How to link a client's Google Ads account to your manager account (MCC)

The agency sends a link request from its Google Ads manager account (MCC): Accounts icon, Sub-account settings, the plus button, Link existing account, then the client's customer ID and Send Request. An admin on the client's account accepts it under Admin > Access and security > Managers, or with Accept request in Google's email. If an account involved has more than three admins, a second admin must also approve the link.

This page covers both sides: the agency that sends the request and the client who accepts it. If you are the client and the agency has not mentioned a manager account, read how to give an agency access to your Google Ads account first.

What a manager link gives, and what it does not

Once the client accepts, people with admin access to the agency's manager account can manage the client's campaigns and receive its notification emails. Google lists this under access for manager accounts in its access levels article.

On the client's side, the link changes little:

• No ownership. Google says linking an existing account does not give the manager administrative ownership by default. Without ownership, the agency cannot add admin users or remove other managers from the client's account.
• Nothing is moved. The client account keeps its campaign history, its sign-in and its users.
• Billing stays the same. Google says invoicing and payment methods do not change, unless the agency sets up consolidated billing later.
• The client can leave. An admin on the client account can unlink the manager at any time.

Ownership is a separate step. An admin on the client account turns it on under Admin > Access and security > Managers, in the Owner column. Google recommends making a manager an owner only if it needs those rights. For ordinary campaign work, the link alone is enough. For the same task in Microsoft Advertising, see the Microsoft Advertising guide.

Before you start

The agency needs:

• A manager account. It is a separate Google Ads account, created from Google's manager account page. Clients see its name, so use the agency's real name. Manager accounts count toward Google's limit of 20 Google Ads accounts per email address. The steps are in how to create a Google Ads manager account.
• Administrative access to the manager account for the person who sends the request. Without it, Google shows "You need administrative access to perform this action."
• The client's customer ID. The client finds it in the top right corner of their Google Ads account.

The client needs:

• A person with Admin access on the Google Ads account. Only Admin can accept or reject manager link requests. Standard and Read-only users cannot.
• The agency's manager account name, so they can check that the request comes from the right agency.

Send the request (agency)

Google's linking article gives these steps:

1. Sign in to your Google Ads manager account.
2. Select the Accounts icon, then Sub-account settings.
3. Select the plus button.
4. Select Link existing account.
5. Enter the client's customer ID. To link several accounts at once, enter one customer ID per line. Select Preview to check the request.
6. If you have more than one manager account, you can pick which one the client account links to.
7. Select Send Request.

Google emails the request to the people with admin access on the client's account. You can follow it under Sub-account settings > Sent Link Requests.

Accept the request (client)

1. Sign in to your Google Ads account.
2. Open the Admin menu and go to Access and security.
3. Select the Managers tab. Requests wait under Link request.
4. Check the manager account's name. In the Actions column, select Accept (or Decline), then follow the instructions on the page.

You can also select Accept request in Google's email. When you accept, the agency gets a confirmation email and your account appears in its manager account.

When a second admin has to approve

Google Ads now asks a second administrator to approve some changes. Google's multi-party approval article says it applies only to accounts with more than three administrators. It names this case directly: a manager account asking to link an existing, independent Google Ads account.

Google says approval here protects both accounts, without saying on which side the second admin sits. When it applies, the request waits until another admin approves it, so look in both the manager account and the client account. Google's steps for that admin:

1. Go to Admin > Access and security.
2. Under Pending invitations, select Review request.
3. Select Approve or Deny.

The same page has a Security requests tab that groups pending requests, with manager account linking as one of the groups. Admins have 20 days. After that the request expires and the agency has to send a new one. Google Ads support cannot approve a request for you. Our multi-party approval guide has the details.

Limits

These come from Google's help pages:

• A client account can have up to five manager accounts linked directly. Google's unlinking article says an account can only have one direct manager, but the errors article and the linking introduction both say five for a client account. The one-manager rule applies to a manager account linked under another manager.
• A client account cannot be linked twice in the same manager hierarchy.
• A manager account can have at most 20 pending invitations.
• A manager account can be linked to at most 85,000 non-manager accounts. How many can be active depends on spend over the last 12 months.

Troubleshooting

The client cannot see the request

Check the customer ID on the agency's Sent Link Requests list. Then check that the person looking is an admin on the client account: Google sends the request to people with admin access, and only Admin can accept it. If the person is not an admin, an admin on the account can accept it, or raise that person's access level.

"You need administrative access to perform this action."

The person at the agency who tried to send the request does not have administrative access to the manager account. An admin of the manager account can send it, or raise that person's access level.

"You have reached the maximum number of managers."

On a client account this means five managers are already linked directly. The client can unlink one they no longer use under Managers, or the agency can link through a manager account that is already linked.

"Invitee is already managed by another manager in your hierarchy."

Another manager account in the agency's own structure already manages the client account. Change its manager from the manager account that holds the link, or ask that manager's admin to do it, instead of linking it again.

"You have reached the maximum number of pending invitations."

The manager account has 20 requests waiting. Withdraw the ones you no longer need under Sent Link Requests, or ask those clients to answer.

The client is blocked with a Gmail address

Google is piloting a rule that blocks users on free email domains, such as gmail.com, from sensitive actions, and it names account linking updates as one of them. Accounts in the pilot get an email from Google. The fix is to sign in with an address on the company's own domain, invited as Admin; see using a work email for Google Ads and Analytics access.

The request disappeared

The agency may have withdrawn it, someone at the client may have declined it, or it may have expired while waiting for a second admin's approval. Send a new request. Other linking errors are in Google invitation not working.

Unlinking later

The client unlinks under Admin > Access and security > Managers: find the manager, select Remove access in the Actions column, check the preview and select Unlink. The agency can do the same from Sub-account settings by selecting the account and choosing Edit > Unlink.

The client keeps its campaign history. One case needs care: if the account is on monthly invoicing and this manager is the paying manager, Google says the ads stop when you unlink. Change the billing setup first. See how to remove an old agency's access.

Doing it with an access link

Our access link covers this task. The agency connects its Google Ads manager account once. The client opens the link, signs in with Google, picks their Google Ads account from a list and confirms, so nobody copies a customer ID. The result is the same manager link described on this page, and the client can remove it under Managers like any other. When multi-party approval applies, a second admin still has to approve in Google Ads.