Create Bulk Users in Active Directory (Step-By-Step Guide)

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This is the guide, I’ll show you two options on how to bulk create users in Active Directory. Both options allow you to create AD users from a csv file. By using a PowerShell script or a tool you can streamline the user creation process and save yourself lots of time.

In this article.

Option 1. Bulk Create AD Users with the AD Pro Toolkit

In this first example, I’ll use the AD User Creation Tool that is included with the AD Pro Toolkit. This tool makes it very easy to bulk import users and is a great alternative if you don’t want to deal with PowerShell scripts. Also, there are certain user fields that PowerShell does not support and a 3rd party import tool is needed.

You can download a free trial of the toolkit and try it for yourself.

Below is a summary of how to bulk create Active Directory users with the AD Pro Toolkit.

  1. Open the “Import Users” Tool.
  2. Click the “Download CSV Template” button.
  3. Fill out the CSV file and save it. Use the provided template as a reference.
  4. Select the “Import Options” button and change any options you need.
  5. Click “Browse” to select your csv template and click “Run” to start the import.

In the example below, I created 98 AD user accounts, added them to multiple groups, set the users manager and multiple other attributes.

bulk create users in active directory

If any accounts from the CSV fail to import it will provide an error in the logs. You can see below I had six accounts that did not create because the logon name already exists.

import errors

Requirements

I recommend the follow CSV headers and settings when creating new user accounts. You can remove any column in the CSV that you do not need.

  • SamAccountName (required) = This will be the users logon name.
  • password (required) = users password. Make sure it meets your password requirements.
  • givenName (required) = First name
  • sn (required) = Last name
  • OU = The organizational unit to add the user accounts into. This is the distinguished name of the OU. If you leave it blank it will import into the default users container.
  • DisplayName = This is the users display name.
  • Groups = Groups to add the users to. Separate each group with a comma.
  • Force Password Change at Next Logon = Click the import options button to enable this for each user.

Download the included CSV template as a reference or starter template.

import ad users download csv file

Here is a screenshot of my CSV file (click to enlarge).

bulk create ad users template

You can download my CSV template here.

Import Options

Under import options you can change the follow settings.

  • Enable Users = This will enable the accounts when they are created (on by default).
  • Force Password Change = Select this to enable force password change at next logon
  • Name = Select this to change the name format to LastName, FirstName.
create users import options

The GUI tool is a huge time saver and makes importing user accounts into Active Directory super easy. Plus you don’t have to modify any scripts or need PowerShell experience.

The AD Pro Toolkit also includes a Bulk User Update Tool to modify multiple user accounts at once. This is a huge time saver for when you need to mass update user information such as department, telephone number, email addresses, and so on.

Try the AD Pro Toolkit for FREE, download your copy here.

Option 2: Bulk Create AD Users with PowerShell

What you will need: 

  • PowerShell Active Directory Module loaded – The script I provide will load the module you just need to run it from a computer that has RSAT tools installed or the AD role.
  • Rights to create user accounts in Active Directory
  • CSV File (See below)
  • PowerShell Script (See below)

Step 1: Setup the CSV file

A basic CSV file should have the following headers. Technically you can import new accounts with just the SamAccountName, Name, and the password column but that is not recommended.

  • SamAccountName = this will be the users logon name
  • password = users password. Make sure it meets your password requirements.
  • path = OU where you want to import users to. This is the distinguished name of the OU. If you leave it blank it will import into the default users container.
  • GivenName = First name
  • Surname = Last name
  • Name = Name
  • DisplayName = Display Name
csv file bulk import powershell

Above is an example of my CSV file.

How do you find the OU path? 

The OU path is the distinguishedName attribute, to find this open up Active Directory Users and Computers and browse to the OU you want to import to, then right click and select properties then select attribute editor.

get the ou path

Copy the path into the path column in the CSV file.

At this point the CSV file has the required fields, you can jump to step 2 (setting up the PowerShell script) or keep reading to configure optional fields for user accounts.

Add additional user fields to the CSV file.

You may want to include some additional user fields in the CSV. Just know that whatever columns you add to the CSV you will also need to include them in the PowerShell script.

