# How to import pre-sso discourse users?
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-to-import-pre-sso-discourse-users/47858
**Category:** SSO
**Created:** [2016年七月27日 09:51 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-to-import-pre-sso-discourse-users/47858 "2016-07-27T09:51:40Z")
**Posts on this page:** 5
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@michaelr524](https://meta.discourse.org/u/michaelr524)
#### Post date: [2016年七月27日 09:51 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-to-import-pre-sso-discourse-users/47858/1 "2016-07-27T09:51:40Z")
Hi,
I have the admin user which was created before discourse was set to use SSO.
How could I possibly “convert” it to an SSO user?
Thanks,
Michael
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### Author:  [@Falco](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Falco)
#### Post date: [2016年七月27日 12:10 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-to-import-pre-sso-discourse-users/47858/2 "2016-07-27T12:10:30Z")
Just use the same email that SSO is going to send to Discourse.
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### Author:  [@fefrei](https://meta.discourse.org/u/fefrei)
#### Post date: [2016年七月27日 22:50 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-to-import-pre-sso-discourse-users/47858/3 "2016-07-27T22:50:46Z")
To clarify: There is no difference between “SSO users” and “regular users”.
The only difference is in whether Discourse knows the external id of the user. When logging in a users, Discourse proceeds like this:
1. Do I know a user with this external id? If so, log him in, and possibly update his email.
2. Otherwise, do I know a user with this email? If so, _remember his external id_, and log him in.
3. Otherwise, create a new account.
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### Author:  [@John\_Lehmann](https://meta.discourse.org/u/John_Lehmann)
#### Post date: [2019年五月1日 13:50 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-to-import-pre-sso-discourse-users/47858/4 "2019-05-01T13:50:08Z")
This is very helpful. I am starting a discourse site and am wanting to use SSO but I’d like to defer it for a while longer – but want to make sure I won’t have any problems switching over to it.
My plan is to bulk invite users using the email address that my primary site uses, and then later what I hear @fefrei saying is that when I turn SSO on, I shouldn’t have any problems.
Does that sound correct? Thanks!
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### Author:  [@fefrei](https://meta.discourse.org/u/fefrei)
#### Post date: [2019年五月1日 13:53 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-to-import-pre-sso-discourse-users/47858/5 "2019-05-01T13:53:40Z")
This is still correct and Discourse matches the users up the first time they sign in, **unless your site does not validate email addresses (and reports this to Discourse).**