Make certificates in bulk from Excel or Google Sheets
Nivparo makes one certificate for every row of a spreadsheet: a name, and if you like a personal award line. You can paste straight from Excel or Google Sheets, or import a CSV file. It is free, needs no account, adds no watermark, and the list never leaves your browser.
Checked against the maker on 28 October 2026.
1. Prepare the columns
Only two things change from one certificate to the next: the name and the award or reason line under it. Everything else – title, the line before the name, date, signatures, logo, design – is set once in the maker and is the same on every page. So the sheet needs one row per person and one or two columns:
| Column | Titles the maker recognises | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Name | Name, Full name, Student, Student name, Pupil, Recipient, Participant, Attendee, Employee, Volunteer | Required. Write it the way it should be printed. |
| First name + Last name | First name, Given name, Forename · Last name, Surname, Family name | Instead of Name. They are joined with a space. |
| Award | Award, Reason, Achievement, Course, Course name, Category, Prize | Optional. Printed under the name. Empty cells use the award line from the maker. |
- The first row may hold column titles; the maker reads them and skips that row. Other columns (email, class, ID) are ignored, so you do not need to delete them.
- Without a title row, the first column is the name and the rest of the row becomes the award line.
- There is no per-person date or per-person title. Put a different date or event into the award line instead, for example “1st place – 100 m, 14 June 2026”.
- For running numbers (No. 001, No. 002 …), do not add a column: tick Number each certificate in the maker. Numbers follow the order of your rows.
Example rows, with an award line for most people:
| Name | Award |
|---|---|
| Ana Silva | For growing from picture books to chapter books this year |
| Ben Okafor | For mastering every times table, up to 12 × 12 |
| Dmitri Ivanov | (empty – uses the maker's award line) |
Download the sample CSVDownload the sample XLSX
Eight made-up names with award lines, including an accented name, a very long name and one person without an award line. The CSV is UTF-8 and imports as it is; open the XLSX in Excel or Google Sheets to see the layout, then paste or save it as CSV.
2. Bring the list into the maker
Open the certificate maker (or a template such as the certificate of achievement) and use one of these:
- Paste. In Excel or Google Sheets, select the name column, or the name and award columns together, copy, and paste into Recipients. Spreadsheet cells arrive separated by tabs, which the maker reads as columns. This is the quickest way and works with any spreadsheet program.
- Import a CSV file. Choose Import names from CSV. CSV, TSV and plain text files up to 1 MB are read on your device. Comma and semicolon separated files both work, quoted cells with commas inside are kept together, and files saved by older Excel versions in Windows-1252 keep their accents.
- Type. One name per line; add a tab, “|” or comma and then the award line, for example
Sam Lee | For stories full of imagination.
Excel files (XLSX) are not imported directly
The maker does not open .xlsx files. Either copy and paste the cells (above), or save a CSV first:
- Excel: File › Save As (or Save a Copy) › file type CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited).
- Google Sheets: File › Download › Comma-separated values (.csv).
- Numbers: File › Export To › CSV.
How many certificates at once
Up to 100 names per batch. If a list is longer, the maker uses the first 100 and tells you; split a bigger list into batches of 100 rows (rows 2–101, 102–201 …) and print each batch in turn. With certificate numbers on, set the first number of the next batch to carry on the count. A name file can be up to 1 MB, which is far more than 100 rows.
3. Check every page before printing
The counter next to Recipients shows how many certificates there will be. The strip under the preview shows every page; choose any of them to see it full size, or step through with the arrow keys.
Long names
Each name is kept on one line and shrunk until it fits. A certificate whose name had to be made much smaller (below about 72% of the normal size) gets a mark such as “name 65%” in the strip; Show longest name jumps to the hardest one. A name that would still not fit at 30% of the normal size is marked “name cut off”. To fix one, use the shorter form people actually use (drop a middle name), or switch to landscape paper, which gives the name a longer line. Long award lines are fitted to their space in the same way.
4. Print, or save one PDF
Choose Print all certificates. Every certificate becomes its own page, at the paper size you chose (A4 or US Letter, landscape or portrait). In the print dialog, set the scale to 100% and margins to None, and turn headers and footers off. To keep a file or send it to a print shop, choose Save as PDF as the printer: you get one PDF with every certificate, with sharp text. To email each person their own certificate, choose Download › ZIP instead: one PDF per name, numbered in list order and named after the person. Downloaded files are made on your device as images at about 200 dpi, so Save as PDF stays the choice for the sharpest text. Paper weights, double-sided settings and print shops are covered in how to print certificates.
How this compares with other certificate generators
Online certificate generators differ most in three places: whether you need an account, whether the free version adds a watermark or limits the number of certificates, and whether your list is uploaded. Here is exactly what Nivparo does, and what to check elsewhere.
| Nivparo | What to check in other tools | |
|---|---|---|
| Account | None needed | Many ask you to sign up before downloading or before making more than one |
| Your list | Read in your browser, never uploaded | Usually uploaded to the service |
| Watermark | None | Some free plans add one, or a link back to the service |
| Per batch | 100 certificates; repeat for more | Free plans range from one certificate at a time to a few hundred |
| Import | Paste from any spreadsheet, or CSV / TSV / TXT | Some open XLSX directly |
| Output | Print; one PDF via Save as PDF; or Download a PDF, a ZIP with one PDF per name, or a PNG | Often a ZIP of separate PDF or PNG files |
| Email and QR verification | Not offered: certificates are printed or saved | Offered by some services, often on paid plans |
If you need to email each person their certificate or let others verify it online, use a service built for that. If you need a stack of printed certificates for a class, team or event, a spreadsheet and Nivparo are enough.
What to put in the award column
The award line is what makes each certificate personal. The certificate wording examples have 206 lines sorted by occasion, and the end-of-year awards list has an award and a reason for every child in a class.