This topic covers how to handle scenarios where a new employee attempts to sign in to WeCom using a company-owned phone number that was previously assigned to a former employee.
In such cases, the new employee may see the former employee’s name or authentication details during sign-in or sign-up. This occurs because the phone number is still bound to the former employee’s WeCom account and identity verification, which has not yet been removed.
WeCom accounts are personal to individual users. Company administrators cannot directly delete or modify user accounts. Account deletion can only be performed by the account owner.
Note
Both solutions described in this guide permanently delete all data associated with the former employee’s WeCom account, including:
Chat history
Group chat data
Customer contacts
Customer contacts can be reassigned to other users by a company administrator before account deletion.
Solution 1: Delete the Former Employee’s WeCom Account
Use this solution when all the following conditions are met:
The phone number belongs to the company
The company plans to reassign the phone number to a new employee
The former employee is available to delete their WeCom account.
Prerequisites
Access to the former employee’s WeCom app
The former employee’s consent to delete the account
To reassign the phone number:
Open the WeCom app.
Go to Settings.
Select Account & Security.
Open WeCom Security Center.
Select Delete Account.
Follow the on-screen instructions to confirm deletion.
The former employee’s WeCom account is permanently deleted.
The company-owned phone number is released.
The phone number can be used by a new employee to create a new WeCom account.
Solution 2: Force Phone Number Transfer Using a New Account
Use this solution when:
The former employee did not delete their WeCom account before leaving the company.
The company needs to reassign the phone number without access to the former employee’s account.
This method works around Tencent’s security mechanism, which may otherwise require the former employee’s identity verification details during sign-in or sign-up.
Prerequisites
Prepare one of the following temporary identifiers:
A new phone number
A WeChat account
An email address
To reassign the phone number:
The company administrator invites the new employee to register a new WeCom account using the temporary identifier.
The new employee signs in to the newly created WeCom account.
In the WeCom app, click Settings > Account & Security > Mobile Number
Select Change Mobile.
Enter the company-owned phone number previously assigned to the former employee.
Complete the verification steps.
The phone number is automatically unbound from the former employee’s account.
The former employee can no longer access WeCom using the phone number.
The new employee’s account is now bound to the company-owned phone number.