Feature Request/ Idea: Allow Administrators to Assume User Identities

[MickLesk]

Describe your idea

As a full administrator in Home Assistant, I would like to be able to assume the identity of another user (“impersonate”) directly from the user management panel. This would allow admins to experience the dashboards, permissions, and themes exactly as that user sees them — without needing to log out or ask for credentials.

The feature would add a small eye icon button next to each user (except for the currently logged-in admin themselves). Clicking it would temporarily switch the admin session into the selected user’s perspective.

Why is this exciting?

This feature would be a game-changer for managing complex Home Assistant setups with multiple users:

• It provides true visibility into how dashboards and restricted views appear for non-admins.
• It allows administrators to configure user defaults (themes, sidebar visibility, dashboard assignments, etc.) more effectively.
• It simplifies troubleshooting: admins can see exactly what a user sees, including restricted or hidden items, without guesswork.

This closes a current gap between advanced role/permission management and practical day-to-day administration.

Potential use cases

• Adjusting and testing default themes for new users.
• Troubleshooting why a user cannot see a dashboard or entity.
• ensuring hidden dashboards and restricted access appear correctly for different user roles.
• Validating that custom dashboards (kids, guests, power users) look correct before handing over access.

Anything else?

• Only full administrators should have access to this feature.
• When impersonating, there should be a clear banner (e.g., “Viewing as [User X]”) to avoid confusion.
• All actions should still be logged as admin actions — not as the impersonated user — for accountability.
• Mockup included: an inverted eye icon button added on the right side of each user row in the user list (not shown for the current admin).