I’ve included several common user fields in the CSV template and PowerShell script.

  • UserPrincipalName
  • Department
  • Description
  • Office
  • OfficePhone
  • EmailAddress
  • StreetAddress
  • POBox
  • City
  • State
  • PostalCode
  • Title
  • Company
add additional user fields to the csv file

To add more I recommend looking at the PowerShell new-aduser cmdlet to see which parameters are supported.

I like to keep the name of the headers the same as the new-aduser parameters, it makes it easier to troubleshoot.

At this point, you should have a CSV file configured, and save the file to your local computer.

Step 2: Configure the PowerShell Script

Copy the script below and modify it as needed. 

#Import active directory module for running AD cmdlets
#Author: Robert Allen
#Website: activedirectrypro.com

Import-Module activedirectory

#Store the data from ADUsers.csv in the $ADUsers variable
$Users = Import-csv c:\it\users.csv

#Loop through each row containing user details in the CSV file 
foreach ($User in $Users) {
    # Read user data from each field in each row
    # the username is used more often, so to prevent typing, save that in a variable
   $Username       = $User.SamAccountName

    # Check to see if the user already exists in AD
    if (Get-ADUser -F {SamAccountName -eq $Username}) {
         #If user does exist, give a warning
         Write-Warning "A user account with username $Username already exist in Active Directory."
    }
    else {
        # User does not exist then proceed to create the new user account

        # create a hashtable for splatting the parameters
        $userProps = @{
            SamAccountName             = $User.SamAccountName                   
            Path                       = $User.Path      
            GivenName                  = $User.GivenName 
            Surname                    = $User.Surname
            Initials                   = $User.Initials
            Name                       = $User.Name
            DisplayName                = $User.DisplayName
            UserPrincipalName          = $user.UserPrincipalName 
            Department                 = $User.Department
            Description                = $User.Description
            Office                     = $User.Office
            OfficePhone                = $User.OfficePhone
            StreetAddress              = $User.StreetAddress
            POBox                      = $User.POBox
            City                       = $User.City
            State                      = $User.State
            PostalCode                 = $User.PostalCode
            Title                      = $User.Title
            Company                    = $User.Company
            Country                    = $User.Country
            EmailAddress               = $User.Email
            AccountPassword            = (ConvertTo-SecureString $User.Password -AsPlainText -Force) 
            Enabled                    = $true
            ChangePasswordAtLogon      = $true
        }   #end userprops   

         New-ADUser @userProps
       #  Write-Host "The user account $User is created." -ForegroundColor Cyan
   

    } #end else
   
}

You will need to modify the path to the CSV file you saved from step 1 (unless it matches what I have in the script). 

$ADUsers = Import-csv C:\it\bulk_import.csv

By default, the script sets the accounts to enable. You can change this by setting Enabled to false

Enabled = $false

By default, the script sets the accounts to change password at the next logon. To change this set “ChangePasswordAtlogon to false.

ChangePasswordAtLogon = $false

That should do it for configuring the script. It’s pretty much ready to go as is.

Step 3: Run the PowerShell Script to import the accounts

At this point, the CSV file should be setup with the user’s information and the Powershell script should be modified (if needed)

Now it’s time to execute the script.

In PowerShell ISE just click the green button to run the script. If you saved the script to a ps1 file just run the script instead of running directly from ISE.

run the create users powershell script

It will return the prompt when completed. Any errors will be displayed in the console.

powershell console output

Now check Active Directory to verify the accounts imported.

verify users in active directory

Verify AD User Import

This step is optional but I like to list all accounts from the domain or OU I imported to as a way to verify the import. It’s also useful for getting a list of user accounts and exporting it to csv.

Below is the PowerShell command to get all domain users. The results are sent to a gridview to make it easier to read.

You can add or remove whatever user attributes you need. 

