Enable or Disable Devices (Bulk)

Efficient fleet management often requires updating multiple devices simultaneously, whether you are preparing hardware for student distribution or securing lost or stolen assets. This article explains how to use the Bulk Action feature to Enable or Disable devices.

By using these bulk actions, staff with permissions can quickly update device availability across the fleet, reducing the effort required to manage devices individually and ensuring hardware is ready for teachers and students.

Caution: While you can toggle devices between Enabled and Disabled at any time, Deprovisioning is permanent and cannot be undone with a status change. To return a deprovisioned device to your fleet, you must physically wipe and re-enroll it in the Google Admin console.

View Tutorial

What Does It Mean When a Device Is Disabled?

When a Chrome device is disabled, the user sees only a screen telling them it’s been disabled, along with contact information for returning the device. You can control your domain's return address and contact phone number from the Google Workspace Admin console.

Caution: Your devices will not be properly disabled unless Forced Re-Enrollment is turned ON. 

Device disabling does the following...

• Signs out any user on the device and redirects them to the device-disabled page. The page above informs anyone using the device that it’s disabled and includes return instructions you can customize for your domain.
• Once the device is disabled, a user cannot sign in, and it remains disabled until an admin re-enables or deprovisions it.
• Returns licenses associated with the device(s) to the license pool while the device (s) remain disabled.
• Removes the serial number from the default Provisioned view. To see the device in your Admin console, select Disabled from the filter.

Requirements and Configuration

• Permissions: Users must have the appropriate administrative permissions to manage devices and access bulk action menus.
• Device Selection: One or more devices must be selected from the list to activate the Actions menu.
• Enrollment: Note that disabled devices remain enrolled in your domain; disabling is a state change, not a deprovisioning action.

Disabling and Enabling Your Devices

1. Search & select: 
   • Navigate to Device Search and use filters to find the devices you wish to enable or disable.

   • Select the checkboxes for all applicable devices.

     Pro Tip: Working with a large list? Click Show Selected Only in the grid footer to verify your choices across multiple pages before running a bulk action. Click Show All to return to the full list.

2. Initialize the action: Click the Actions button in the top-right corner, then select Disable or Enable.
3. Confirm the action: A side panel will appear. 
   • Review the disable or enable message.
   • Click Next.
4. Confirm the action: Click Next to view a summary of the requested change. This confirms the number of devices, that Device Status is being updated, and the new status value.
5. Execute: Click Execute. The progress bar will track the update. Once finished, a Completed successfully message will appear.
6. Completed: Click OK at the prompt.

Pro Tip: Tracking Your Changes. Every bulk action is recorded for security and reporting. If you need to confirm the specific timestamp or the user who performed these updates, navigate to the Audit Log to see a full record of the changes.

See, Understanding Device Action Eligibility and State Rules