User Groups or single logon with multiple profiles

[Kongoth 0]

On 12/18/2018 at 11:06 PM, hotwheelzffx said:

In my house, I would like to see a User Profile selection similar to Netflix. Using my single logon, I would like my family to choose between who is watching.

That way each of us can watch shows without marking it watched for someone else.

 

In this scenario, I would have a 4 users in a Family Group using the same username/password.

We really need this

 

[neik 873]

I think the PIN feature that has been implemented during 4.8 beta is already a good step into the right direction and achieving this.

Is it one to one the same? No, it's not.

Does it achieve similar, e.g. quick jumping between accounts while keeping kids out of restricted stuff (PIN)? Yes, I think so.

[iBoss 31]

19 minutes ago, neik said:

I think the PIN feature that has been implemented during 4.8 beta is already a good step into the right direction and achieving this.

Is it one to one the same? No, it's not.

Does it achieve similar, e.g. quick jumping between accounts while keeping kids out of restricted stuff (PIN)? Yes, I think so.

Unfortunately, the PIN is a different feature/idea and does not achieving the profile feature.

[rbjtech 5284]

Once all the clients have been updated to a) Save the password and b) Allow/enforce PIN if required - then for it's intended family/friends usage,   this FR is complete.

User groups etc are clearly not required for typical family use ...

[rbjtech 5284]

2 minutes ago, iBoss said:

Unfortunately, the PIN is a different feature/idea and does not achieving the profile feature.

It is not required - simply create a shared account for each user - and display them for easy login - there is zero need for shared 'Profiles'.

[iBoss 31]

12 minutes ago, rbjtech said:

It is not required - simply create a shared account for each user - and display them for easy login - there is zero need for shared 'Profiles'.

Kindly understand that this is your opinion, but the PIN is a separate idea. I am puzzled as to why we are discussing it within this request, which is specifically for a profile feature.

The profile feature is primarily intended for family use, which is why many members have been requesting it. This is also why services like Netflix and Disney utilize it.

Others, including myself, have previously explained the scenario for why we need it.

 

On 11/17/2022 at 4:36 PM, iBoss said:

Hi 

I know that there are alot of suggestions ... but the main request is:

Please we need it as Netflix (same idea)

if you make it only by create multi users and switch between them will not solve the issue. because the admin will always go to create these users and modify them  . Please we want the user by itself to create these profiles and add restriction on it. for example if I create a user (account) for my brother, why i need from him to call me again to create another two users for his kids?!!!

Appreciate your support

 

[Kongoth 0]

6 minutes ago, iBoss said:

Kindly understand that this is your opinion, but the PIN is a separate idea. I am puzzled as to why we are discussing it within this request, which is specifically for a profile feature.

The profile feature is primarily intended for family use, which is why many members have been requesting it. This is also why services like Netflix and Disney utilize it.

Others, including myself, have previously explained the scenario for why we need it.

 

 

Highly agree to this comment, the profile feature is the only thing that emby is missing atm, without it… other services feels more family friendly

[neik 873]

19 minutes ago, iBoss said:

The profile feature is primarily intended for family use, which is why many members have been requesting it. This is also why services like Netflix and Disney utilize it.

You achieve exactly the same by creating for each user (mom, dad, kid(s)) an account and change the user back and forth as required. You just create an account instead of a "profile", same thing other name imho..

Additionally, with the PIN feature you can now (or in near future, depends on the server and client you're on) use, you can restrict the kids to access your account, thus ensure that they don't watch inappropriate stuff (e.g. movies that aren't meant for their age).

I mean, you can also insist on the user profiles but if I were I wouldn't expect it to happen anytime soon, given that something similar is already in place/development.

[iBoss 31]

2 minutes ago, neik said:

You achieve exactly the same by creating for each user (mom, dad, kid(s)) an account and change the user back and forth as required. You just create an account instead of a "profile", same thing other name imho..

Additionally, with the PIN feature you can now (or in near future, depends on the server and client you're on) use, you can restrict the kids to access your account, thus ensure that they don't watch inappropriate stuff (e.g. movies that aren't meant for their age).

I mean, you can also insist on the user profiles but if I were I wouldn't expect it to happen anytime soon, given that something similar is already in place/development.

