How to create bulk users in Active Directory using a CSV file

Dear admin,

Please create Active Directory user accounts, cloud app accounts, home folders, mailboxes, and other requirements for the following new employees. Attached is the list of 100 new members.

Warm regards,

HR

Scary thought?

When performed manually, creating Active Directory (AD) users in bulk can be a time-consuming and error-prone process. But, don’t worry, you can do it easily with Active Directory bulk user import using a CSV file.

Here, we’ll explain how to create Active Directory users in bulk using PowerShell. We’ll also go over how to automate bulk user addition in AD, as well as how to build a customized workflow structure to streamline the user creation process.

How to create bulk users in Active Directory using PowerShell

The CSV file required to create a new user account must contain the following fields as shown in the sample CSV file here:

When running the script bulkimport.ps, as shown below, the user objects for these CSV entries will be created in Active Directory. As a good security practice, the script will enable the account owners to reset the default passwords at the next logon. Keep in mind that the complexity of this process can vary depending on the organization’s provisioning process.

Import-Module ActiveDirectory
$file = "\\SERVER\csv\users.csv"
$importedUsers = Import-csv $file
foreach ($user in $importedUsers)
{
 $sAMAccountName = $user.sAMAccountName
 $password = ConvertTo-SecureString -AsPlainText $user.password -Force
 $givenName = $user.givenName
 $sn = $user.sn
 $ou = $user.ou
 $name = $givenName+"."+$sn
 New-ADUser -SamAccountName $sAMAccountName -Name $givenName 
 -AccountPassword $password -GivenName $givenName -Surname $sn 
 -Enabled $True -path $ou
}

Instead of manually provisioning users, you can run the PowerShell script and have new users provisioned in your Active Directory at the same time. To simplify bulk user creation even further, the script can be scheduled to run periodically. 

Using ADManager Plus to bulk import users from CSV

Although scheduling makes bulk user import easier, what organizations actually need is key stakeholders (line managers, heads of departments, reporting managers, etc.) involved in the user onboarding process. This is where a tool like ADManager Plus steps in to help admins automate this bulk user creation process.