# Sending bulk user invites

**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/sending-bulk-user-invites/16468
**Category:** Site Management
**Tags:** how-to, invites, users
**Created:** [June 12, 2014, 7:49am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/sending-bulk-user-invites/16468 "2014-06-12T07:49:47Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
**Showing post:** 1

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### Author: ![Discourse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/discourse/32/148734_2.png) [@Discourse](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Discourse)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2014, 7:49am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/sending-bulk-user-invites/16468/1 "2014-06-12T07:49:48Z")

</div>

> 🔖 This guide explains how to invite multiple users to your Discourse instance using a bulk invite feature.
> 
> 🙋 Required user level: Administrator

Inviting a large number of users to your Discourse instance can be time-consuming if done individually. Fortunately, Discourse offers a bulk invite feature that allows you to invite multiple users at once. This guide will walk you through the process of sending bulk invites.

> ℹ It is not possible to invite users to predefined groups such as, trust level groups, admin, mod or staff groups. As a work around, you can configure a custom group to automatically set a users trust level in the Effects section of the group’s configuration page. Doing this will allow you to set the trust level of invited users to a trust level other than what is set by your site’s `default invitee trust level` setting

## Overview

1. Ensure the `Allow bulk invite` site setting is enabled (it is by default)
2. Prepare a CSV file with user information
3. Upload the CSV file to your Discourse instance
4. Monitor the bulk invite progress

## Ensure the `Allow bulk invite` site setting is enabled

The `Allow bulk invite` setting is enabled by default. If it has been disabled on your site:

1. Navigate to your site settings at Admin \> ⚙ All site settings, and search for `bulk invite`. Or go to `{your.domain.com}/admin/site_settings/category/all_results?filter=bulk%20invite`
2. If not already enabled, tick the box beside `Allow bulk invite` and click the check mark to save the site setting.

## Preparing the CSV file

The first step is to create a CSV (Comma-Separated Values) file containing the information of the users you want to invite. Here’s what you need to know:

- Each line represents one user
- The email address is required and must be in the first column
- Group assignments (optional) go in the second column
- A specific topic ID (optional) goes in the third column
- A locale (optional) goes in the fourth column
- Any additional columns can be used to set custom user field values (the column header must match the user field name)

Here’s the structure of the CSV file:

```plaintext
email,groups,topic_id,locale

```

### CSV file guidelines

- Email addresses must be valid
- Separate multiple groups with semicolons (e.g., `group_1;group_2;group_3`)
- You can include existing users if you want to add them to groups
- Only the email is mandatory; groups, topic ID, locale, and user fields are optional
- If including custom user fields, the CSV must have a header row starting with `email`

> ℹ There is a hidden site setting `max_bulk_invites` which allows 50k rows in a CSV by default

### CSV file examples

```plaintext
user1@example.com,group_1;group_2,topic_id
user2@example.com,group_3,
user3@example.com,,

```

> ℹ You can create CSV files easily using spreadsheet software like Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets. Here’s an example of how it might look in a spreadsheet:

 ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/4X/0/b/a/0bab00101f9104fe44bae673f0b963636f19195e.png)

Just be sure to save the file as CSV when you’re done.

> **Comma Delimited CSV format in Google Sheets**
>
> ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/4X/1/1/8/1181cfc82354b595e7112581bd0e7ac493e31e4a.png)

> **Comma Delimited CSV format in Microsoft Excel**
>
> ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/4X/6/f/b/6fb14a15f01a65e5217b5ab268091b2457b5e445.png)

## Uploading the CSV file

Once you’ve prepared your CSV file, follow these steps to upload it:

1. Navigate to the Invites tab on your Admin user’s profile. `{your.domain.com}/my/invited/pending`

2. Click the “Bulk Invite from File” button  

3. In the modal that appears, upload your CSV file  

4. Confirm the upload

After uploading, you’ll receive a confirmation message stating that you’ll be notified when the process is complete.

 ![30%20PM](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/3X/d/2/d222616e3d1955aabb314f60b32f1614a091db1d.png)

## Monitoring bulk invite progress

Once the CSV file is processed, you’ll receive a personal message notification with a progress report. This report will include:

- Total number of invites sent
- Number of invites not sent (if any)
- Any errors that occurred during the process

 ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/3X/c/8/c80b2455975b4edfe1696771c61ad3803e24606e.png)

You can check your invites page on your user profile to see a list of successfully sent invites.

 ![Screen Shot 2021-11-03 at 01.07.54](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/3X/f/e/fe7798d5a1b0bd4664429393adbfb5d01388756d.png)

## What happens next

Each email address in your CSV file will receive an invite email. The email will include:

- The name of the person who sent the invite
- Your community’s title
- A brief description of your community (from the `site description` setting)
- An invitation link

When an invited user clicks the confirmation link:

- Their account will be immediately activated and associated with their email address
- They will be added to the specified groups (if any were included in the CSV)
- They will be directed to the target topic (if a topic ID was specified)

> ℹ Invites that are not clicked will expire based on the `invite expiry days` setting (default: 90 days).

## Customizing invite emails

If you wish to customize the text of the invite emails:

- For general invites, edit the “Invite Forum Mailer” email template
- For invites that include a specific topic ID, edit the “Invite Mailer” email template

## Additional resources

- [Adding users from groups to other groups in bulk](https://meta.discourse.org/t/bulk-add-users-from-groups-to-other-groups/260670)

> Last edited by @MarkDoerr 2025-09-23T02:11:51Z
> 
> Last checked by @hugh 2024-07-11T04:21:44Z
> 
> > **Check document**
> >
> > Perform check on document:

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