Get-ADUser -filter * -properties * | select-object samaccountname, givenname, surname,streetaddress,st,physicalDeliveryOfficeName,manager,mail,title,company,whenCreated
verify users in powershell

Another option is to use the user export tool that is included in the AD Pro Toolkit. You can select to list all domain users, users from an OU or from a group. You can also easily add or remove columns to the report.

verify users with ad pro toolkit

Bulk Modify Users After Import

What if you made an error during the import or forgot to include user details in the CSV?

No worries, you can bulk modify user accounts after the import completes. You can use PowerShell and the GUI tool to bulk update existing AD users. Check out the guides and resources below.

The AD Pro Toolkit includes the Bulk Updater Tool. It also works by using a CSV file, just fill it out and run the tool to bulk modify user attributes.

bulk update existing ad users

Additional Resources

AD Pro Toolkit
(19 Tools in 1) Easy to Use GUI Tools for Active Directory

Download Free Trial

Learn More

119 thoughts on “Create Bulk Users in Active Directory (Step-By-Step Guide)”

  1. It does not create an email box in exchange or office 365. It just adds the email address to the Active Directory attribute field.

    Reply

  3. i have a problem when i click run code i get that error

    new-ADUser : The server is unwilling to process the request
    At C:\it\bulk_users1.ps1:41 char:3
    + New-ADUser `
    + ~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo : NotSpecified: (CN=Joshua Lynch…ctorypro,DC=COM:String) [New-ADUse
    r], ADException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ActiveDirectoryServer:0,Microsoft.ActiveDirectory.Management.Comman
    ds.NewADUser

    New-ADUser : The server is unwilling to process the request
    At C:\it\bulk_users1.ps1:41 char:3
    + New-ADUser `
    + ~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo : NotSpecified: (CN=Sam smith,CN…ctorypro,DC=COM:String) [New-ADUse
    r], ADException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ActiveDirectoryServer:0,Microsoft.ActiveDirectory.Management.Comman
    ds.NewADUser

    PS C:\it>

    Reply

  4. One little tip: CSV delimiters may differ in some regions / localized Excel versions, so if you use for example semicolons (like me) instead of commas, extend your CSV import line:
    $ADUsers = Import-csv -Path “A:\Some\Path\tofile.csv” -Delimiter “;”

    Anyway, it’s an easy, very useful and very clear script, thanks for sharing! 🙂

    Reply

  6. Great tool, was hoping it would work for me but I can’t past an [Access is Denied.] error when I attempt the import. Know the credentials I’m using are good; I can manually create a user just fine. Pared the attributes down to just three fields (Sam-Account-Name, Passwod, OrganizationalUnit) and one record, fails every time. Tried several different OU’s, same error.

    Any ideas?

    Reply

    • Hi Sam. Is this with the script or GUI tool? If you purchased the GUI tool send me an email. I need to make sure you are on the latest version, there have been several updates.

      Reply

  7. Hi Robert,
    What code can I add to add the new user email address in the proxyAddress field of the attribute editor.
    Thanks for the help

    Reply

  8. How do I map User Logon name to its appropriate domain? Say for example I have a child domain on DC2 with a domain like studentid@student.myuni.com. When I bulk import using SolarWinds GUI tool everything works except this mapping is not taking place, any ideas?

    Reply

    • With the GUI tools, you can right click and run as a different user and authenticate to the child domain. With PowerShell, you can use the -server parameter to specify the domain controller instance to connect to.

      Reply

  9. Thanks very much, for providing a few options for bulk creating users on AD. Very, very useful info.
    Nicely done, to the point and detailed! Impressive work you have done. Many thanks!!

    Reply

  10. Hi Robert,

    I would like to use this PS Script to bulk import users in a new environment.

