Importing Employees - Shifton Help

Learn how to add multiple employees at once by uploading a spreadsheet file.

What Is This?

The Import Employees feature lets you add many employees to Shifton in a single operation. Instead of entering each employee manually, you prepare a spreadsheet file with all their information and upload it. Shifton will read the file and create employee records for everyone listed in it.

This is especially useful when onboarding a large team, migrating from another system, or setting up a new company account.

Prerequisites

Before importing employees, make sure you have:

An active Shifton account with Administrator access
A spreadsheet application (Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, or similar) to prepare your import file
Employee data ready: at minimum, each employee’s first name, last name, phone number, and email address

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Open the Import Dialog

Navigate to the Employees page and click the Import Employees option. The import dialog will appear.

Step 2: Download the Template

Click the Download template link to download the file import_example.xlsx. This template contains the correct column headers and formatting that Shifton expects.

Step 3: Prepare Your Import File

Open the downloaded template and fill in your employee data. The required fields are:

Column	Required	Description
First name	Yes	Employee’s first name
Last name	Yes	Employee’s last name
Phone	Yes	Phone number including country code (e.g., +15551234567)
Email	Yes	Employee’s email address

Follow these guidelines when filling in the template:

Do not rename, remove, or reorder the column headers
Enter one employee per row
Make sure phone numbers include the country code
Make sure email addresses are valid and unique
Save the file in .xlsx format

Step 4: Upload the File

Back in the Import Employees dialog, click the file upload area or drag and drop your prepared file into it. The maximum file size is 100 MB.

Step 5: Map Columns and Configure Options

After uploading, Shifton shows a column-mapping screen:

Verify each column from your file is correctly mapped to the corresponding Shifton field.

Optionally assign all imported employees to a project from the project dropdown.

Check the Send invitations box if you want employees to receive registration links immediately after import.

Without this checkbox, employees are created but not notified and cannot access their schedules until an invitation is sent separately.

Click Save.

Step 6: Review the Results

After the import completes, check the Employees page to verify that all employees were added correctly. Review their names, phone numbers, and email addresses. Employees who received invitations will have an Invited status; others will show as Not invited.

Access Permissions

Role	Can Import Employees?
Administrator	Yes
Manager	No
Employee	No

FAQ

Q: What file formats are supported for import?
A: The import accepts .xlsx (Excel) files. Use the provided template to ensure the correct format.

Q: What happens if some rows in my file have errors?
A: Rows with missing required fields or invalid data may be skipped. Shifton will notify you of any issues so you can correct them and re-import the affected employees.

Q: Is there a limit on how many employees I can import at once?
A: The file size limit is 100 MB, which can accommodate a very large number of employees. For practical purposes, there is no strict row limit.

Q: Can I update existing employees using the import feature?
A: The import feature is designed for adding new employees. To update existing employee information, edit their profiles individually on the Employees page.

Q: Will imported employees automatically receive an invitation?
A: Only if you check the Send invitations box during the import process. If you leave it unchecked, employees are created with a “Not invited” status and will not be notified until you send invitations separately.

Possible Issues and Solutions

Issue	Cause	Solution
Import fails with a format error	The file is not in `.xlsx` format or the column headers were modified	Download a fresh template, re-enter your data, and save as `.xlsx`
Some employees are missing after import	Rows had missing required fields (first name, last name, phone, or email)	Check the import results for error messages, correct the data, and re-import the missing employees
File upload fails	File exceeds the 100 MB size limit	Split your data into multiple smaller files and import them separately
Duplicate employees appear	The same employees were imported more than once	Delete the duplicates from the Employees page and ensure each employee appears only once in your import file
Phone numbers are not formatted correctly	Country codes are missing or the format is incorrect	Add country codes to all phone numbers (e.g., +1 for US, +44 for UK) and re-import