---
title: How to import WordPress users
description: Turn the people who have an account on your WordPress site into Hive Mail contacts, by role, with lists, tags and a permission record.
url: "https://hiveplugins.com/docs/hive-mail-import-wordpress-users/"
updated: "2026-10-28"
category: Hive Mail
---

# How to import WordPress users

Make the people who have an account on your site (members, customers, authors) into contacts in one step. Each contact stays linked to the user account.

Before you start, create the [lists](/docs/hive-mail-lists/) you want, and decide honestly whether these users agreed to marketing email. Having an account is not the same as agreeing to a newsletter. See [Consent and the law](/docs/hive-mail-consent-and-the-law-guide/).

1. Go to **Audience** > **Import / Export** and stay on the **Import** tab.
2. Below the CSV wizard, find the card **Import your WordPress users** and press **Set up**.
3. Under **Which roles (none ticked means everyone)**, tick the roles you want, or none for all users.
4. Choose the lists and tags to add everyone to (both optional).
5. Tick **These people have given me permission to email them** only if it is true.
6. Press **Import users**. When it ends you see "Done: N new, M already contacts, K rejected." Press **Close**.

![The Import your WordPress users card opened, with role tick boxes, list and tag pickers and the permission tick.](https://hiveplugins.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/hivemail-audience-import-wp-users-01.webp)

The job also appears on the **History** tab.

## What you get

- The email comes from the account. The names come from the user profile; if both are empty, the display name is the first name.
- New contacts get the source `wp_users`. They are **Pending** unless you ticked the permission box, in which case they are **Subscribed** and your name and the time are saved as the record of permission. Pending contacts are not emailed; see [Double opt-in](/docs/hive-mail-double-opt-in/).
- A user whose email is already a contact is not changed. They are linked to the user account and added to the lists and tags you chose, and count as "already contacts".

> **Warning:** Do not tick the permission box for a whole site's users unless they agreed to marketing email. Pending is the safe choice.

> **Tip:** To keep contacts in step with users, turn on **Remove the contact when their WordPress user is deleted** in **Settings > Compliance** (off by default). The contact then goes to the trash, where you can restore it for 30 days.

This is information, not legal advice.

Next: [How to import contacts from a CSV file](/docs/hive-mail-import-contacts-from-csv/), [Contact statuses](/docs/hive-mail-contact-statuses/).