CSV Import File Guidelines

You can bulk add users by creating a comma-separated values (CSV) file with user information and then importing the file. You can include attributes in the CSV file, such as license level and the publishing access, to apply to the users at the same time you import them.

This topic covers the details of the CSV file itself. To import users using the CSV, you can:

CSV file format requirements

The CSV file for importing users has the following formatting requirements:

  • No column headings. Tableau Cloud assumes that every line in the file represents a user.
  • UTF-8 format with the byte-order mark (BOM).  
    • Character encodings such as BIG-5 must beconverted to UTF-8. You can do this by opening the file in a text editor and using the Save As command.
    • If the @ character is present in the username field for anything other than a domain separator, it must be in hexadecimal format: \0x40. For example, user@fremont@mycompany.com should be user\0x40fremont@mycompany.com.

Required column structure in the CSV file

The file shouldn't contain a header row. Not all columns need to be filled out, but the required column structure must be preserved by including all the expected comma delimiters.

The column structure varies by product and by import tool. Make sure you're using the appropriate structure for your environment:

  • Tableau Cloud: username, password, display name, license level, administrator level, publishing capability, email address
  • Tableau Cloud with Tableau Cloud Manager (TCM): tenant or site URI, username, password, display name, license level, administrator level, publishing capability, email address, authentication type
  • Tableau Server: username, password, display name, license level, admin level, publishing capability, email address
  • Tableau Server using identity pools: username, password, display name, license level, admin level, publishing capability, email address, identity pool name, identifier

See the column details section below for more information on the possible values for each column.

Important: The order of the columns is significant. The first column is treated as the user name, the second as the password, the third as display name, and so on, regardless of the content in the columns. If you omit values for a field, you must still include the field’s comma delimiter.

Column details for Tableau Cloud CSV

If the CSV file contains only username values (email addresses), the users will receive an email invitation to the site. Users can join the site to create their accounts, but the accounts remain unlicensed until an administrator configures the accounts (display name, license level, and so on).  A user's email address on the site may display on the site with a leading period (such as .user@domain.com) until they log in for the first time.

Column structure for the CSV file: username, password, display name, license level, administrator level, publishing capability, email address

Column details:

Username: Required. The user's email address.

Password: Ignored. As a best practice, leave this column blank.

  • New users must select a password and a display name when they first sign in to Tableau Cloud. If a user already has a Tableau account they may already have a password.

Display name: Ignored. As a best practice, leave this column blank.

License level: This can be Creator, Explorer, Viewer, or Unlicensed. If left blank, the license level will be Unlicensed.

Administrator level: This can be Site or None. If left blank, the administrator level will be None.

Publishing capability: This can be Yes/True/1 or No/False/0. If left blank, the publishing capability will be false.

  • If the license level is Creator, the publishing capability must be Yes/True/1
  • If the license level is Explorer, the publishing capability value is what distinguishes the site role between Explorer (can publish) and Explorer
  • If the license level is Viewer or Unlicensed, the user will not be able to publish regardless of the value of this column

Email address: Starting in July 2025 (Tableau 2025.2), specify an email address if different than username. Email addresses are used for notifications purposes only. If no email address value is provided, Tableau Cloud uses the value in the required username field to send notifications to

Any columns left blank must still be delimited with commas to preserve the column structure.

Authentication type without TCM

If you aren't using Tableau Cloud manager, you can only set a single default authentication type during the upload. You can change authentication type for individual users afterward.

  • When uploading a CSV file directly in Tableau Cloud, specify the authentication type when you import the file and that type applies to all imported users.
  • When using tabcmd to import users, set the authentication type and site role that applies to all users in the CSV file during upload. For information, see createsiteusers filename.csv.

To set a specific authentication type per user at the time of upload, you must use Tableau Cloud Manager. For more information, see Manage Users With Tableau Cloud Manager.

Tableau Cloud CSV example structure

Tip: Remember, the structure is: username, password, display name, license level, administrator level, publishing capability, email address with nothing between the commas when a column is left blank.

The following example shows a user who is granted the Explorer (can publish) site role, won't be a site administrator, and will be able to publish to projects to which they have the appropriate content permissions.

user1@domain.com,,,Explorer,None,true,user1@domain2.com

By changing the administrator-level column, you can import the following user as a site administrator with the Site Administrator Explorer site role.

adminuser@domain.com,,,Explorer,Site,true,adminuser@domain2.com

Column details for TCM CSV

If the CSV file contains only user name (email address) values, the users will receive an email invitation to the site. Users can join the site to create their accounts, but the accounts remain unlicensed until an administrator configures the accounts (display name, license level, and so on).

Remember that columns left blank must still be delimited with commas to preserve the column structure.

Column structure for the CSV file: tenant or site URI, username, password, display name, license level, administrator level, publishing capability, authentication type

Column details: 

Tenant or site URI: The uniform resource identifier for the tenant or site.

Username: Required. The user's email address.

Password: Ignored. As a best practice, leave this column blank.

  • New users must select a password and a display name when they first sign in to Tableau Cloud. If a user already has a Tableau account they may already have a password.

Display name: Ignored. As a best practice, leave this column blank.

License level: This can be Creator, Explorer, Viewer, or Unlicensed for the site. If left blank, the license level will be Unlicensed.

Administrator level: This can be Site, Cloud, or None. If left blank, the administrator level will be None.

  • Site = Site administrator, None = Not an administrator, Cloud = Cloud administrator.

Publishing capability: This can be True or False for the site. If left blank, the publishing capability will be false.

  • If the license level is Creator, the publishing capability must be True
  • If the license level is Explorer, the publishing capability value is what distinguishes the site role between Explorer (can publish) and Explorer
  • If the license level is Viewer or Unlicensed, the user will not be able to publish regardless of the value of this column

Authentication type: The user authentication type for accessing the tenant or site. This can be Google, OpenID, Salesforce, SAML, TableauIDWithMFA, or DEFAULT.

TCM CSV example structure

Tip: Remember, the structure is: tenant or site URI, username, password, display name, license level, administrator level, publishing capability, email address, authentication type with nothing between the commas when a column is left blank.

The following example shows a user who is granted the cloud administrator role in Tableau Cloud Manager, and authenticates using Tableau with MFA.

MyTCM,cloudadminuser@domain.com,,,,Cloud,,,TableauIDWithMFA

By changing the authentication column, you can import the following user with an alternative authentication type if configured in Tableau Cloud Manager settings.

MyTCM,cloudadminuser@domain.com,,,,Cloud,,,Salesforce

In the following example, you can import the user with Explorer - can publish site role with Tableau with MFA authentication.

MySite,user1@domain.com,,,Explorer,None,True,,TableauIDWithMFA

CSV settings and site roles

The license level, administrator, and publishing settings for a user determine how the user's site role is set during the import process. The following shows how site roles should be captured in the CSV.

Site Role License level Administrator level Publishing capability

Cloud Administrator

This role is valid only if you are importing users while signed in to Tableau Cloud Manager (that is, not signed in to a specific site).

Unlicensed Cloud False

Site Administrator Creator or Site Administrator Explorer

These roles are valid only if you are importing users while signed in to a specific site.

Creator or Explorer Site True
Creator Creator None True
Explorer (can publish) Explorer None True
Explorer Explorer None False
Viewer Viewer None False
Unlicensed Unlicensed None False