diff --git a/bookwyrm/management/commands/confirm_email.py b/bookwyrm/management/commands/confirm_email.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..450da7eec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bookwyrm/management/commands/confirm_email.py
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+""" manually confirm e-mail of user """
+from django.core.management.base import BaseCommand
+
+from bookwyrm import models
+
+
+class Command(BaseCommand):
+    """command-line options"""
+
+    help = "Manually confirm email for user"
+
+    def add_arguments(self, parser):
+        parser.add_argument("username")
+
+    def handle(self, *args, **options):
+        name = options["username"]
+        user = models.User.objects.get(localname=name)
+        user.reactivate()
+        self.stdout.write(self.style.SUCCESS("User's email is now confirmed."))
diff --git a/bw-dev b/bw-dev
index eecb405fb..ef5dec813 100755
--- a/bw-dev
+++ b/bw-dev
@@ -265,6 +265,9 @@ case "$CMD" in
     remove_2fa)
         runweb python manage.py remove_2fa "$@"
         ;;
+    confirm_email)
+        runweb python manage.py confirm_email "$@"
+        ;;
     *)
         set +x # No need to echo echo
         echo "Unrecognised command. Try:"
@@ -302,5 +305,6 @@ case "$CMD" in
         echo "    set_cors_to_s3 [cors file]"
         echo "    runweb [command]"
         echo "    remove_2fa"
+        echo "    confirm_email"
         ;;
 esac
diff --git a/complete_bwdev.fish b/complete_bwdev.fish
index c86b7e7d3..e680ede43 100644
--- a/complete_bwdev.fish
+++ b/complete_bwdev.fish
@@ -35,6 +35,8 @@ copy_media_to_s3 \
 set_cors_to_s3 \
 setup \
 admin_code \
+remove_2fa \
+confirm_email \
 runweb
 
 function __bw_complete -a cmds cmd desc
@@ -74,6 +76,8 @@ __bw_complete "$commands" "sync_media_to_s3"        "run the `s3 sync` command t
 __bw_complete "$commands" "set_cors_to_s3"          "push a CORS configuration defined in .json to s3"
 __bw_complete "$commands" "setup"                   "perform first-time setup"
 __bw_complete "$commands" "admin_code"              "get the admin code"
+__bw_complete "$commands" "remove_2fa"              "remove 2FA from user"
+__bw_complete "$commands" "confirm_email"           "manually confirm email of user and set active"
 __bw_complete "$commands" "runweb"                  "run a command on the web container"
 
 
diff --git a/complete_bwdev.sh b/complete_bwdev.sh
index 141c8e169..7976b2126 100644
--- a/complete_bwdev.sh
+++ b/complete_bwdev.sh
@@ -32,4 +32,6 @@ copy_media_to_s3
 set_cors_to_s3
 setup
 admin_code
+remove_2fa
+confirm_email
 runweb" -o bashdefault -o default bw-dev
diff --git a/complete_bwdev.zsh b/complete_bwdev.zsh
index 0edc5612c..e9c8028c1 100644
--- a/complete_bwdev.zsh
+++ b/complete_bwdev.zsh
@@ -34,4 +34,6 @@ copy_media_to_s3
 set_cors_to_s3
 setup
 admin_code
+remove_2fa
+confirm_email
 runweb" -o bashdefault -o default bw-dev