That's why it is different. I don't like creating accounts. Why should users need to contact the admin for this? For example, my brother already has an account, and now he wants an additional account for his kid (8-year-old). Why should he have to call me to create another one? Furthermore, he needs to inform me about the specific restricted content requirements for each child. For example, his 12-year-old needs an account with one set of restrictions, and perhaps later, he'll want to modify those settings. This is just one example, and if you consider my extended family, which comprises more than 20 members, each with unique requirements and account needs, it becomes an impractical task for everyone to call me. I simply don't have the time for this.

Additionally, if I were to provide my brother with four connections, the number of these connections would remain the same even if he has multiple profiles.

I hope my explanation clarifies the issue. The concept of using a PIN for access is a different approach, and to implement it like a profile, the admin would need to field calls from every member to manage their connections and configurations. This would be time-consuming and impractical.

So, kindly here's what we need from the developer:

• The admin should be able to specify the number of profiles a user can create.
• User Profile Creation: Users should have the ability to create profiles and define the restrictions and PIN for each profile according to their needs.

In this way, all profile management is in the hands of the user. The admin's role is primarily to determine how many profiles a user can create, leaving the control of the profiles to the user themselves.

 

Thanks

[ebr 16169]

5 hours ago, iBoss said:

That's why it is different. I don't like creating accounts. Why should users need to contact the admin for this? For example, my brother already has an account, and now he wants an additional account for his kid (8-year-old). Why should he have to call me to create another one? Furthermore, he needs to inform me about the specific restricted content requirements for each child. For example, his 12-year-old needs an account with one set of restrictions, and perhaps later, he'll want to modify those settings. This is just one example, and if you consider my extended family, which comprises more than 20 members, each with unique requirements and account needs, it becomes an impractical task for everyone to call me. I simply don't have the time for this.

Additionally, if I were to provide my brother with four connections, the number of these connections would remain the same even if he has multiple profiles.

I hope my explanation clarifies the issue. The concept of using a PIN for access is a different approach, and to implement it like a profile, the admin would need to field calls from every member to manage their connections and configurations. This would be time-consuming and impractical.

So, kindly here's what we need from the developer:

• The admin should be able to specify the number of profiles a user can create.
• User Profile Creation: Users should have the ability to create profiles and define the restrictions and PIN for each profile according to their needs.

In this way, all profile management is in the hands of the user. The admin's role is primarily to determine how many profiles a user can create, leaving the control of the profiles to the user themselves.

 

Thanks

Hi.  Keep in mind that we are supposed to be a personal media server for a single household.  What you are suggesting has quite a few complications in that it requires administrative ability on the part of a user that probably doesn't have that ability defined in your server.

We very well may implement some sort of "sub-user" type system but there are a lot of considerations that go along with that.  Until then, for most people, the new system can work and feel very much like sub-users with the caveat that the administrator does still need to administer all users of his server.

Thanks.

[mostym 2]

2 hours ago, ebr said:

Hi.  Keep in mind that we are supposed to be a personal media server for a single household.  What you are suggesting has quite a few complications in that it requires administrative ability on the part of a user that probably doesn't have that ability defined in your server.

We very well may implement some sort of "sub-user" type system but there are a lot of considerations that go along with that.  Until then, for most people, the new system can work and feel very much like sub-users with the caveat that the administrator does still need to administer all users of his server.

Thanks.

Even though I use this as a personal media server, I always require a password to be entered.  The sub-user would suffice as long as we can control the permissions of each sub-user.  Something like this would be great:

Each user would login with the primary user account, let's say, mostym.  Then they would be greeted with accounts list (similar to NetFlix) and they can select a sub-user similar to the list below, if they want to change the sub-user to a different one, they can click on Change Sub-User from the Emby header navigation.  That would be amazing and save me from having to manage my multiple accounts for each of my family members.

>> Mom
>> Dad
>> Sister
>> Brother

[ebr 16169]

15 hours ago, mostym said:

Something like this would be great:

Hi.  Isn't that functionally the same as what we have now when each of those accounts is remembered on the device?

15 hours ago, mostym said:

and save me from having to manage my multiple accounts for each of my family members

Someone has to manage those accounts because you want the restrictions, visibility and user data tracking on each of them.

It sounds like you are just wanting to farm out some of that administration - which is fine but it creates a complication in implementing this.

