CSV Manual Bulk Upload User Provisioning, Syncing and Deprovisioning

This article shows App managers how to provision and deprovision user data from their HRIS system using a CSV file. CSV template for provisioning, syncing, and deprovisioning with all the necessary columns, are attached to the bottom of this article, as well as in the application under Example CSV (see screenshots below). When provisioning or syncing in Simpplr, App managers will select which columns they want to map from the CSV, and ensure the columns they want to map contain the appropriate data.  

For automated user provisioning via CSV on an SFTP location, check out this article.

• Set up CSV user provisioning/deprovisioning

• Prepare your CSV file

• Error handling

• Link to template

• HTML custom attributes support in CSV uploads

Set up CSV user provisioning/deprovisioning

To add or remove users in bulk using a CSV file:

1. Go to Manage > Users > Add or remove.
   

2. Here you can upload a CSV file from your computer, or use the sample CSV Simpplr provides by clicking Example CSV. This will guarantee all the proper fields are included. 

3. Using the CSV template, populate your people data for your users. Adding and removing users both require adding the user attributes to the CSV file. Note, letter case value must match exactly for every field value.

4. Select which fields you want to add or remove. First name, last name, email address (or at least one other login identifier) and role name are all required. The role name field must match an existing role already created in the platform, such as Application Manager or End User. 
   

5. Select the default language, locale, timezone, and profile for all users. If you'd like to have a different language, locale, timezone, or profile for a specific user, you can input that data in the corresponding column of the CSV.

6. Once you save and upload your CSV file, choose to add a brief file description to clarify what your file contains if you'd like.

7. Select Add or Remove users. This will determine whether or not you're provisioning or deprovisioning users.
   

Adding and syncing users

1. If adding users, additional details are required to fill out. First, Simpplr requires you enter Login identifier fields. This allows non-SSO users to access your environment via one or more login identifiers. Select which field matches the data in the CSV. This is only for non-SSO users, which may or may not be applicable to your org. 

2. When complete, scroll down and select which User attributes match the data in the CSV. For example, First name should match the first_name value in the CSV (or whatever you labeled that value). First and last name are required here, but you can add as many attributes as you'd like.

3. If your CSV data contains existing users whom you're updating attributes for, select Update attributes. If not, select do not update attributes.

4. Finally, choose to send a welcome message to your new users. This message will be sent to all new users via text and email. The message is not customizable.

Removing users

1. If removing users, upload the CSV file containing data for all the users you'd lime to remove, then select Remove. 

2. After this step, we only need to match the CSV fields for the required non-SSO login identifier fields. This may or may not be applicable to your organization. When finished, click Remove users.

Reactivating users

Reactivation of users is also supported. In case you need to reactivate a suspended or deactivated user, use the same provisioning.csv file you used to provision users. To reactivate, simply:

1. Provide the old username, profile and email in the CSV. 

2. In the user status section where a user is marked 'Inactive', change it to 'Active'.

3. Upload the same way as instructed above.

4. Once the file is processed successfully, inactive users are moved to Active status.

5. In case of any failure, the admin will receive the error email with the failure reasons (more on this below).

Please note that reactivation only means changing the status from 'Inactive' to 'Active' while retaining the old user data. If any user data need to be updated, it needs to be done through the syncing process.

Prepare your CSV file

The CSV files for provisioning should contain a number of columns that can be mapped with Simpplr. During provisioning and syncing setup, App managers will select which columns they want to map (some columns are required). 

Provisioning

You can download the CSV template for provisioning in the section below, which contains the following columns:

• First Name (required)

• Last Name (required)

• Email Address

• Employee Number

• Mobile (country code required)

• Phone

• Timezone

• Language

• Locale

• Address Line 1

• Address Line 2

• City

• State

• Country

• Postal code

• Job Title

• Department

• Division

• Start Date (must be written in the format 'YYYY-MM-DD')

• Role Name (required) (This must match an already created role in the Manage roles menu)

• Birthday

• Additional Columns 1 & 2

1. Name the CSV file you're provisioning from the user provisioning CSV sample.csv.

2. Populate the columns you want to map.

Locale fields

Note that if/when assigning locales to users, you must enter the corresponding value form the list below with the locale you want to use. DO NOT enter the locale, enter the country value. The country must match exactly as in the list below.

