---
label: 'Configuring how user accounts are created and deleted'
related:
  - core.security
  - user.overview
---
{% set account_settings_link_text %}{% trans %}Account settings{% endtrans %}{% endset %}
{% set account_settings_link = render_var(help_route_link(account_settings_link_text, 'entity.user.admin_form')) %}
<h2>{% trans %}Goal{% endtrans %}</h2>
<p>{% trans %}Configure settings related to how user accounts are created and deleted.{% endtrans %}</p>
<h2>{% trans %}What are the settings related to user account creation and deletion?{% endtrans %}</h2>
<ul>
  <li>{% trans %}You can make it possible for new users to register themselves for accounts, with or without email verification or administrative approval. Or, you can make it so only administrators with <em>Administer users</em> permission can register new users.{% endtrans %}</li>
  <li>{% trans %}You can configure what happens to content that a user created, if their account is <em>canceled</em> (deleted).{% endtrans %}</li>
  <li>{% trans %}You can edit the email messages that are sent to users when their accounts are pending, approved, created, blocked, or canceled, or when they request a password reset.{% endtrans %}</li>
</ul>
<h2>{% trans %}What are variables in email message text?{% endtrans %}</h2>
<p>{% trans %}<em>Variables</em> are short text strings, enclosed in square brackets [], that you can insert into configured email message text. When an individual message is generated, data from your site is substituted for the variables. Some commonly-used variables are:{% endtrans %}</p>
<ul>
  <li>{% trans %}[site:name]: The name of your website.{% endtrans %}</li>
  <li>{% trans %}[site:url]: The URL of your website.{% endtrans %}</li>
  <li>{% trans %}[site:login-url]: The URL where users can log in to your site.{% endtrans %}</li>
  <li>{% trans %}[user:display-name]: The user's displayed name.{% endtrans %}</li>
  <li>{% trans %}[user:account-name]: The user's account name.{% endtrans %}</li>
  <li>{% trans %}[user:mail]: The user's email alias.{% endtrans %}</li>
  <li>{% trans %}[user:one-time-login-url]: An expiring URL that a user can use to log in once, if they need to reset their password.{% endtrans %}</li>
</ul>
<h2>{% trans %}Steps{% endtrans %}</h2>
<ol>
  <li>{% trans %}In the <em>Manage</em> administrative menu, navigate to <em>Configuration</em> &gt; <em>People</em> &gt; <em>{{ account_settings_link }}</em>.{% endtrans %}</li>
  <li>{% trans %}Select the method you want to use for creating user accounts, and check or uncheck the box that requires email verification, to match the settings you want for your site.{% endtrans %}</li>
  <li>{% trans %}Select the desired option for what happens to content that a user created if their account is canceled.{% endtrans %}</li>
  <li>{% trans %}Optionally, edit the text of email messages related to user accounts.{% endtrans %}</li>
  <li>{% trans %}Verify that the other settings are correct.{% endtrans %}</li>
  <li>{% trans %}Click <em>Save configuration</em>. You should see a message indicating that the settings were saved.{% endtrans %}</li>
</ol>