    .csv is like
    firstname lastname username email city country state zipcode password telephone jobtitle company ou Department

    Jack Lamers j.lamers j.lamers@company.com Venray Nederland Limburg 5803 AN P@$$w0rd 0612345678 Sysop
    NEH CN=etcetcetc ICT

    When I run your script, I receive these errors

    PS C:\Users\Administrator> C:\Beheer\powershell_create_bulk_users\bulk_users1.ps1
    Get-ADUser : Variable: ‘Username’ found in expression: $Username is not defined.
    At C:\Beheer\powershell_create_bulk_users\bulk_users1.ps1:31 char:6
    + if (Get-ADUser -Filter {SamAccountName -eq $Username})
    + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo : InvalidArgument: (:) [Get-ADUser], ArgumentException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ActiveDirectoryCmdlet:System.ArgumentException,Microsoft.ActiveDirectory.Management.Commands.GetADUser

    Get-ADUser : Variable: ‘Username’ found in expression: $Username is not defined.
    At C:\Beheer\powershell_create_bulk_users\bulk_users1.ps1:31 char:6
    + if (Get-ADUser -Filter {SamAccountName -eq $Username})
    + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo : InvalidArgument: (:) [Get-ADUser], ArgumentException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ActiveDirectoryCmdlet:System.ArgumentException,Microsoft.ActiveDirectory.Management.Commands.GetADUser

    Get-ADUser : Variable: ‘Username’ found in expression: $Username is not defined.
    At C:\Beheer\powershell_create_bulk_users\bulk_users1.ps1:31 char:6
    + if (Get-ADUser -Filter {SamAccountName -eq $Username})
    + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo : InvalidArgument: (:) [Get-ADUser], ArgumentException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ActiveDirectoryCmdlet:System.ArgumentException,Microsoft.ActiveDirectory.Management.Commands.GetADUser

    Any Idea?

    Reply

  12. The GUI tool is amazing, but I get and error saying: could not create user [Access is denied.] I am both Domain Admin and Enterprise Admin. can you help?

    Reply

    • Please log into your account and download the latest version. If you still have issues please send me an email.

      Thanks
      Roberts

      Reply

  13. Thank you so much. This has been a life saver. I saw in one of the comments you were working on a solution for adding to Groups. Has this been completed? It would help out a lot in my environment.

    Reply

  15. Love this, big time saver, however I am having issues trying to figure out how to add the new bulk users to their proper groups. Can you help with this?

    Much appreciate it.

    Reply

  16. The Solar Winds tool works well, but I have added an extra column. All students are members of Sudents_SG to I have added groupMembershipSAM to the csv file which I map across to Group-Membership-SAM in the User Import Tool but it does not get imported. Any idea why this is the case?

    Reply

  17. I was so pleased to find this post, Robert. I too have to create new students every year/semester. I had been using a python script given to me using LDAP. But I wanted more granularity. This is great. But I shy away from the powershell (newbie) and tried the solarwinds user import tool. It started out great, but kept hitting errors (it was the OU mapping). When I finally got it to create the accounts, it did not populate all the attributes from the CSV, only the pre-win2000 attribute. What am I missing?

    Reply

  18. So, the same as the last commenter, every year we have the need to create hundreds of new student accounts. Additionally, we have summer school classes that are open to non-district kids. So, that is a bunch more accounts that are created every year! We were contracting this bulk creation out to our network support people. But you tool works like a dream and will save us time AND money! One question though: the Sam-Account-Name isn’t populating the user logon name in AD…shouldn’t it? Or do I have to map that somewhere else? Additionally, when I look at the OU in AD, I would like to see the students’ names in the Name column rather than the Sam-Account-Name. What do I need to change to make these things happen? Thanks!!

    Reply

  19. Hi Robert,

    Thank you for this helpful post.

    I would like to upload a users with option Password Never Expires in Account tab. How do I set this option in .csv file?
    Thank you
    Regards,
    Thao

    Reply

  20. Hello Robert,

    This is very helpful. I usually create multiple users in AD every 2 weeks and your script saves me a lot of time. Do you know how I can insert the details for Pager, Mobile in Telephones tab and also assign them to specific Security Group?

    Thanks a lo!

    Reply

  21. Having trouble adding a user to a domain group when using the script. I’m a novice with Powershell. I have the AD group in my csv file. Any help would be great.

