Below are three ways to reset multiple passwords in Google Apps. I have ranked the three methods from the hardest to easiest. I am assuming you aren’t using directory sync to keep your Google Apps passwords up to date.
3. Using Google Apps Manager Scripts
Google Apps Manager (GAM) is a command line tool that allows administrators to manage many aspects of their Google Apps Account.
Using Google Apps Manager to reset multiple passwords will require you to have a bit of technical ability. You will need to know how to run and manage scripts. The full instructions can be found at the Google Apps Manage Site.
2. Editing and uploading a .csv file
To reset multiple passwords in Google Apps via a CSV file, log into the Google Apps Admin panel, then click on users. You will then see the following menu.
Click on the icon with an arrow. This will then download all your users into a csv file.
Unfortunately you can’t just download the users in an organisational unit (OU), so if you needed to just reset the passwords on a few accounts, this won’t be ideal as you will need to find and delete the students whose passwords don’t need to be reset.
You just need to download the the email, first name, and last name fields. To do this, just click the icon next to the download button.
Once you have downloaded the csv file of your users, you need to format the csv file into the following format
Note: You just add the password column to your downloaded csv file
Once you have the new csv file, click on the top level organisation in your Google Apps admin panel and then click on the add more users icon (the one with a person and a + symbol)
From here, you can select the ‘add several users at once’ option. Reload your new csv file with the new passwords added. You have the option to require your users to re-enter a new password when they log in for the first time.
To use this method, you don’t need to know how to use code, however it is time intensive making changes to your csv file.
1. Using Teacher Dashboard by Hapara to reset multiple passwords in Google Apps with just two clicks.
Teacher Dashboard by Hapara is by far one of my favourite Google Apps tools (in fact it is the only 3rd party company I recommend). Teacher Dashboard has a range of functionality that helps teachers manage Google Drive and Google Docs as well as interact with students Chrome Browsers. You can find out more about Teacher Dashboard and organise a trial HERE
In addition to these features, teachers can easily reset the passwords for their students (you can disable this feature if it doesn’t fit with your Google Apps setup).
To reset the passwords, the teacher simply clicks on the class info tab, and then clicks the reset password link. It really is that easy.
Do you have another method for resetting multiple passwords in Google Apps?