This is still a valid request but the moves we are making now will get 90% of the way there for a lot of our users.

[iBoss 31]

11 minutes ago, ebr said:

Hi.  Isn't that functionally the same as what we have now when each of those accounts is remembered on the device?

Someone has to manage those accounts because you want the restrictions, visibility and user data tracking on each of them.

It sounds like you are just wanting to farm out some of that administration - which is fine but it creates a complication in implementing this.

This is still a valid request but the moves we are making now will get 90% of the way there for a lot of our users.

Manage which restrictions?! This is only for managing "parental ratings." That's all.

So, if the admin adds restrictions for the main user to view contents rated TV-14, when this user creates a profile, they can only manage parental ratings below TV-14.

 

Edited October 26, 2023 by iBoss

[ebr 16169]

2 hours ago, iBoss said:

Manage which restrictions?! This is only for managing "parental ratings." That's all.

So, if the admin adds restrictions for the main user to view contents rated TV-14, when this user creates a profile, they can only manage parental ratings below TV-14.

 

There are more possibilities than just the parental rating.  There are a lot of user-based options for both visibility and functionality.  Plus you now need a system to allow a user that cannot manage those things to actually manage those things - but only for some users and, as you pointed out, within restrictions set on them as well.  It gets complicated very quickly.

[Mibok 158]

On 10/25/2023 at 6:52 AM, iBoss said:

That's why it is different. I don't like creating accounts. Why should users need to contact the admin for this? For example, my brother already has an account, and now he wants an additional account for his kid (8-year-old). Why should he have to call me to create another one? Furthermore, he needs to inform me about the specific restricted content requirements for each child. For example, his 12-year-old needs an account with one set of restrictions, and perhaps later, he'll want to modify those settings. This is just one example, and if you consider my extended family, which comprises more than 20 members, each with unique requirements and account needs, it becomes an impractical task for everyone to call me. I simply don't have the time for this.

Additionally, if I were to provide my brother with four connections, the number of these connections would remain the same even if he has multiple profiles.

I hope my explanation clarifies the issue. The concept of using a PIN for access is a different approach, and to implement it like a profile, the admin would need to field calls from every member to manage their connections and configurations. This would be time-consuming and impractical.

So, kindly here's what we need from the developer:

• The admin should be able to specify the number of profiles a user can create.
• User Profile Creation: Users should have the ability to create profiles and define the restrictions and PIN for each profile according to their needs.

In this way, all profile management is in the hands of the user. The admin's role is primarily to determine how many profiles a user can create, leaving the control of the profiles to the user themselves.

 

Thanks

 You could give your brother an admin account, so he can create and manage more users. On the same note, "Admin roles" could be more easy to implement. So an "Admin" with rights only to create users but not edit libraries. This is not a feature request, just throwing some ideas here. But if you want a solution now, that's what you can do at the moment.

[ebr 16169]

53 minutes ago, Mibok said:

On the same note, "Admin roles" could be more easy to implement

Role-based or, at least, more granular permissions is something we are wanting to get to as well and may, indeed, be a pre-requisite to this type of sub-user.

[rbjtech 5284]

13 hours ago, ebr said:

Role-based or, at least, more granular permissions is something we are wanting to get to as well and may, indeed, be a pre-requisite to this type of sub-user.

Agree 100% - giving a user 'Admin' just so they can manage local accounts is a reverse of the good security progress emby has made over the last few months.   If a new user type of 'Sub Account Admin'  has create/edit sub account user rights with max inherit permissions of their own rights - then that is great - and will then make this FR a reality.        

Personally, I do not see the need for this on a family server - if you do not personally know your users, then this functionality could easily be abused. 

[brianpooe 2]

Any progress on this? this is probably the most fundamental feature for a media server. Netflix, disney, primevideo etc… all have this for a good reason and i mean all apps that serve media. I think it’s worth investing into honestly. The way this works right now on Emby is not great at all. Makes it feel like the app is meant for technical users only. 

 

I like Emby and purchased it for its robust and clean UI. I think if this feature is nailed it would put it above plex.

[iBoss 31]

1 hour ago, brianpooe said:

Any progress on this? this is probably the most fundamental feature for a media server. Netflix, disney, primevideo etc… all have this for a good reason and i mean all apps that serve media. I think it’s worth investing into honestly. The way this works right now on Emby is not great at all. Makes it feel like the app is meant for technical users only. 

