Revoking a Guardian
Revoking a Guardian removes their ability to access and act on any messages you have assigned them to. This article explains when to revoke, how to do it, and what happens afterwards.
When to Revoke a Guardian
You might revoke a Guardian if:
- Your relationship with the person has changed
- They have passed away or are no longer reachable
- You want to reassign the role to someone else
- You created a Guardian assignment by mistake
How to Revoke a Guardian
From the Contacts page
- Go to Dashboard → Contacts (web) or the Contacts tab (mobile)
- Open the contact’s detail view
- Tap Revoke Guardian
- Confirm the action
From a specific message
You can also remove a specific Guardian from a single message without revoking their Guardian status globally:
- Open the message from Dashboard → Messages
- Scroll to the Guardians section
- Tap the Remove (×) button next to the Guardian’s name
- Go through the Confirm Update flow to save the change
This removes the Guardian only from that message. Their Guardian status on all other messages remains unchanged.
What Happens When You Revoke
When you revoke a Guardian’s role globally (from the Contacts page):
| Effect | Details |
|---|---|
| Guardian status | Set to revoked |
| Access to guarded messages | Removed immediately – they can no longer see or act on any messages |
| Guardian badge | Removed from their contact card in your dashboard |
| Re-promotion | You can promote them to Guardian again at any time by repeating the invitation flow |
Important: Revoking a Guardian does not automatically reassign their guarded messages to another person. If they were the only Guardian on a Timeless message, that message will have no one who can trigger its delivery. Review and reassign Guardians on affected messages after revoking.
Identifying Affected Messages
After revoking a Guardian, check your messages for any that now have no active Guardians (or fewer than you intended):
- Go to Dashboard → Messages → Timeless
- Open each Timeless message and review the Guardians section
- Assign a new Guardian where needed
Re-Promoting a Revoked Guardian
If you want to restore someone’s Guardian role after revoking it, the process is identical to promoting them the first time – a new invitation email will be sent, and they will need to accept it again.
See Promoting a Contact to Guardian →.