    # Import active directory module for running AD cmdlets
    Import-Module activedirectory

    #Store the data from ADUsers.csv in the $ADUsers variable
    $ADUsers = Import-csv C:\AD_Tool\Master.csv

    #Loop through each row containing user details in the CSV file
    foreach ($User in $ADUsers)
    {
    #Read user data from each field in each row and assign the data to a variable as below

    $Username = $User.username
    $Password = $User.password
    $Firstname = $User.firstname
    $Lastname = $User.lastname
    $SamAccountName =$User.SamAccountName
    $OU = $User.ou #This field refers to the OU the user account is to be created in
    $email = $User.email
    $company = $User.company
    $department = $User.department
    $Password = $User.Password
    $homedirectory = $User.homedirectory
    $homeDrive = $User.homeDrive
    $EmployeeID = $User.EmployeeID
    $EmployeeNumber = $User.EmployeeNumber
    $Add-ADGroupMember -Identity = $User.Add-ADGroupMember -Identity

    #Check to see if the user already exists in AD
    if (Get-ADUser -F {SamAccountName -eq $Username})
    {
    #If user does exist, give a warning
    Write-Warning “A user account with username $Username already exist in Active Directory.”
    }
    else
    {
    #User does not exist then proceed to create the new user account

    #Account will be created in the OU provided by the $OU variable read from the CSV file
    New-ADUser `
    -SamAccountName $Username `
    -UserPrincipalName “$Username@mydomain.org” `
    -Name “$Firstname $Lastname” `
    -GivenName $Firstname `
    -Surname $Lastname `
    -Enabled $True `
    -DisplayName “$Lastname, $Firstname” `
    -Path $OU `
    -EmailAddress $email `
    -homeDrive $homeDrive `
    -homedirectory $homedirectory `
    -EmployeeID $EmployeeID `
    -EmployeeNumber $EmployeeNumber `
    -Add-Add-ADGroupMember -Identity $Add-ADGroupMember -Identity `
    -AccountPassword (convertto-securestring $Password -AsPlainText -Force) -ChangePasswordAtLogon $False

    Reply

  22. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

    Every year I need to create 180+ “new Student” Accounts in AD. With a little modification of the amazing ground work you have shared with the world, you have saved me days of manually entering in each account. I used the Powershell and .csv approach, and it works flawlessly! Previously I have used some “trial software” that had obvious limitations, and expectations, but knew there had to be a way Powershell could do it. And here you are! Thank you so very much for sharing this.

    Reply

    • Hi Ricky / anyone else wondering how to do this,

      For additional attributes that don’t have a specific PowerShell property, you can use:
      New-ADUser -OtherAttributes @{‘proxyAddresses’=$proxyAddresses}
      In this case, for a proxy address. You can include as many as you like in the curly brackets, I included {‘co’=$co} for the full country name as New-ADUser doesn’t have a property for directly setting it (only the country code, e.g. US).

      Hope that helps.

      Reply

  26. can you add an option to add to groups? i am copying from a template so if i use your script, i will need to add the users to groups manually.

    Reply

  27. Honestly, took me whole day to figure out why PS method didn’t work and user import tool works so better. Found out that it was due to wrong OU information, no doubt in that your tutorial is so step by step helpful guide for experts or newbies.

    Reply

  28. Hi Rob,

    This script works like a charm! One question: Is there a way to add a person to an AD Group when you import them?

    Thanks a bunch!

    Reply

  32. Hi Everyone,

    First I want to thank you for sharing this awesome tutorial!
    For some reason, I get an error message with the following text:

    Get-ADUser : Variable: ‘Username’ found in expression: $Username is not defined.
    At C:\scripts\bulk_users1.ps1:31 char:6
    + if (Get-ADUser -F {SamAccountName -eq $Username})
    + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo : InvalidArgument: (:) [Get-ADUser], ArgumentException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ActiveDirectoryCmdlet:System.ArgumentException,Microsoft.ActiveDirectory.Management.Commands.GetADUser

    I only changed the lines to my OU’s and my domain

    If somebody would like to help me I would appreciate it 🙂

    -Sven

    Reply

  33. Hi Everyone,

    I have a problem with the script. I got the following message:
    Get-ADUser : Variable: ‘Username’ found in expression: $Username is not defined.
    At C:\scripts\bulk_users1.ps1:31 char:6
    + if (Get-ADUser -F {SamAccountName -eq $Username})
    + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo : InvalidArgument: (:) [Get-ADUser], ArgumentException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ActiveDirectoryCmdlet:System.ArgumentException,Microsoft.ActiveDirectory.Management.Commands.GetADUser

    I only changed the lines that are required in this tutorial.

