Use bulk import to create multiple group types, groups, and group memberships at once by uploading a CSV file. After a successful import, new group types and groups appear on the Manage groups page.
Before You Begin
- You must have the Manage groups permission.
- Your CSV file must be saved in UTF-8 format.
- You must assign at least one member in the CSV to create a group type or group. You cannot create empty group types or groups via bulk import.
Steps
- Click People in the left panel of your 15Five account.
- Click Manage People.
- Click Import in the top navigation bar.
- Click Download current structure to save a copy of your current data.
- Open your CSV file in a spreadsheet editor.
- Add a new column for each group type using the format
grouptypeGroupTypeName— for example,grouptypeDepartment. - In each
group_type_*column, enter the group name for each person row. - Save the file in UTF-8 CSV format.
- Click Choose file at the bottom of the bulk import page.
- Select your saved CSV file.
- Review the changes on the Preview import screen.
- Click Finish import.
- Navigate to Manage groups to confirm new group types and groups appear.
The group_type_* column format
Each group_type_* column reflects all groups a person belongs to within that group type after import. If you omit a group name from a person's cell, that membership can be removed during import.
Example: A person currently belongs to Sales and Account Management under grouptypeDepartment. If the next import only includes Sales in that cell, the Account Management membership is removed.
The older addtogroups and removefromgroups fields are still supported but are not the preferred method.
If Something Goes Wrong
| Issue | Check | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Import fails immediately | Confirm the file is saved as UTF-8 CSV, not UTF-16 or Excel format | Re-save the file as UTF-8 CSV and re-upload |
| New group type does not appear after import | Confirm the column header uses the exact format grouptypeTypeName with no spaces |
Correct the column header and re-upload |
| Group memberships were unexpectedly removed | Check whether the group_type_* cell was left blank for affected users |
Restore memberships by re-importing with the correct group names in the column |
| No groups appear after import | Confirm at least one person row has a value in the group_type_* column |
Add at least one member per group and re-import |
Not Covered Here
This article covers creating group types and groups via bulk import only — for editing group settings, visibility, or check-in frequency after import, see the Edit group settings article.