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Class management

Class management overview

This article covers ongoing class and roster management in Grouper: creating, renaming, reordering, duplicating, combining, and archiving classes; adding and removing students; syncing roster changes; and managing how students are displayed.

For initial account setup and class creation, see the Getting started support article.

For a quick guide to class views (List, Grouping, and Seating), where to find the view selector on desktop and mobile, and what each view is for, see the Class views support article.

The left navigation panel

The left navigation panel is the primary place to create and manage your classes. Click the two-arrow button at the top of the panel to expand or collapse it.

When expanded, the panel shows your full class list under Classes:

  • Click a class name to open the class.

  • Click the + button next to the Classes heading to add a new class.

  • Hover over (or keyboard-focus) a class name and click the three-dot menu for class actions: Rename, Change icon, Duplicate, Combine with…, and Archive.

  • Click the icon next to a class name to change the class icon.

  • Drag and drop classes to reorder them.

If your classes sync from Google Classroom or Clever, a separate three-dot menu next to the Classes heading (not the per-class menu) lets you resync your roster or reconnect to Google — see Sync class below.

Notes:

  • Reordering, the per-class three-dot menu, and icon changes are available in the expanded panel only. The collapsed panel shows class icons for quick navigation.

  • On mobile, open the navigation panel with the three-line menu button in the top-left corner, and close it with the x in the top-right corner of the panel.

You can also see a full-page list of your classes on the Classes dashboard, which supports the same actions plus bulk selection.

Create a class

  1. Expand the left navigation panel.

  2. Click the + button next to the Classes heading.

  3. Add students manually or by copy/paste.

For roster syncing with Google Classroom or Clever and other first-time setup options, see the Getting started support article.

Rename a class or change its icon

From the left navigation panel:

  1. Hover over the class name and click the three-dot menu.

  2. Select Rename to edit the name in place, or Change icon to open the icon picker.

You can also click the class icon in the left navigation panel to open the icon picker directly.

From the class page top toolbar:

  • Click the class name at the top of the page and type to rename it.

  • Click the class icon next to the name to change the icon.

Reorder classes

Drag and drop classes in the expanded left navigation panel to put them in your preferred order. Your order is remembered across devices.

Duplicate a class

  1. Hover over the class name in the expanded left navigation panel.

  2. Click the three-dot menu and select Duplicate.

Combine classes (merge classes into one class)

You can combine two or more classes into a new merged class:

  1. Hover over one of the classes in the expanded left navigation panel.

  2. Click the three-dot menu and select Combine with….

  3. Check the other class or classes you want to combine with it.

  4. Click Combine.

Important notes:

  • Combine creates a new class with a merged roster.

  • Original source classes remain in place (they are not deleted).

  • Attributes and attribute values are carried over into the new class.

  • Combined class attributes and original source class attributes do not sync.

  • Saved groupings and seatings are not carried over into the new combined class.

Archiving and deleting classes

Archiving a class

Archiving removes a class from your active list without permanently deleting it.

  1. Hover over the class name in the expanded left navigation panel.

  2. Click the three-dot menu and select Archive.

Viewing archived classes

Archived classes appear in the Archived section of the expanded left navigation panel. Click Archived to expand the section and show archived classes.

Unarchiving a class

  1. Expand the Archived section.

  2. Hover over the class name, click the three-dot menu, and select Unarchive.

Permanently deleting an archived class

You can permanently delete a manually created class after archiving it.

  1. Expand the Archived section of the left navigation panel.

  2. Hover over the class name, click the three-dot menu, and select Delete.

Important:

  • Deletion is permanent and cannot be undone.

  • A class must be archived before it can be deleted.

  • Only manually created classes can be deleted. Auto-rostered classes cannot be permanently deleted from Grouper (except by deleting your Grouper account).

The Classes dashboard

The Classes dashboard is a full-page list of your classes. To open it, click the Grouper logo in the top-left corner, or navigate directly to https://grouper.school/classes.

The dashboard supports the same class actions as the left navigation panel, plus bulk actions:

  1. Hover over the class icon for each class you want to select, then click the checkbox that appears.

  2. Use the action buttons that appear above the selected rows: Duplicate (1 class selected), Combine (2+ classes), and Archive.

The Archived classes tab has its own bulk actions: Unarchive and Delete (manually created classes only).

If your classes sync from Google Classroom or Clever, the Sync classes button at the top of the dashboard refreshes your rosters.

Add students

For manual classes:

  1. Switch to the List view using the view selector at the top of the page.

  2. Scroll to the bottom row and enter the student's name.

For auto-rostered classes (Google Classroom or Clever):

Preferred:

  1. Add students in the source system first (Google Classroom or Clever).

  2. Click the Sync classes button at the top of the Classes dashboard, or click the three-dot menu at the top of any class page and select Sync class.

