---
title: "Test as a role or a user"
slug: "testing-as-a-role-or-a-user"
updated: 2026-04-29T16:47:01Z
published: 2026-04-29T16:47:01Z
canonical: "help.quickbase.com/testing-as-a-role-or-a-user"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.quickbase.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Test as a role or a user

To see how your app works for others, you can test as a role or a user. This allows you to make sure your app is working as you intend.

Notes:

- You must have app admin permissions to test as a specific user. Any user with either of the following permissions can use Test As Role:
  - [Manage users](/v1/docs/manage-users) and share the app
  - Edit app structure and permissions To use Test as User, your role must have the *Edit app structure and permissions* permission. This is the checkbox that makes you an app administrator, sometimes known as an app builder.
- When you test as a role, you use the app, so any changes that you make while testing are applied to the app. But when testing as a user, you can't make changes to Quickbase data, like adding, editing, deleting, importing, or creating new tables. As a result, you may not be able to completely check a workflow when testing as another user.
- Your account may be set to only allow testing by role and not testing by user. Your account admin sets this on the [Account Summary](/v1/docs/account-summary-page-overview) page.
- To test as a user in an app that has cross-app relationships, you must have admin permissions to all apps in the cross-app relationships.
- You must have access to the application you're testing as a user in. That is, access by a super user still has to be added before they can test as a user.
- Quickbase AI is hidden from the global bar when testing as a role.

## To test your app as a role or user

1. Select the user drop-down. You can choose to test the app as *A Role* or *A User*.

![User drop-down menu showing options to test the app as A Role or A User](https://cdn.document360.io/dd260e4e-10bb-4b66-8fb3-5504c272b904/Images/Documentation/30910797645716.png)
2. After you select a role or user to test as, there is a message in the header and in the menu indicating that you are testing:

![Header message indicating you are testing as a role or user](https://cdn.document360.io/dd260e4e-10bb-4b66-8fb3-5504c272b904/Images/Documentation/30910788105876.png)

![User menu indicator showing you are currently in test mode](https://cdn.document360.io/dd260e4e-10bb-4b66-8fb3-5504c272b904/Images/Documentation/30910788110356.png)
3. Select **End Test** when you're finished testing.

## Mobile web preview

When testing as a user or role, you can check how the app appears in a browser on a mobile device.

On the right side of app pages, select the **Mobile web preview** icon:

![Mobile web preview icon on the right side of the app page](https://cdn.document360.io/dd260e4e-10bb-4b66-8fb3-5504c272b904/Images/Documentation/30910797659924.png)

A panel appears where you can see how elements of the app, such as home pages, tables, and reports look on a mobile device. The preview changes as you navigate through testing the app.

![Mobile web preview panel showing app elements on a mobile device](https://cdn.document360.io/dd260e4e-10bb-4b66-8fb3-5504c272b904/Images/Documentation/4572835296916.png)

**Note:** Mobile preview is not currently available for use in Microsoft Internet Explorer.

## To prevent test as user

Account admins can turn off the ability for app admins to test as a user. They can still test as a role.

1. Select the user drop-down in the global bar and choose **Manage account**.
2. From the **Account Summary** page, select the **More** menu on the left and choose **Edit Account Properties**.
3. Select the **Prevent Test as User** checkbox.
4. Select **Apply Changes** at the bottom of the page.