_Kelly — Thu, 21 Aug 2025 02:06:44 GMT

@karstenkoehler hi - I have a question re this - in the above screen shot, one of the options is crm emails - if emails can't be logged with a view-only seat, then what will they view when the option is toggled to 'their crm emails' - there will never be any right as they can't log them? Or am I missing something there! Thanks 🙂

Re: what CAN a view-only seat user do?

karstenkoehler — Thu, 21 Aug 2025 03:58:37 GMT

@M_Kelly a user might have had a core seat previously and logged emails – which would allow them to still view those emails with a view only seat 🙂 Keep in mind that seat assignment can be temporary and potentially switched on a regular basis.

Re: what CAN a view-only seat user do?

M_Kelly — Thu, 21 Aug 2025 04:02:47 GMT

@karstenkoehler Ahhh yes of course, makes sense, thank you! 🙂

Re: what CAN a view-only seat user do?

CMontgomery0 — Wed, 07 Jan 2026 16:25:13 GMT

Hi Karsten,

Quick question, can we still assign "view only" users as contact owners/company owners?

Re: what CAN a view-only seat user do?

Victor_Becerra — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 20:26:14 GMT

Thank you for posting your question @CMontgomery0 ,
The answer is Yes — view-only users can be assigned as contact or company owners. You can find more about Assigning ownership of records here: https://knowledge.hubspot.com/records/how-to-set-a-record-owner

Hope this helps!

Victor

Re: what CAN a view-only seat user do?

KiDQ — Thu, 05 Feb 2026 14:32:00 GMT

So does this mean that the users we have who don’t actually need a Core seat cannot be downgraded to View-only, because they still need to be able to log emails and be assigned as Project Managers (one of our custom properties)?

They don’t really work in HubSpot at all, as they operate in Asana and Outlook and never need to access HubSpot themselves. However, others in our company need to be able to see their emails and assign projects to them.

Re: what CAN a view-only seat user do?

SamTassey — Thu, 05 Feb 2026 19:59:38 GMT

Hello @KiDQ,

Welcome to the Community!

@karstenkoehler, is correct. With a View-only seat, Users won't be able to utilize the BCC address to log emails to the CRM. We can also see this noted in this Ideas post here https://community.hubspot.com/t5/HubSpot-Ideas/View-Only-Seat-Connect-email-with-HubSpot/idi-p/1065185

Regarding your custom 'Owner' property: you can still assign users to this field without issue. However, keep in mind that since this is a custom property rather than the default HubSpot Owner field, these users may face limitations when trying to take certain actions within the platform. If you’d like to dive deeper into your specific process, I may recommend starting a new Community post so we can help you streamline the process!

I hope this helps!

Sam, Community Manager