 

I like Emby and purchased it for its robust and clean UI. I think if this feature is nailed it would put it above plex.

I hope there is an update on this. This request has been posted for six years.

As you mentioned, all media servers have this feature. I hope the developers look into it soon.

[Luke 42077]

3 hours ago, iBoss said:

I hope there is an update on this. This request has been posted for six years.

As you mentioned, all media servers have this feature. I hope the developers look into it soon.

Hi, not yet, but when you create a new user you can copy data and settings from another user.

[ebr 16169]

5 hours ago, brianpooe said:

a media server. Netflix, disney, primevideo etc… all have this

Hi. None of those are media servers.  They are all streaming services and most of them only recently even had the concept of more than one user on your account.  And none of them have the feature that is in this request - the ability to set user rights at a group level.

Emby, on the other hand, is a media server for your content and has the idea of separate users at its very core.  You can create different users and have them have totally different views of your media and rights to different features.

Also, you can setup your system so that only the users that authenticate on a particular device show on the user selection screen for that device. So, you can make Emby behave very much the same way as those other systems with multiple users and an easy way to switch quickly between them (on the user menu).

This request is for an easier way to manage rights and settings for different groups of users and that is on our radar but I don't believe any of the services you are comparing to have that feature.

[Delafuentedelfuego 3]

Hi,

---

Feature Request: Delegated User Management for Parents / Family Managers

Hi Emby team,

First, thank you for your incredible work — Emby continues to be a fantastic platform!

I’d like to suggest a feature that would allow non-admin users (such as parents) to manage their children’s profiles, without requiring full administrative privileges. This would be a huge help for shared server scenarios, especially where multiple families use the same server.

---

Goal

Enable a trusted user (e.g., a parent) to:

• Create and manage restricted child user profiles.

• Set content restrictions (ratings, libraries, playback controls).

• View history and activity of those specific users.

• Without having access to server-wide settings or other user accounts.

---

🛠 Suggested Implementation Ideas

1. User Ownership Hierarchy

Introduce a relationship in the user model:

{
  "id": "user_kid1",
  "username": "Kid1",
  "ownerId": "user_parent123"
}

• A new optional ownerId field links users to their creator/manager.

• Parent users can only view/edit profiles they created or own.

• Access is scoped to their “child” users only.

2. Scoped User Management Permissions

Introduce new non-admin permissions:

• CanCreateChildUsers: true/false

• CanManageOwnedUsers: true/false

• CanViewPlaybackHistory: true/false (scoped only to owned users)

A “Family Manager” user could be granted these permissions without access to global admin functions.

3. User Groups or Households

Add support for a household/family group model:

• A parent user creates a “household” or group.

• All child profiles under that group are manageable by the group owner.

• Keeps accounts cleanly separated from other users or families on the same server.

4. Scoped Library Visibility

Allow content/library visibility to be scoped to the parent:

• Parent manages what their children can access.

• Server admin can assign a base library pool to each parent or household.

---

Security Notes

• Ensure child accounts cannot elevate permissions.

• Parent users should not see unrelated user activity or server-wide logs.

• Admin retains full control but delegates basic responsibilities safely.

---

Real-World Use Case

• Multi-family Emby servers: each parent manages their own kids.

• Admins don’t need to micromanage every child account.

• Schools or community setups with per-group supervision.

---

Would love to hear your thoughts on feasibility — and if this could be opened up for community development (plugin, PR, etc.), I’d be happy to contribute ideas or testing.

Thanks again for the great work!

---

 

[PixelWizard 7]

interested in profiles similar like Netflix, some people share accounts with gf or kids and they not want to share some libraries, or tvshows progress.

[Greg2725d 3]

I'm also looking for this. My issue is that I have multiple users in a single household. In order to switch users on a TV for example, the user either has to authenticate or enter their pin. Feasible but not ideal especially when available content isn't being filtered by the user. 

[ebr 16169]

On 11/15/2025 at 9:56 PM, Greg2725d said:

to switch users on a TV for example, the user either has to authenticate or enter their pin

Hi.  Only if you set that as a requirement.  If you don't require the PIN then you can easily switch back and forth.