Manual CSV bulk upload enhancements

We’ve enhanced the Manual CSV bulk upload flow to provide greater flexibility and reduce friction while managing users in bulk.

• New “Update” option in Manual CSV bulk upload – Admins can now select a dedicated Update tab when they only want to modify existing users. In this flow, First Name and Last Name are no longer mandatory. Admins must provide at least one login identifier and can include only the attributes they want to sync, making bulk updates simpler and more flexible.

• Login identifier fields can now be synced as attributes – If a login identifier (such as email or mobile number) is not selected as the primary sync identifier in the CSV upload, it will now be available under user attributes and can be updated through the same file. This gives admins greater flexibility when managing and syncing user data in bulk.

Error handling

When the bulk upload process is complete, the App manager will receive an in-app notification for the completed bulk upload as well as an email stating the error. To see if there are any errors in-app, click the notification to get to the Bulk upload history, then download the completed file. There are two new columns in the file, Status and Reason. If there are errors, the Status column will reflect where the error was, and the Reason column will explain the reason for the failure.

Link to template

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HTML custom attributes support in CSV uploads

Admins can now include and update HTML-type custom user attributes when using the manual CSV bulk upload flow.

This brings CSV provisioning and syncing to parity with other supported attribute types – you can map HTML custom profile fields directly in the bulk upload UI and keep them up to date via CSV.

Who this is for: App managers, User managers

What has changed

• HTML-type custom user attributes:

  • Appear in the User attribute dropdown during CSV field mapping.

  • Can be mapped to any CSV column.

  • Are updated as part of:

    • User provisioning via CSV.

    • User attribute syncing via CSV.

Where this applies

• Area: Manual CSV bulk upload for users

  • Navigation: Manage → Users → Add, update or remove multiple users

• Flow: Bulk upload popup where you:

  1. Upload a CSV file.

  2. Map CSV columns to User attributes via dropdown.

How to use HTML custom attributes in CSV uploads

1. Prepare your CSV

1. Ensure your HTML custom profile fields are already configured in Simpplr (e.g., “Bio”, “Welcome message”, “Manager’s note”).

2. In your CSV file, add one column per HTML custom field you want to populate or update.

   • Example headers:

     • bio_html

     • welcome_message_html

3. Enter your HTML content as plain text in those columns (e.g., <p>Welcome to the team!</p>).

2. Upload the CSV and map attributes

1. Go to Manage → Users → Add, update or remove multiple users.

2. Upload your CSV file.

3. In the field mapping screen:

   • For each HTML custom attribute column:

     • Open the User attribute dropdown.

     • Select the corresponding HTML custom field (it will now appear in the list along with other custom fields).

   • Map all required login identifiers and mandatory attributes as usual.

4. Confirm your mappings and proceed with the upload.

Once processing completes, the mapped HTML custom attributes will be created/updated on the respective user profiles.

Behavior details

• Supported actions

  • Provisioning new users and setting HTML custom attributes at creation time.

  • Updating existing users’ HTML custom attributes via CSV.

• Field visibility

  • Only custom profile fields that are configured as HTML type and enabled in your tenant will appear in the dropdown.

• Validation & errors

  • If a row fails to update due to invalid data in an HTML field, it will behave like other attribute failures (e.g., logged in the upload result with an error message). Core bulk upload error handling remains unchanged.

Permissions

• No new permissions are introduced.

• You must already have permission to:

  • Access Manage > Users.

  • Perform bulk upload operations.

• The ability to see and map custom fields depends on how they’re configured in your tenant.