How to Import Questions Into Kahoot From a Spreadsheet

To import questions into Kahoot from a spreadsheet, download Kahoot's own quiz template, fill in the question, two to four answers, a time limit in seconds, and the number of the correct answer, then save it as .xlsx. In the Kahoot creator, click Add question in the left panel, choose Import, drop in the file, click Import and then Continue. The two rules that break most imports are the character caps: 95 characters for a question and 60 for each answer, including spaces.

Typing twenty questions into the Kahoot creator one at a time is the slowest way to build a game. The spreadsheet import turns that into a paste, and if you already have questions written somewhere else it is the only sensible route. It is also slightly fussier than the help page suggests, so here is exactly what the template expects.

What each column expects

Save the finished file as .xlsx. The template opens and edits fine in Excel, Google Sheets, Numbers, and LibreOffice, but the upload wants the Excel format, so export from Sheets rather than sharing a link.

The character caps, and the discrepancy worth knowing

This is the part that catches everyone. Kahoot's help center notes that the question limit on the creation page is 120 characters while the spreadsheet template is set at 95. Write to 95 and you are safe either way. Answers are capped at 60 characters, which is tighter than it sounds once you start writing full-sentence options.

Ninety-five characters is roughly fifteen words. That is deliberate rather than stingy: Kahoot questions get read off a projector by a room of people in a few seconds, so a long stem does not work in the format regardless of what the software allows. When a question runs over, do not shorten the words. Cut the clause that made it long. "According to the passage on page 47, which of the following best describes the author's main argument about industrialization?" becomes "What is the author's main argument about industrialization?" and it is a better question for it.

Doing the import

1. Open the Kahoot creator by clicking Create.
2. In the left panel, click Add question, then select Import.
3. At the bottom of the dialog, choose Import spreadsheet.
4. Select your .xlsx file or drag it into the dialog, then click Import.
5. Click Continue. The questions appear in the creator, where you can edit any of them, add images, and reorder.

One limitation to plan around: the spreadsheet import handles standard quiz questions only. Kahoot's other formats, including polls, puzzles, word clouds, slides, and open-ended questions, have to be added inside the creator after the import. Build your multiple choice items in the spreadsheet and sprinkle the extras in afterwards.

Why imports fail

Where the questions come from in the first place

The import solves the typing. It does not solve the writing, which is the part that actually takes the evening. Twenty multiple choice items from a chapter, each with three wrong answers plausible enough to be worth choosing, is a real piece of work.

The faster route is to generate a draft from the source document and edit it. Upload the chapter, handout, or deck, ask for four-option multiple choice, and you get a numbered question list with an answer key. Then trim each stem to 95 characters, paste the columns into the template, and import. Our PDF to Kahoot guide walks through that formatting step, and the underlying multiple choice question generator is what produces the four options per question that match Kahoot's four colored buttons.

If you build the same game every term, generate more items than one session needs and keep them. A question bank lets you pull a fresh fifteen for each class so the game is not identical for the section that already heard the answers at lunch.

Beyond the classroom

Trainers use the same import for live knowledge checks at the end of a session, and the character caps matter more there, not less, because a room of adults reading a long question on a screen is a room that has stopped paying attention. Product and service teams running live customer onboarding sessions often close with a five-question game built from the same documentation the session covered, which is a quick way to find out what the walkthrough failed to land.

Frequently asked questions

How do I import questions into Kahoot from Excel?

Download Kahoot's quiz template, fill in the question, answers, time limit, and correct answer number, and save it as .xlsx. In the creator, click Add question, choose Import, select the file, click Import and then Continue. Excel, Google Sheets, Numbers, and LibreOffice can all edit the template as long as you export the final file as .xlsx.

What is the character limit for a Kahoot question?

Ninety-five characters including spaces for a question and 60 for each answer when importing from a spreadsheet. Kahoot's help center notes the creation page allows 120 characters for a question, so the safe number to write to is 95 if you plan to import rather than type items in one at a time.

Can I import true or false questions into Kahoot?

Kahoot's dedicated true or false format cannot be imported, but you get the same result by writing a quiz question with exactly two answer options, True and False, and marking the correct one. It behaves identically for players and imports without complaint.

Can I import questions with images into Kahoot?

No. The spreadsheet carries text only. Import the questions first, then add images to individual questions inside the creator. That order is faster than it sounds, because the tedious part was always the text.

How many questions can I import at once?

There is no small cap, and people routinely import fifty or more rows at a time. The practical limit is the game itself rather than the file: past about twenty questions a live Kahoot loses the room. Import a large bank if you like, then delete down to the questions you actually plan to play.