How to Bulk Upload Students in Vocab Loco

The Bulk Student Upload feature lets you add multiple students to your class at once from a spreadsheet or by pasting data. You can add new students, restore students who were previously in your class, or add existing students from your school domain — all in one step.

How to bulk upload students

The Bulk Student Upload modal, showing the file upload area and the paste data option side by side.

1. From the Students page, click the Bulk Upload button.
2. A modal window opens with two options:
   • Upload a file — Choose or drag a .csv, .xlsx, or .xls file.
   • Paste data — Copy and paste comma-separated student data directly into the text field.
3. Click Review import. The system checks each row and shows a summary of what will happen.
4. Review the list carefully. Each student has a status (see Understanding import statusbelow):
   • Will be created — A new student account will be created.
   • Existing — will be restored — A student previously removed from your class will be re-enrolled.
   • Existing — can be added — A student who already has an account on your school domain will be added to your class.
   • Cannot be added — The student cannot be added (see Troubleshooting rejected students).
5. If needed, you can edit any row to fix first name, last name, username, grade, or password before importing.
6. Click Confirm import to complete the upload. All students with a valid status will be added to your class.

File format and template

Bulk upload expects data in this order:

First Name, Last Name, Username, Grade, Password

Example:

Emma,Smith,esmith,5,Loco123
Liam,Jones,ljones,K,password456
Sofia,Garcia,sgarcia,4,Words2026

Download a template

The Bulk Upload modal includes a link to download a CSV template. Use this as a starting point for your student list — it has the correct format and column order.

File type support

You can upload files in these formats:

• .csv (comma-separated values) — Most common spreadsheet format.
• .xlsx (Excel) — Modern Excel format.
• .xls (Excel) — Older Excel format.

You can also paste data directly without uploading a file — just type or paste comma-separated rows into the text area, one student per line.

Understanding import status

What happens to existing students

If a student already exists in Vocab Loco (marked as Existing — can be added), the import works differently:

• Grade is updated — The grade you provide in the import is applied to their enrollment in your class.
• Name and password are NOT changed — Their existing first name, last name, and password remain as they were.
• Why? — Because the student already has an account that may be shared with other classes. Changing their name or password could affect their access elsewhere.

If you need to update a student's name or password after they're imported, edit them individually from the Students page.

Editing rows before import

Before you confirm the import, you can edit any row in the review table to fix a mistake or update a value:

1. In the review table, find the student row you want to change.
2. Edit the field directly in the table: first name, last name, username, grade, or password.
3. The row will be re-validated with the new values before the import is confirmed.

To go back and make larger changes to your file, click Back to return to the input step.

Troubleshooting rejected students

A student might be marked as Cannot be added for one of these reasons:

1. You do not have enough available seats

Each teacher account has a limited number of student seats. If you've reached your limit, rows beyond the available seats will be rejected automatically.

Solution: Remove students you no longer need, or go to My Subscription to upgrade your plan and get more seats.

2. Duplicate username in the import file

If two rows in the same file share the same username, the duplicate is rejected.

Solution: Check your spreadsheet and make sure every username is unique, then re-upload.

3. Missing or invalid data

Rows with validation errors are rejected. Common issues include:

• First name or last name is missing.
• Username is shorter than 3 characters or contains invalid characters (only letters, numbers, and . _ - @ are allowed).
• Password is shorter than 3 characters.
• Grade is not K or a number from 0 to 12.

Solution: Fix the invalid fields in the review table or update your spreadsheet and re-upload.

4. Student is already in your class

If the student is currently active in your class, they cannot be imported again.

Solution: No action needed — the student is already enrolled.

5. Username belongs to a student outside your school

If the username exists in Vocab Loco but is associated with a student from a different school domain, it cannot be added automatically.

Solution: Use a different username for this student, or contact Vocab Loco support for assistance.

In the review step, you can edit rejected rows to fix validation errors before confirming the import.