Workrize.docs
Back to app
What's new

Getting started

Welcome to WorkrizeSign in and accountsNavigate the app

For candidates

Complete your profileFind and apply to jobsTrack your applications

For recruiters

Use the recruiter dashboardSource and filter candidatesManage the candidate processWork with jobs and applicationsCall candidates

For line managers

Track your team and candidates

For clients

Set up your organizationCreate positions and vacanciesReview applications

For administrators

Manage users and rolesQuestion poolsJob categoriesCandidate tagsDeleted candidates and TrashWebsite enquiriesImport candidatesEmail a reportCalling minutesActivity logAnalytics

Your account

Notifications and your profile

Help

Frequently asked questionsGlossaryMetric definitions

For administrators

Import candidates

Bring candidates in from a spreadsheet with the Migrator, and fix the rows it could not import.

Last updated: 12 October 2026

The Migrator imports candidates in bulk from an Excel or CSV file, together with their answers to questions. Only admins see it.

Run an import

Select Migrator in the sidebar. The page is called Data Migrator and walks you through four steps.

Specify Target Categories

Pick the categories the imported candidates belong to. At least one is required. Optionally, pick a person under Assign candidates to: every imported candidate is assigned to them. Leave it empty to import the candidates unassigned. Select Next Step.

Upload Spreadsheet

Select Choose File and pick an .xlsx or .csv file, up to 10 MB. The first sheet of the file is imported, and its first row must hold the column headings.

Column Mapping

Each of your columns is matched to a Workrize field, shown with a sample value. Change any match from its menu, or choose Skip Column to leave a column out. Candidate: Name and Candidate: Phone must be mapped: until they are, a Validation Warning says which is missing. A match shown in amber means the sample value does not look like that field. When the mapping is right, select Start Bulk Upload.

Read the result

The page says first whether everything went in: Import complete, Partial import (some rows were not imported) or Import failed (none were). Below that are the Total Rows, Successfully Added and Failed counts.

A row without an email address is imported with a placeholder address made from the phone number, such as 9876543210@migrated.local. A placeholder address cannot receive email, so Workrize never sends to one:

  • An email with other recipients still goes to them. Only the placeholder address is left out.
  • When you send a report by email, a warning names any placeholder address that was left out. See Email a report.
  • An automated email whose recipients are all placeholder addresses is not sent. On Automation → Logs it shows as skipped, with the reason.

To reach someone imported this way, add their real email address to their profile.

Rows that were not imported

Failure Details lists each row that was not imported. Row is the row number you see in your spreadsheet, counting the heading row, even when the sheet has blank lines. Reason says why in plain words.

ReasonWhat to do
Same phone number as row N of this sheet — only the first one was imported.The number appears twice in your file. Remove or correct the later row.
A candidate with this phone number is already in the system.The candidate exists already, or is in Trash. Find them instead of importing again, or change their status from this list (see below).
Same email address as row N of this sheet — correct it or leave it blank.Two rows share an email address.
This email address already belongs to someone in the system — correct it or leave it blank.Another account uses that email address.
The phone number is missing or not a valid number.Every candidate needs a phone number. Add or correct it.

Change the status of candidates already in the system

When rows were rejected because a candidate with this phone number is already in the system, you can change those existing candidates' status from the result, without searching for each one.

  1. In Failure Details, tick the rows you want. Each of these rows has a checkbox. Tick the box in the heading to select all of them.
  2. Select Change candidate status.
  3. Pick a status, for example Assigned, and select Apply.

The status is set on the existing profiles that the phone numbers matched. No new candidate is created. A message then says how many were updated and how many failed, and names the row of each one that failed.

  • Rows rejected for another reason, such as a phone number repeated in your file or an email address already in use, have no checkbox.
  • A candidate in Trash is not changed. Their row is listed as failed. Restore them from Trash first.
  • A candidate with a live application keeps Live Application if you choose Assigned.
  • The checkboxes appear only for imports run after this feature was released.

Imported with warnings lists rows that did go in, but where a value was adjusted or skipped.

Download the error sheet

When some rows were not imported, select Download error sheet. You get your own spreadsheet back, named after your file with "import errors" added, with three columns at the end:

  • Import status: Imported or Not imported.
  • Problem: why the row was not imported, or the warning for a row that was.
  • Problem columns: which of your columns to fix.

Fix the rows marked Not imported, keep only those rows, and import that file. The button uses the file you just uploaded, so download the sheet before you select Start New Migration or leave the page.

If an import is interrupted

A large import runs in the background. If it is interrupted part-way, for example because the server restarts, it carries on from where it stopped. Rows that were already imported are not imported a second time and are not reported as duplicates, and the result counts every row once.

Related topics

  • Deleted candidates and Trash
  • Manage users and roles
  • Source and filter candidates