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WPBeginner» Blog» WordPress Plugins» How to Easily Import and Export WordPress Users

How to Easily Import and Export WordPress Users

Last updated on April 25th, 2018 by Editorial Staff
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How to Easily Import and Export WordPress Users

Do you want to import and export WordPress users from one website to another? This could be really helpful when you are merging multiple sites and want to automatically shift all users from existing websites. In this article, we will share how you can easily import and export users in WordPress.

Import and Export Users in WordPress

Why or When You May Need to Import and Export Users in WordPress?

While there are several use-cases for importing and exporting WordPress users, the most common scenarios when you need to import and export users are:

  • When you purchase a website and want to merge the content and user base.
  • When you want to consolidate two sites and merge their content and user base.
  • When you want to import all users into an email list or your CRM.

On large multi-author sites or a membership site in WordPress, each user profile has tons of useful data (like profile photo, bio information, social links, and more).

While you can surely ask them to recreate their profile, it’s inconvenient and not an ideal user experience.

Let’s take a look at how you can easily import and export users from one WordPress site to another.

Exporting Users in WordPress

First thing you need to do is install and activate the Import Export WordPress Users plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you need to visit Users » User Import Export page and scroll down to the export section.

User Export

On this page, you need to select a user role to export from your website, select fields that you want to export with the user, and more.

By default, all user fields will be exported. If you don’t want to export a specific item, then you can simply uncheck it from the columns section.

After selecting the settings, you need to click on the Export button. It will save a CSV export file in your computer.

You can use this file to import users into another WordPress site.

Importing Users in WordPress

This step will also require the same Import Export WordPress Users plugin that we used above to export users. Make sure that you have this plugin installed and activated on the site where you want to import users.

Next, you need to visit Users » User Import Export page and click on the Import Users button.

Import Users

On this page, first you need to click on the Browse button and then select the CSV file you want to import. After selecting the CSV file, you need to click the Upload file and import button.

Upload File

Once done, you will see a success message with details on how many users imported, status message, and more details on the process.

User Import

The plugin will not only import users, it will also automatically assign them correct user role and fill in other profile settings.

We hope this article helped you learn how to easily import and export WordPress users. You may also want to see our guide on how to track user engagement in WordPress.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

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9 Comments

Leave a Reply
  1. beth jansen says:
    Oct 3, 2018 at 10:13 am

    Will the plug in create new users, assign passwords, and email them?

    Reply
    • Ando says:
      Feb 8, 2019 at 5:06 am

      Yes, it’s doing all those options.

      Reply
  2. Marin L says:
    Sep 21, 2018 at 5:24 am

    How can I import absolute new users. So they don’t exist yet. Is the email and first and last name enough?

    So I have a page made on WordPress and no WooCommerce. It’s just a page.

    Reply
  3. Stephen says:
    Sep 3, 2018 at 3:27 pm

    Does you plugin enable you to IMPORT Gmail and Yahoo contact lists into a WordPress site ?
    Many thanks
    Stephen

    Reply
    • WPBeginner Support says:
      Sep 3, 2018 at 5:45 pm

      Hi Stephen,

      It can do that. First you will need to export your contacts list in CSV format. Now install the plugin and export your current users, the plugin will generate a CSV file. You need to open this file in a spreadsheet program like Google Sheets or Excel. Notice the arrangement of columns. Now open your contacts list CSV file and arrange the columns in the same way using spreadsheet software. Now save this CSV file and try importing this file using the plugin.

      Reply
  4. Lenawa says:
    May 26, 2018 at 1:55 pm

    Hello

    Same problem as Alan , getting this error

    keep getting cant insert user without email

    Reply
  5. Alan says:
    May 16, 2018 at 11:21 am

    Doesn’t work! keep getting cant insert user without email

    Reply
  6. Paul J says:
    Apr 25, 2018 at 11:34 am

    Hello, I was wondering if this plug-in also exports/imports usermeta data

    Reply
    • WPBeginner Support says:
      Apr 25, 2018 at 7:12 pm

      Hi Paul,

      The pro version will be able to do that, please plugin website for details.

      Reply

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