Devices removed via Esper Console still appear in reports: device shows "disabled" state but Esper agent may persist on hardware

Android

Title: Removed device still appears in reports or retains Esper Agent — how to fully clear it

When a device is removed from the Esper Console, it can continue to appear in report exports and the Esper Agent may remain active on the physical hardware, leaving the device under Device Owner control outside of Esper management.

Why this happens

Removing a device from the Esper Console marks its record as disabled in the backend rather than permanently deleting it, which is why disabled devices can surface in report exports. If you used Remove Only — or if the device was offline when you used Wipe + Remove — the Esper Agent on the physical hardware is never instructed to uninstall, so Device Owner rights remain set on the device itself regardless of its Console record status.

Before you begin

Identify which removal method was used in the Esper Console:

Wipe + Remove: Issues a factory reset command to the device before removing the Console record. Clears the Esper Agent only if the device was online at the time.
Remove Only: Removes the Console record without touching the physical device. The Esper Agent remains on the hardware.

If the device was offline during a Wipe + Remove, the wipe command is queued but will not execute unless the device comes back online while that command is still pending.

Steps

Confirm the device record status in the Esper Console.
Go to Devices & Groups and search for the device by serial number. If the device does not appear in the active list, the record has been disabled and no further Console actions are available for it. Note the serial number for reference in later steps.
Check whether the Esper Agent is still present on the physical device.
Power on the device and look for any of the following indicators that the Esper Agent is still active:
- The Esper launcher is displayed on the home screen.
- A Device Owner prompt or system restrictions are visible.
- Esper-related management notifications appear in the status bar.
If none of these are present, the Esper Agent has already been removed and you can skip to the Verify step.
Factory reset the physical device to remove the Esper Agent.
A factory reset is required to fully release Device Owner rights when the Esper Agent is still installed. On the device, navigate to Settings → General Management → Reset → Factory Data Reset (the exact path varies by manufacturer and Android version — on some devices this is Settings → System → Reset options → Erase all data). Follow the on-screen prompts to confirm. The device will reboot and wipe all data.
Confirm the device boots without Esper management.
After the reset completes, allow the device to restart fully. Verify the standard Android setup wizard appears with no Esper launcher, no Device Owner prompt, and no management restrictions.

Verify: The device boots to a clean Android setup wizard with no Esper launcher or Device Owner prompt, and the serial number does not reappear in the active device list under Devices & Groups in the Esper Console. Report exports generated after this point will no longer include the device in active counts; previously exported reports that captured a snapshot while the record was disabled will still show the historical disabled state.

If this doesn't resolve it

If the device continues to show Device Owner restrictions after a factory reset, the device may have a persistent MDM profile installed at the firmware level (common on devices provisioned with a zero-touch or Knox enrollment). Contact Esper Support with the following information:

Device serial number and model
Android version and build number (found in Settings → About phone)
The removal method used (Wipe + Remove or Remove Only)
Whether the device was online or offline at the time of removal
A screenshot of the Device Owner prompt or restrictions still visible after the reset

Still need help?

If the steps above don't resolve the issue, submit a support ticket with your device model, Android version, Esper Agent version, and a description of what you've already tried — this helps the support team investigate without a follow-up.