Import groups

Groups import provides a simple, easy way to create groups from a spreadsheet (CSV).

To import groups

• Click the 'Import groups' button in Settings > Course administration > Users > Groups
• Upload the CSV file (see below for file format) either by dragging and dropping into the box with the arrow (1 below) or by clicking "choose a file" and uploading from the File picker. (2 below)

• Click the 'Import groups' button

CSV file fieldnames

The CSV file has just one required fieldname (groupname), but can include default and/or optional fieldnames

• Each line of the file contains one record
• Each record is a series of data separated by commas
• The first record of the file is special, and contains a list of fieldnames. This defines the format of the rest of the file.

Required fieldnames - These fields must be included in the first record, and defined for each user

groupname

Default fieldnames - These are optional - if they are not included then the values are taken from the current language and current course

idnumber,coursename,lang

Optional fieldnames

description,enrolmentkey,picture,hidepicture,groupidnumber

New feature
in Moodle 4.3!

If the groupingname is included, then when users are added to pre-made groups on import, their allocated groupings will also be created and the users added to those groupings:

groupingname

• Separation between the comma and the text can not be a blank.
• Commas within the data should be encoded as &#44 - the script will automatically decode these back to commas.
• For Boolean fields, use 0 for false and 1 for true.
• Either idnumber or coursename can be used to identify the course. Idnumber overrides coursename. If neither is specified, the groups will be added to the current course.
• Coursename is the course shortname.
• Group ID numbers are for matching groups against external systems. Within a course, all group ID numbers must be unique.
• The file must be in ANSI encoding, at least not be saved in UTF-8 encoding.

Note: If a group is already registered in the Moodle database for a particular course, this script will return the group name for that group. Teachers are only allowed to upload groups in courses they are authorized to edit.

A sample file looks like this:

groupname,description,enrolmentkey
Team 1,Group Assignment Team 1,orange
Team 2,Group Assignment Team 2,purple
Team 3,Group Assignment Team 3,green