Bulk Members Update
Update multiple membership subscriptions at once using a CSV file upload.
Update multiple membership subscriptions at once by uploading a CSV file. Change statuses to Active, Paused, or Cancelled in bulk.
How to Access
Go to Subscribfy -> Customers & Subscriptions and click the Bulk update memberships button at the top right. The window that opens is titled Bulk update subscriptions.
How It Works
- Prepare a CSV file with your changes
- Upload the file in Subscribfy
- The update runs immediately, while you wait
- A confirmation tells you how many members were updated
Keep the tab open until it finishes
The update is not queued for later. It runs while you wait, so keep the browser tab open, do not navigate away, and do not close the window until the confirmation appears.
Only VIP and Elite membership subscriptions can be bulk updated. Product subscriptions are not supported.
CSV File Format
Your CSV file can have 2 or 3 columns (no header row required):
| Column | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Yes | Customer's email address | |
| Status | Yes | New status: ACTIVE, PAUSED, or CANCELLED |
| Months to Pause | No | Only used for PAUSED. A whole number from 1 to 6. Leave it blank or omit the column to pause for 1 month. |
Months to Pause accepts 1 to 6 only
Any other value, including 12, 0, or text, is silently treated as 1 month. No error is shown and nothing warns you. If you enter 12 expecting a year-long pause, the membership pauses for one month instead.
Example CSV
john@example.com,ACTIVE
jane@example.com,PAUSED,2
bob@example.com,CANCELLEDAvailable Statuses
| Status | What It Does |
|---|---|
| ACTIVE | Reactivates a paused or cancelled membership. See the billing caution below before using this in bulk. |
| PAUSED | Pauses the membership for 1 to 6 months. Pauses for 1 month if the third column is blank or omitted. |
| CANCELLED | Cancels the membership immediately. Customer loses access to member benefits. |
Reactivating can charge sooner than the next cycle
If the member's billing date has already passed and their plan does not use a fixed billing day, reactivating them schedules their next charge for roughly an hour later, not at the next cycle. Check billing dates before reactivating lapsed members in bulk.
Which Membership Gets Updated
If a customer holds more than one membership, only one is updated, and which one depends on the status in your file:
| Status in your file | Membership affected |
|---|---|
| ACTIVE | The customer's most recent VIP or Elite membership, whatever its current status |
| PAUSED | The customer's most recent VIP or Elite membership that is currently active |
| CANCELLED | The customer's most recent VIP or Elite membership that is currently active |
Paused members cannot be cancelled in bulk
A CANCELLED row for a member whose membership is currently paused is skipped. No error is shown, and that member is not counted in the confirmation total. To cancel a paused member, reactivate them first or cancel them individually from their customer page.
Limits
- Maximum 300 rows per upload. Rows past the first 300 are ignored, with no warning.
- Only VIP and Elite memberships are supported. Product subscriptions cannot be bulk updated.
- The update runs while you wait. Large files will time out before they finish.
- One membership per customer. See the table above for which one.
Large Files and Timeouts
The update works through your file one member at a time, so a large file can run long enough to time out before it reaches the end.
If a run times out:
- Members already processed keep their new status.
- The remaining rows are not applied, and they are not retried.
- Nothing resumes on its own, and no one is notified.
Upload small batches instead of one large file, and re-upload the rest as a second file. If a run does time out, check which members were already updated before you re-upload, so you do not process them twice.
Step-by-Step Guide
Step 1: Prepare Your CSV File
- Open a spreadsheet (Excel, Google Sheets)
- Add customer emails in column A
- Add the desired status in column B (ACTIVE, PAUSED, or CANCELLED)
- If pausing, add the number of months (1 to 6) in column C
- Split your list into small batches, one file per batch
- Save as CSV file
Step 2: Upload the File
- Go to Subscribfy -> Customers & Subscriptions
- Click Bulk update memberships
- Drag and drop your CSV file or click to browse
- Click Update
Step 3: Wait for the Confirmation
Stay on the page while the update runs. When it finishes, a confirmation shows how many members were updated. Compare that number with the number of rows in your file: a lower count means some rows were skipped.
Use Cases
Bulk Cancel Inactive Members
The goal: Cancel members who haven't engaged in 6 months
- Export your customer list from Shopify
- Filter to find inactive members
- Create CSV with their emails and CANCELLED status
- Split into small batches and upload them one at a time
Members whose membership is currently paused are skipped. Reactivate them first, or cancel them individually.
Seasonal Pause
The goal: Pause all members during holiday closure
- Export active member emails
- Create CSV with PAUSED status and the number of months (1 to 6, for example 1)
- Upload in small batches
- After the break, upload again with ACTIVE status
Reactivate Churned Members
The goal: Reactivate members after a win-back campaign
- Get list of members who responded to your campaign
- Create CSV with their emails and ACTIVE status
- Upload in small batches
Check billing dates before a win-back run
Members whose billing date has already passed can be charged roughly an hour after reactivation rather than at the next cycle, unless their plan uses a fixed billing day. Reactivating lapsed members in bulk is exactly the case where this surprises customers.
Troubleshooting
"The data format is incorrect" error?
Every row needs an email in the first column and a status in the second. A row missing either one stops the whole upload. The third column is only meaningful for PAUSED, and it can be left blank or omitted.
Some members weren't updated?
Verify the email addresses match exactly what's in Shopify, including capitalization: matching is case-sensitive. Check that the members have VIP or Elite subscriptions (not product subscriptions). Also check whether you sent CANCELLED for someone whose membership is already paused, since those rows are skipped.
The confirmation count is lower than my row count?
Skipped rows are not counted. The usual reasons: the email does not match a customer, the customer has no VIP or Elite membership, the status word is not one of the three accepted values, or a CANCELLED row targeted a membership that is currently paused.
The upload stopped part way through?
A large file can time out before it finishes. Whatever was processed stays applied, and the rest is not retried. Re-upload the remaining members in smaller batches.
Can I undo a bulk update?
Not fully. There is no automatic undo, and re-uploading the original statuses does not reverse a run completely: members you paused cannot then be cancelled back in bulk, because CANCELLED rows skip paused memberships. Reversal is partial and manual. Restore what you can with a second upload, then fix the remaining members individually from their customer pages.
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