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User Action Controls

Overview

User Action Controls allow system administrators to hide dangerous data actions -- Archive, Unarchive, Delete, and Duplicate -- from specific users. This prevents accidental (or unauthorized) data manipulation by removing these options from the action menus throughout Odoo.

Actions can be hidden globally (across all models) or selectively (only for specific models). The restrictions are enforced on both the backend and frontend, so the action buttons are completely invisible to restricted users.

Last Updated: February 2026 Target Audience: System Administrators

How It Works

  1. An administrator opens a user's profile in Settings → Users
  2. In the Access Rights tab, four toggle groups control action visibility:
  3. Archive -- Hide the "Archive" action
  4. Unarchive -- Hide the "Unarchive" action
  5. Delete -- Hide the "Delete" action
  6. Duplicate -- Hide the "Duplicate" action
  7. Each toggle can be set to hide globally (all models) or hide selectively (specific models only)
  8. The restricted user will no longer see these actions in any form or list view

System Administrators (base.group_system) cannot be restricted -- these controls only apply to non-admin users.

Configuration

Navigation: Settings → Users & Companies → Users → Select a user → Access Rights tab

Per-User Settings

Each user has four control groups in the Access Rights tab:

Control Global Toggle Selective Option
Archive "Hide All Action Archive" checkbox "Applied Models for Hiding Archive" (multi-select)
Unarchive "Hide All Action Un-Archive" checkbox -- (global only)
Delete "Hide All Action Delete" checkbox -- (global only)
Duplicate "Hide All Action Duplicate" checkbox -- (global only)

Global toggle ON: The action is hidden from this user across every model in the system.

Global toggle OFF (Archive only): The "Applied Models" field appears, letting you select specific models where the Archive action should be hidden. The action remains visible on all other models.

Batch Actions

For convenience, administrators can apply restrictions to multiple users at once using server actions:

  1. Navigate to Settings → Users & Companies → Users
  2. Select multiple users using the checkboxes
  3. Open the Action dropdown menu
  4. Choose one of:
  5. Remove All Archive Access
  6. Remove All Un-Archive Access
  7. Remove All Delete Access
  8. Remove All Duplicate Access
  9. The selected restriction is applied to all selected non-admin users

Common Tasks

Hiding Delete for a Single User

  1. Navigate to Settings → Users & Companies → Users
  2. Open the user's record
  3. Go to the Access Rights tab
  4. Check "Hide All Action Delete"
  5. Save

The user will no longer see "Delete" in any action menu.

Hiding Archive for Specific Models Only

  1. Open the user's record → Access Rights tab
  2. Leave "Hide All Action Archive" unchecked
  3. In the "Applied Models for Hiding Archive" field, add the models where Archive should be hidden (e.g., Contact, Sales Order)
  4. Save

The user can still archive records on other models, but the Archive action will not appear on the selected models.

Restricting All Actions for New Employees

  1. Navigate to Settings → Users & Companies → Users
  2. Select all new employee user accounts
  3. Open the Action dropdown
  4. Run each of the four "Remove All ... Access" actions
  5. The users are now restricted from Archive, Unarchive, Delete, and Duplicate across the system

Tips

Start Restrictive, Open Up Later

For new employees, hide all four actions globally. As they gain experience and demonstrate they understand the data model, you can selectively re-enable actions by unchecking the global toggles.

Admins Are Always Exempt

System Administrators (users in the Administration / Settings group) cannot be restricted by this module. This ensures at least one user can always perform all actions.

Check Both Form and List Views

The restrictions apply to both form view and list view action menus. If a user reports they can't find Delete or Archive, check their Access Rights tab to see if it's been hidden.

Questions? Contact your supervisor or refer to the Getting Started guide.