    If somebody can help me that would be very much appreciated 🙂

    Reply

  36. Hi Robert! Thank you so much for this approach. I took your example and I’ve modified the logic for the following reasons.
    Suppose you’re managing a multi-domain AD environment (same forest) and HR department send you the list of new hires for the entire company each month. If you don’t have a software managed solution (which is my case) you have to manage the process by your own.

    So, in the CSV file I’ve added the following columns:
    – UPNSuffix
    – UPN (which is a formula — =TEXTJOIN(,TRUE,A2,”@”,H2) where A2 contains Name/SamAccountName property and H2 contains UPNSuffix string) As a result you have SamAccountName@UPNSuffix.
    – MobilePhone (value required for sales users)
    – OU (this is for creating accounts into different OUs)

    The main change in the script logic is based on “what if HR send you a list in which a given SamAccountName is already created for a user account, but the lastname of the user has changed (let’s say… a woman got married)?. According to the validation you’re doing, the script will throw a warning and it’ll skip the creation when in fact the account must be modified.

    Let’s take into account the fact that modifications are required as creations as well. So… instead of using New-ADUser what must be used is Set-ADUser. I’ve spent many hours trying to figure out WHY Set-ADUser throw errors when all the information in the CSV is accurate. What I’ve realized is… Set-ADUser will throw errors “IF THERE’S AN EMPTY EXEL CELL AND YOU’RE TRYING TO MAP THE VALUE OF SUCH CELL AS A PROPERTY IN ACTIVE DIRECTORY USER ACCOUNT OBJECT”.
    I have user accounts whose INITIAL property doesn’t matter so they’re empty cells in my CSV, but the foreach() script block is taking it into account so I had errors (nothing that could be easily realize in the error message by the way).

    So… in order to get this covered, I had to add $ErrorActionPreference = “SilentlyContinue” at the beginning of the script.

    Lastly, Set-ADUser won’t modify Fullname property. Again… if for some reason HR give you a list with this value changed, the way I’ve covered this is by adding Get-ADUser -Identity ($User.SamAccountName) | Rename-ADObject -NewName $User.DisplayName -Verbose within foreach() script block.

    I hope this helps someone who faced the same issues I’ve faced, or needs to achieve the same goals as I have.

    Thanks a lot Robert. Your script gave me the starting point of my whole search!

    Reply

    • Fernando thanks for the details, I’m sure this will help others.

      The script I provided is very basic so I’m happy you was able to use it as a starting point.

      Reply

    • Hello

      What about if there are duplicate user names? Is there something I can add to your script that would just add a 1 or 2 or 3 until the account is created

      Reply

  39. Robert,

    Could this also be used to set the newly created imported users with default “Member of” groups? This way they could be set to distros, security groups, etc without having to go back manually and set each one up after the import.

    Reply

  40. Can I do this before I join the user computers to the domain?

    Also, if I have multiple unmanaged users in the company and now I want to create an AD DC to manage them, what is the best way to do it and what the order of operation should be?

    Thanks.

    Reply

  43. I am looking at doing this but only creating mail enabled contacts in bulk. I was currently doing this by loading the contacts from an remote LDAP and then looping through them. I was getting server errors like, server not responding, while looping. Is this method any different? I could create this file from the remote LDAP and then run your method but it looks similar to my current loop. And by bulk I mean over 10k mail enabled contacts.

    Reply

    • Sharbel, Having user accounts with no passwords is a big security risk. I would not recommend it.

      With that said I think you can use this command New-ADUser “John Doe”. This will create the account but will disable it until a password is provided.

      Reply

    • Hi Nick,

      The description and office fields are not something I commonly used when creating bulk users. The script can easily be modified to include any fields you want, just add the field to the excel file and include it in the script.

      Reply

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