How to quickly revoke all access for a terminated employee
Disabling their Active Directory account and building card key immediately cuts off most systems and is easily reversed if needed. The actual difficulty lies in managing physical keys and separate security systems across multiple buildings. This fragmentation makes it incredibly easy to lose track of who has access and overlook removing it when contractors or employees finish a job.
What the numbers show
Counted from the threads quoted below. How we count
- The most recent one is from November 2026.
- This comes up 99.2× more often in r/PropertyManagement than across the site as a whole.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Manually disabling accounts in various apps that do not have SSODid this help you?
- 2Using scripts to revoke sessions, MFA, and reset accounts while making it easily reversibleDid this help you?
- 3Dumping BitLocker keys and triggering a reboot to essentially brick remote laptopsDid this help you?
- 4Using multiple browser windows open with identity providers and workspace apps ready to initiate sign-outsDid this help you?
- 5Issuing temporary access with an automatic expiration date.Did this help you?
- 6Using unified access control and video security systems to avoid juggling separate setups.Did this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“TLDR: What does everyone disable/revoke/reset when you are trying to make sure an employee/former employee is unable to access anything as quickly as possible?”source ↗
“First thing we do is disable their AD account. We also disable their card key for building access. That nukes most everything and can be easily reversed if something changes or gets delayed.”source ↗
“Keeping track of who still has access after a job is finished sounds like the bigger issue.”source ↗
“The annoying part is when a contractor finishes a job but nobody remembers to remove their access. Easy to overlook when you're managing several buildings.”source ↗
“physical keys become a nightmare once you've got enough vendors coming and going”source ↗
“The problem with separate systems is keeping track of who has access to which building and remembering to update it whenever contractors change.”source ↗
“Maintenance shouldn't have to chase down three different managers just to let someone into a building.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 6Client tries to reverse cancellation during offboarding
- 9How to get fired from a public accounting job without legal consequences
- 4My job offer was rescinded before my start date
- 5How to fire someone without warning
- 4Will my teaching license be suspended if I resign mid-year?
- 16How bad is it to quit a job without notice?