Some students may have trouble finding the "Link Account" button when trying to link Cialfo with their Common App account, or may have linked the correct account but are experiencing sync failures. This guide covers all scenarios.
1) Student Graduation Year should match the current application cycle
Check this in the Personal Information section of the student's Profile page. The counselor may update this on behalf of the student by clicking the Update now button. For the 2025–2026 application cycle, the graduation year should be 2026. For 2026–2027, it should be 2027. Students with an incorrect graduation year will not see the Link Account button.
2) Student Application Year should match the current cycle
Check this in the Application Details section of the student's Profile page. The application year must reflect the current cycle (e.g., 2025 for 2025–2026). An incorrect application year prevents CA linking and sync from working.
3) Student needs 'Enable Sending' clicked for their account
If a student previously linked a Common App account before August of the current cycle, the counselor will need to click "Enable Sending" on their cDocs page to roll them over to the current application cycle. Note that once "Enable Sending" is clicked:
Previously created Common App forms will remain.
Previously sent document statuses will be reset.
New Common App forms can be prepared for the student.
The student will need to re-link their Cialfo and Common App account.
Document sending will be enabled.
Previously uploaded documents will remain.
Note: All the above actions are to ensure that the student is treated as one from the current application cycle.If you need to keep track of previously created documents, download them and record statuses internally using the "Bundle" button on the cDocs Documents page
Sending Status: Enabled/Restricted
Counselors can check whether students have Sending status enabled or restricted by going to cDocs > All Documents page and toggling on the "Sending" column. This gives a quick at-a-glance view for all students.
How to unpair or unlink a student's Common App account
There are two scenarios where you may need to unpair a student's Common App account from Cialfo:
(a) The student linked the wrong CAID
(b) The student needs to re-link for the new application cycle.
Unpairing a wrong CAID (student linked the wrong Common App account and documents have NOT been sent):
Contact Cialfo support via Chat with Cialfo. Provide: School Name, Student Full Name, the incorrect CAID currently linked, the correct CAID, and confirmation that no documents have been sent.
The support team will process the CAID unlink from the backend.
Once unlinked, the student can re-link using the correct Common App account.
Unpairing for a new cycle (re-linking):
Go to the student's cDocs page in Cialfo.
Click the "Enable Sending" button (orange banner at the top of the page). This resets the student's linking status so they can re-link with the same or a different Common App account.
Ask the student to follow the CA linking guide to link their account again.
Important: If documents have already been sent under the wrong CAID, unlinking is significantly more complex. Contact support immediately with the deadline and urgency — the team will advise on next steps.
If all of the above has been checked and updated, students should be able to find the "Link Account" button on their Recommendation page. For more information on the process of linking Common App accounts, please refer to this article.