How to Import a Roster from a CSV File

How to Import a Roster from a CSV File

Most rosters and guest lists already live in a spreadsheet: an export from a gradebook, a student information system, an RSVP form or a planner’s guest list. Typing them out again is slow and error-prone. Importing a CSV file brings the whole list into your seating chart in a minute, with a preview before anything is added.

This guide explains how to prepare the file, how each import option works, and what the importer does with tricky names. It applies to every chart type in the free seating chart maker.

What is a CSV file?

A CSV ("comma-separated values") file is plain text where each line is a row and commas separate the columns. Every spreadsheet app can save one. Unlike an .xlsx workbook, it contains only the values — no formatting or formulas — which makes it the reliable way to move a list between programs.

Some regions use semicolons instead of commas, and some exports use tabs. The importer handles all three.

Step 1: Save your list as CSV

Choose UTF-8 whenever you’re offered it. It keeps accents, Arabic, Chinese, Korean and other scripts intact. If you upload an .xlsx or .numbers file by mistake, the importer says so and tells you how to save a CSV — it never pretends to read a format it can’t.

Tidy the sheet first

• Keep one person per row.
• Put names in one column (“Full name”) or two (“First”, “Last”).
• Optional: a group column (household, party, company, instrument or project team) and a short name column (“Sam L.”).
• Delete columns you don’t need — especially anything sensitive. The seating tool doesn’t need dates of birth, IDs, grades or notes, and has nowhere to store them.

Step 2: Open the import

In your chart, open People and choose Import CSV, then pick the file. It’s read inside your browser; nothing is uploaded. Files larger than 2 MB are refused with an explanation — far bigger than any real roster.

Step 3: Check separators and the header row

The importer looks at the first lines and guesses whether columns are separated by commas, semicolons or tabs. You can change the choice under Columns are separated by. There’s also a fourth option, Nothing — one name per line, for files that contain only names. Use it if your names contain commas but aren’t quoted, so “Lee, Sam” isn’t split.

Next, tick or untick First row is a header. If the first row contains words like “Name,” “Student” or “Household,” it’s ticked for you.

Step 4: Map the columns

• Name column — the column holding each person’s name.
• Join a second name column (optional) — only if first and last names are in separate columns. You choose the order: “First then Last” gives Ana Silva; “Last then First” gives Silva Ana. The importer never guesses which part is the family name, because naming conventions differ across languages and cultures.
• Group column (optional) — called Household / party in wedding and event charts, Instrument / section in band and orchestra charts.
• Short name column (optional) — used when you print with short names.

Step 5: Review the preview and import

The preview table shows the first rows exactly as they’ll be added, with their original line numbers. Below it, a summary tells you:

• how many people will be added,
• how many rows without a name were skipped,
• how many very long names were shortened (names over 120 characters),
• whether the chart’s limit of 400 people would be exceeded — and if so, how many rows won’t be imported.

If the chart already has people, choose:

• Add to the current people (the default), or
• Replace current roster — this removes everyone currently in the chart, along with their seats and rules. A warning shows the count, and you can undo right after.

Then press Add N people.

How the importer treats tricky data

Nothing is ever dropped silently. Everything that wasn’t imported is counted in the summary.

Pasting instead of importing

For a short list, Add names may be quicker: paste one name per line. Commas stay part of the name, blank lines are ignored, and you can give everyone in the paste the same group, for example “Bride’s family.”

After importing

• People appear in the Needs a seat filter. Seat them by hand or with Seat everyone who needs a seat.
• For weddings and events, turn groups into “same table” preferences with Keep households together.
• If two people share a name, add a short name to each before printing.

Exporting back to a spreadsheet

Print & export › Download CSV produces a file with stable, documented columns: seat number, table or row, seat in table, seat label, status, section, section chair, name, short name, group and locked. People without a seat are listed at the end. The file starts with a byte-order mark so Excel reads UTF-8 names correctly, and formula-like names are prefixed with an apostrophe so a spreadsheet never runs them.

For a complete copy of the chart — layout, rules and versions included — use Download backup (JSON) instead; see How to Back Up Seating Charts and Move Them Between Devices.

Troubleshooting

• Names look garbled (é instead of é). The file wasn’t saved as UTF-8. Export again choosing UTF-8.
• Everything is in one column. Change Columns are separated by to semicolons or tabs.
• First and last names are swapped. Change the join order.
• The header became a person. Tick First row is a header.
• “This looks like a spreadsheet file.” You chose an .xlsx or .numbers file. Save as CSV first.

New here? Read the complete guide to the free seating chart maker or the Classroom seating chart maker page .