The Add Assignee feature lets you assign, reassign, or remove an employee from a device directly from the Asset Details page — without creating a shipping order. This is useful when a device has already been physically handed to an employee and you need to update the record in allwhere to reflect who has it.
Who Can Use This Feature
The Add Assignee feature is available to:
- Primary Administrators — full access to add, change, and remove assignees
- Secondary Administrators — full access to add, change, and remove assignees
Which Devices Support Assignee Editing
You can only add, change, or remove an assignee on devices with one of these statuses:
- Allocated — the device is currently assigned to an employee
- Transferred — the device has been shipped or handed off but does not yet have a confirmed assignee
Devices in other statuses (e.g., In Inventory, Pending Allocation, Processing) do not support assignee editing.
Adding an Assignee
Use this when a device has no current assignee and you need to record who has it.
- Navigate to the Asset Dashboard and click on the device's asset number to open the Asset Details page
- In the General section, find the Assignee field — it will display an Add link if the device has no assignee
- Click Add to open the Add Assignee dialog
- Use the Select a person search field to find the employee — you can type their name and results will filter as you type
- Select the employee from the dropdown — each option shows the employee's full name and email address
- If the device is currently in Transferred status, a checkbox will appear: "I understand the status will change to Allocated." Check this box to proceed
- Click Save changes
A confirmation message will appear at the bottom of the screen confirming the assignment (e.g., "Device assigned to Jane Smith"). The Assignee field and device status will update immediately.
Important: Adding an assignee updates the device record only. It does not create a shipping order or trigger any physical shipment.
Changing an Assignee
Use this when a device already has an assignee and you need to reassign it to a different employee.
- On the Asset Details page, find the Assignee field — it will show the current assignee's name (as a clickable link to their employee profile) and an Edit link next to it
- Click Edit to open a dropdown menu with two options:
- Change assignee — reassign the device to a different employee
- Remove assignee — unassign the employee from the device
- Select Change assignee to open the Change Assignee dialog
- The dialog shows the Current assignee for reference
- Use the Select a person search field to find the new employee — the current assignee is automatically excluded from the search results
- Select the new employee and click Save changes
A confirmation message will appear confirming the reassignment. The device status will update accordingly.
Removing an Assignee
Use this when you need to unassign an employee from a device without assigning someone new.
- On the Asset Details page, click Edit next to the current assignee's name
- Select Remove assignee from the dropdown menu
- A confirmation dialog will appear: "Are you sure you want to remove assignee?" — it will show the employee's name and note that the device status will change to Transferred
- Click Yes, remove to confirm, or No, cancel to go back
Once removed, the Assignee field will revert to the Add link, and the device status will change to Transferred.
Status Changes
Assignee edits may change the device status automatically:
| Action | Starting Status | Resulting Status |
|---|---|---|
| Add assignee | Allocated | Allocated (no change) |
| Add assignee | Transferred | Allocated |
| Change assignee | Allocated | Allocated (no change) |
| Remove assignee | Allocated | Transferred |
Interaction with MDM Sync
If your organization uses an MDM integration (Iru/Kandji, Jamf, or Intune), it's important to understand how manual assignee edits interact with the nightly MDM sync. The behavior depends on the "Allow MDM to update allwhere assignee" toggle on your MDM connection's Settings page.
MDM assignee sync is OFF (default)
Manual assignee changes you make through this feature are fully preserved. The MDM sync will continue to update hardware fields (serial number, model, OS version, etc.) but will not touch the assignee field in any direction — no overwrites, no clears, and no lifecycle transitions. Your manual edits remain the source of truth.
MDM assignee sync is ON
The last write wins. If you manually assign a device and the next MDM sync shows a different assignee, MDM will overwrite your change. This is by design — when the setting is ON, MDM is the source of truth for assignees. If you need to make a manual correction that persists, either:
- Update the assignee in your MDM first, then let the sync propagate it to allwhere
- Temporarily disable the MDM assignee sync toggle, make your change, and re-enable it after the next sync
For full details on how MDM-driven assignee updates work — including lifecycle-end detection, re-enrollment recovery, and status protection — see MDM-Driven Assignee Updates.
Error Handling
If something goes wrong during an assignee edit, allwhere will display a message explaining the issue:
- "This asset has been modified by someone else. Please close and try again." — Another admin updated this device at the same time. Close the dialog, refresh the page, and try again.
- "The selected collaborator is no longer available." — The employee you selected may have been deactivated. Search for a different employee.
- "Something went wrong. Please try again." — A temporary system error occurred. Wait a moment and retry.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Does adding an assignee create a shipping order?
A: No. This feature only updates the device record. To ship a device to an employee, use the Send Equipment flow from the Asset Dashboard.
Q: Can I assign a device that is "In Inventory"?
A: No. Devices in "In Inventory" status must go through the Send Equipment flow, which creates a deployment order. The Add Assignee feature is only available for devices in Allocated or Transferred status.
Q: Will the employee receive a notification when I assign them?
A: No. Assignee edits are record-keeping updates only — no emails or notifications are sent to the employee.
Q: I don't see the Add or Edit link on the Assignee field. Why?
A: You may not have the required permissions. Only Primary Administrators and Secondary Administrators can edit assignees. Also, the device must be in Allocated or Transferred status.
Q: Will the nightly MDM sync overwrite my manual assignee change?
A: It depends on the "Allow MDM to update allwhere assignee" setting on your MDM connection. If the setting is OFF (the default), your manual change is safe — the sync will not touch the assignee. If the setting is ON, the sync will overwrite the assignee to match what MDM reports. See MDM-Driven Assignee Updates for details.
Related Articles
- MDM-Driven Assignee Updates — how the MDM assignee sync toggle affects manual and automated assignee changes
- Asset Dashboard Guide — navigating and managing your device inventory
- Asset Status Definitions — what each device status means
- Sending Equipment with allwhere — deploying devices to employees with a shipping order