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Summary
When you link an existing Google Ads account to a
manager account, the Google Ads account and its history don't change. The
original advertisers don't lose access to billing or sign-in.
You can also link another manager account to your manager account, which lets
you manage and view data for all of the Google Ads accounts under that manager
account.
A manager account can only have one manager account directly above it.
An individual Google Ads account can be linked to no more than five manager
accounts, and your manager account structure can be no more than six levels
deep.
Sign in to your manager account on the Google Ads UI.
Click the Accounts tab.
Click the Performance tab.
Click the + plus button.
Click + Link existing account.
Once you've reviewed the terms, enter the Google Ads Customer ID. To link
multiple accounts at once, enter one Customer ID per line.
Click SEND REQUEST. The Google Ads account receives an account
notification and email that invite them to link to your manager account.
A pending notification appears in your manager account's Pending link
requests. Once the invited account accepts your invitation, you receive an
email confirmation and the accounts are linked. See Link accounts for more
information.
Accept link
Any user with administrative access on the invited account or on a linked
manager account can accept your invitation with the following steps:
Click the gear icon.
Choose Account settings from the drop-down menu.
Select Account access from the side navigation, then click Accept
invitation.
Manager accounts can be assigned the following levels of access:
Linking accounts must be initiated by the manager account and accepted by the
individual account. The state of the link is stored in the status field of the
CustomerClientLink or
CustomerManagerLink.
See the list of
valid statuses. Use
PENDING to initiate the link, and ACTIVE to accept the link.
Linking two pre-existing Google Ads accounts can be accomplished through these
steps:
While authenticating as the manager account, extend an invitation to the
client account by creating a CustomerClientLink
with status PENDING.
While authenticating as the client account, accept the invitation from the
manager account by mutating the
CustomerManagerLink
to have status ACTIVE.
If you don't have access to the sub-account, use one of the following
options based on your implementation:
Web flows
Use the OAuth web app authentication model to set up OAuth2 authentication
for your software on behalf of the sub-account. For instructions on how
to set up multiple-user authentication, follow the instructions in the client
library.
Other apps
You may want to implement a waiting system that checks for pending invitations
periodically.
For code samples on how to manage Google Ads accounts with the Google Ads API
(including advanced, sub- and test accounts), see Account Management.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-09-03 UTC."],[[["\u003cp\u003eLinking a Google Ads account to a manager account preserves the original account's history, access, and billing, allowing for centralized management.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eManager accounts offer a hierarchical structure, enabling management of multiple Google Ads accounts and sub-manager accounts, with limitations on depth and links.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eLinking accounts can be done manually through the Google Ads UI or automatically using the Google Ads API, requiring specific steps and authentication.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eManager accounts can have different levels of access to linked accounts, such as administrative, standard, read-only, or email-only, controlling permissions.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eWhen linking automatically via the API, it requires actions from both the manager account (sending an invitation) and the client account (accepting the invitation).\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["# Administering an existing Google Ads account\n\nSummary\n-------\n\nWhen you link an existing [Google Ads](/google-ads/api/docs/start) account to a\nmanager account, the Google Ads account and its history don't change. The\noriginal advertisers don't lose access to billing or sign-in.\n\nYou can also link another manager account to your manager account, which lets\nyou manage and view data for all of the Google Ads accounts under that manager\naccount.\n\nA manager account can only have one manager account directly above it.\n\nAn individual Google Ads account can be linked to no more than five manager\naccounts, and your manager account structure can be no more than six levels\ndeep.\n\nManual steps\n------------\n\n### Request link\n\n1. [Find the Google Ads customer ID](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/1704344) for the account you want to manage in the top right corner of the Google Ads account.\n2. Sign in to your manager account on the [Google Ads UI](https://ads.google.com).\n3. Click the **Accounts** tab.\n4. Click the **Performance** tab.\n5. Click the **+** plus button.\n6. Click **+ Link existing account**.\n7. Once you've reviewed the terms, enter the Google Ads Customer ID. To link multiple accounts at once, enter one Customer ID per line.\n8. Click **SEND REQUEST**. The Google Ads account receives an account notification and email that invite them to link to your manager account.\n\nA pending notification appears in your manager account's **Pending link\nrequests** . Once the invited account accepts your invitation, you receive an\nemail confirmation and the accounts are linked. See [Link accounts](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/7459601) for more\ninformation.\n\n### Accept link\n\nAny user with administrative access on the invited account or on a linked\nmanager account can accept your invitation with the following steps:\n\n1. Click the gear icon.\n2. Choose **Account settings** from the drop-down menu.\n3. Select **Account access** from the side navigation, then click **Accept\n invitation**.\n\nManager accounts can be assigned the following levels of access:\n\n- Administrative\n- Standard\n- Read only\n- Email only\n\nSee [About access levels](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/9978556) to learn more.\n\nAutomatic steps\n---------------\n\nLinking accounts must be initiated by the manager account and accepted by the\nindividual account. The state of the link is stored in the `status` field of the\n[`CustomerClientLink`](/google-ads/api/reference/rpc/v21/CustomerClientLink) or\n[`CustomerManagerLink`](/google-ads/api/reference/rpc/v21/CustomerManagerLink).\n\nSee the [list of\nvalid statuses](/google-ads/api/reference/rpc/v21/ManagerLinkStatusEnum.ManagerLinkStatus). Use\n`PENDING` to initiate the link, and `ACTIVE` to accept the link.\n\nLinking two pre-existing Google Ads accounts can be accomplished through these\nsteps:\n\n1. While authenticating as the manager account, extend an invitation to the client account by creating a [`CustomerClientLink`](/google-ads/api/reference/rpc/v21/CustomerClientLink) with status `PENDING`.\n2. While authenticating as the manager account, query the [`GoogleAdsService`](/google-ads/api/reference/rpc/v21/GoogleAdsService) to find the [`manager_link_id`](/google-ads/api/reference/rpc/v21/CustomerClientLink#manager_link_id) of the [`CustomerClientLink`](/google-ads/api/reference/rpc/v21/CustomerClientLink) you created.\n3. While authenticating as the client account, accept the invitation from the manager account by mutating the [`CustomerManagerLink`](/google-ads/api/reference/rpc/v21/CustomerManagerLink) to have status `ACTIVE`.\n\nIf you don't have access to the sub-account, use one of the following\noptions based on your implementation:\n\nWeb flows\n: Use the [OAuth web app authentication model](/google-ads/api/docs/oauth/cloud-project) to set up OAuth2 authentication\n for your software on behalf of the sub-account. For instructions on how\n to set up multiple-user authentication, follow the instructions in the [client\n library](/google-ads/api/docs/client-libs).\n\nOther apps\n: You may want to implement a waiting system that checks for pending invitations\n periodically.\n\nFor code samples on how to manage Google Ads accounts with the Google Ads API\n(including advanced, sub- and test accounts), see [Account Management](/google-ads/api/docs/account-management/overview).\n\nSee\n[Linking to manager accounts](/google-ads/api/docs/account-management/linking-manager-accounts#procedure)\nfor more details."]]