Fallback: If you can't add the student in the source system, you can also add them directly in Grouper:

  1. Switch to the List view using the view selector at the top of the page.

  2. Scroll to the bottom row and enter the student's name.

Remove students

  1. Click on a student's name in the List view, or click on a student's avatar and select "Edit student" in the Grouping or Seating view, to open the student details card.

  2. Click Remove from class (in manual classes) or Archive student (in Clever or Google rostered classes).

Sync class

If roster changes from Google Classroom or Clever are not showing in Grouper:

  1. Confirm the change exists in the source system (Google Classroom or Clever).

  2. Sync the class in Grouper: click the Sync classes button at the top of the Classes dashboard, or click the three-dot menu at the top of any class page and select Sync class.

  3. Refresh and re-open the class.

  4. If still missing, verify you signed in with the correct Google/Clever account.

Re-granting Google Classroom permissions

If you signed up with Google but don't see your Google Classroom classes, it's possible that you didn't grant Grouper the permissions needed to sync your classes and roster, or Google sync has stopped working because those permissions were later revoked. To re-grant Google Classroom permissions:

  1. Open the left navigation panel and click the three-dot menu next to the Classes heading.

  2. Select Connect Google Classroom.

  3. Grant the requested permissions in the Google pop-up, including both checkboxes on the second screen.

You can also find a Connect Google Classroom button on the Classes dashboard.

This option only appears for users signed up with Google. Once permissions are granted, the menu item and dashboard button switch back to the normal Resync from Google Classroom / Sync classes option.

The student details card

The student's display name, avatar, attendance status, and attributes can be edited from the student details card. The student can also be removed or archived from the student details card.

  • From the List view, click on the name of the student to open the card.

  • From the Grouping view, click on the student avatar, then select Edit student.

  • From the Seating view, hover over or click the student avatar, then open the three-dot menu in the small toolbar that appears over the student and select Edit student.

Change student display name

  1. Open the student details card.

  2. Edit the student's name.

Change student avatar

  • Use the student details card to randomly select a new avatar.

  • Use the Avatar tool in Live mode to let your students customize their avatar (PRO users only).

Change how all students names and avatars are displayed

  • Use the Account page to change how all students' names and avatars are displayed.

  • Student names can be shown as full names, initials only, or anonymized.

  • Student avatars can be shown as full avatars (the cute characters) or initials only.

Quick troubleshooting FAQ

"I added/removed students but Grouper did not update"

If the class is auto-rostered (Google Classroom or Clever):

  • Update the roster in the source system first.

  • Then resync in Grouper.

If the class is manual:

  • Update students directly in Grouper (List view).

"How do I combine two sections into one class?"

Use Combine with… from the left navigation panel.

  1. Expand the left navigation panel and hover over one of the classes.

  2. Click the three-dot menu and select Combine with….

  3. Check the other section and click Combine.

Grouper will create a new merged class and keep the original classes intact.

"Can I permanently delete a class?"

Yes, but only for manually created classes, and only after archiving the class first. Auto-rostered classes (Google Classroom or Clever) cannot be permanently deleted from Grouper, except by deleting your account.

To delete a manually created class:

  1. Archive the class first: hover over the class name in the left navigation panel, click the three-dot menu, and select Archive.

  2. Expand the Archived section at the bottom of the panel.

  3. Hover over the class name, click the three-dot menu, and select Delete.

"My imported class contains students from two different sections or classes. How do I separate them?"

The cleanest solution is to create two separate Grouper classes — one per section — rather than trying to manage sections within a single class.

  1. Click the + button next to the Classes heading in the left navigation panel and name the new class for the first section (e.g., "Period 1 – Biology").

  2. Add only that class's or section's students by copy/pasting your students or importing from an existing roster file, or by adding the student names manually (see the Getting started article for details).

  3. Repeat for the second section.

  4. Stop using (or archive) the original combined class.

Note that the new manually created classes will no longer be synced.

Why not use student attributes or constraints instead? You can, but it requires ongoing manual maintenance every time your roster changes. Separate classes are simpler and more reliable.

"I want to unenroll/remove a student to reduce the class size below 40, but the Upgrade to PRO message prevents me from editing the class"

This can happen when a Free-plan class has more than 40 students.

  • Removing/archiving students is not itself a PRO-only action.

  • The over-40 class limit can block normal student-list editing until the class is back under the limit.

Best workaround:

  1. If the class is Google Classroom or Clever rostered, remove/archive the student in the source system first.

  2. Then click Sync classes in Grouper and reopen the class.

If you're on a manual class and can't access student removal controls, contact [email protected] for help.

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