This guide will walk you through how to enable and configure Workspaces in Vanta, step by step. Whether you're setting up your first instance or managing several business units, you'll learn how to navigate, configure, and manage each workspace with confidence.
What are Workspaces?
Workspaces allow you to manage multiple Vanta environments under a single umbrella account. This is helpful for organizations with:
- Multiple product lines or business units
- Subsidiary or parent-child company structures
- Different teams needing separate compliance environments
Each workspace acts as its own instance of Vanta, with its own integrations, policies, users, and frameworks. Once Workspaces are enabled, you can easily move between these instances without needing to log in or out of separate accounts.
Enable Workspaces in Vanta
To get started with Workspaces, Vanta needs to turn on the feature for your organization.
- Contact Vanta Support to request access
- A member of the Vanta team will help you activate Workspaces
Once Workspaces are enabled, you’ll see a new workspace selector in the top-left corner of your screen.
How the First Admin is Assigned
- After a workspace is created, the first admin is automatically assigned during setup, typically the person who initiated the request. This person is added to the Workspace Console by default and has permission to manage users and access across all workspaces.
- If you need to add more admins, the initial admin can do this directly from the Workspace Console. To learn how, follow the steps in the Manage User Access Across Workspaces section.
Not sure who was assigned as the first admin?
- Reach out to Vanta Support for help identifying or updating the original admin.
Navigate Between Workspaces
Once Workspaces are enabled, you’ll be able to access all your Vanta instances from one place.
- Look in the top left-hand corner of your screen
- Hover over the currently selected instance
- Select the workspace you want from the dropdown menu
Please note: If you're already logged into your Vanta instance, log out and then log back in using your magic link to enable the workspace.
Edit Company Information in Each Workspace
You’ll need to update company details in every individual workspace.
- Select Settings from the left-hand menu
- Click Information
- Add the correct company information
- Click Update Information
Set Up Each Workspace
Each workspace functions as its own environment and needs to be provisioned separately. You’ll want to:
Not sure where to begin? Take the Getting Started in Vanta course in Vanta Academy.
Use the Workspace Console (For Admins)
Workspace Console gives admins a high-level view across all workspaces. By default, your primary admin is the first user added. That admin can add more users to the console,
- To log in for the first time:
- Use your email
- Go to the Workspace picker
- Select Workspace Console
From here, you can manage users across all your workspaces.
Track Progress in the Workspaces Dashboard
The Workspaces Dashboard gives you a snapshot of each instance's status. You can view framework progress and track compliance status for each workspace.
Sync Users into a Workspace
If you're using an identity provider (IdP) like Okta, Google Workspace, or Azure AD, you can automatically sync users into your Vanta Workspaces. This makes it easy to manage user access and keep your people list up to date.
To sync users into a workspace:
- Navigate to the desired Workspace using the workspace picker in the top-left corner
- Go to Integrations in the left-hand menu
- Select your Identity Provider (e.g., Okta, Google Workspace, Azure AD)
- Follow the prompts to connect and authorize the integration
- See detailed setup steps in Vanta & Identity Providers (IdPs)
- Once connected, Vanta will sync users into the workspace from your IdP
- Head to the Users page to review synced users
- Open a user’s drawer to assign a role and adjust workspace access
Note: Each workspace must be connected to your IdP individually. If you're using SCIM or group-based provisioning, you'll want to configure that per workspace too.
Manage User Access Across Workspaces
The Users page gives you a full view of who has access to Vanta and what workspaces they’re connected to. From this page, you can add new users, manage access, and assign roles across all your Workspaces.
Add a New User
To add a new user:
- Click the Add user button
- Enter the first name, last name and email address
- From there, select the workspaces to assign to the user
- And assign one or more roles based on the user’s responsibilities
Link User Accounts Manually
Some user accounts need to be manually linked. This typically happens when:
- Users have different email addresses across Workspaces
-
Workspaces are using different login methods (e.g., one uses Google login, another uses email/password)
To manually link user accounts:
- Go to the Users page
- Select the user profiles that should be linked
- Click the Link users button
Once linked, users can toggle between Workspaces using the Workspace dropdown in the top-left corner of the platform.
Change a User’s Role
There are two ways to change a user’s role:
- From the Users Page: Select a role from the Role dropdown next to the user’s name
- From the User Drawer: Open the user drawer, then select an available role from the dropdown
Update a User’s Default Workspace
You can also select a default Workspace for a user. This determines which Workspace they land in when they log in.
- Open the user drawer
- Use the Workspace dropdown to choose a new default
Grant Workspace or Workspace Console Access
To give a user access to a new Workspace or to the Workspace Console:
- Open the user drawer
- Select a Workspace the user doesn’t already have access to
- Grant access as needed
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