Course sites, memberships, and CRM migrations need more than “create a user.” Import WP bulk-imports WordPress users from CSV or Excel with roles, password handling, and custom user meta — then updates the right accounts when the same file comes back.
Part of the WordPress data importer. Core user fields work in the free plugin. Custom user meta and scheduled re-imports are Pro.
WooCommerce shop accounts (billing and shipping written through WC_Customer) use the dedicated Customers template, not this Users template.
Bulk import WordPress users from Excel or CSV
Choose the Users template, upload a CSV (or an Excel workbook via the XLSX reader), and map columns with the visual selector.
Typical sources: LMS enrolments, membership lists, CRM/HR exports, and generic user dumps on a site move. (WooCommerce shop accounts use the Customers template, not Users.)
Map username, email, names, website, nicename, display name, and description. Email and username must be unique; they are also the keys you use to update later.
Start with a small test file and Create permission only. Then enable Update once matching looks right. Walkthrough: Import WordPress users from CSV. Field list: User importer template.
Import WordPress users with roles and passwords
Role is a dropdown of roles registered on the site — subscriber, customer, teacher, member, or whatever your membership plugin added. Map it from the spreadsheet when the file already has plan or role names; otherwise new users get the default you set in WordPress.
Password handling is easy to get wrong on a bulk load:
- Generate a password when you want WordPress to create one and (optionally) email it
- Map Password when the export already contains a password you intend to set
- Leave password unmapped on re-imports unless you mean to reset every account
Enable user notifications sends the default WordPress new-user email. Turn it off for historical migrations so thousands of people are not emailed. Turn it on only when you are deliberately creating live logins.
That is how you import WordPress users with roles without a custom wp_insert_user script per client.
Import WordPress user meta and update existing users by email
Membership data lives in user meta: CRM IDs, plan levels, preferences, course access flags, billing extras that are not WooCommerce addresses.
Import WP Pro maps those keys in the custom fields panel — type the meta key or pick it from the “find custom fields” preview on an example user. Attachment-type meta works the same pattern as post meta.
To update WordPress users by email (or username), set that field as the unique identifier on Permissions. The second CRM export then updates the existing WP_User instead of creating a duplicate with a -2 login. Unmapped fields are left alone; mapped fields overwrite.
Skip unchanged rows when the membership file is mostly the same. Do not change the unique identifier between runs.
Custom field mapping: Import WordPress custom fields. Permissions: unique identifiers.