
You’ll need to edit all instances and try your CSV import again.Īddressing these common issues will cure the majority of CSV import failures, so give them a go and edit out the relevant Microsoft Excel errors from your file. For example, let's say you have phone numbers in a column in your CSV file using the format 5555555555 but your CSV importer requires the format to be (555)555-5555. Non-digestible formats - This simply means the data might not be in the right format. Check the error messages and support docs to figure out what data is required. For example, if you’re uploading a list of products into an inventory management system but don’t have a column for SKUs, it might be a bust. Missing data - Certain data sets might be required in order for the import to work. Check any support documentation about expected values and edit your CSV file accordingly. If you have a date entered where there should be a dollar amount, the CSV upload could fail. To fix this, pay attention to any error messages stating the presences of non-standard characters and edit them out of your file.ĭata value issues - A CSV import tool will typically expect a certain type of data value. If there are non-standard characters or if the data is encoded, data translation (and the entire import) could fail.
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Other matching issues can occur if the expected columns are in the wrong order or if certain required fields are missing.ĭata translation errors - Data translation is essentially pulling the data from the CSV into what the software program can use. To succeed, you might need to rename your header rows to what is expected and try again. Matching issues - A good data importer should make it easy for users to match the headers in their CSV file with what the software expects but plenty of data importers aren’t built to handle this well. To reduce the file size, you can delete unnecessary data values, columns, and rows. The file size is too large - The CSV import tool of the program you’re using might have a file size requirement. The most common CSV import errors include: Most likely, they already have a help desk article that tells you the requirements and steps for uploads, such as the file size or value type (numbers, monetary value, months, etc.) Common issues with importing a CSV (and the work-arounds to fix them) If you can’t find the CSV format guide, ask their customer support team. The appropriate CSV format guide will depend on the software you’re uploading a file to, so check their documentation. A spreadsheet program puts these values in cells in columns and rows, but when we look at what’s happening behind the scenes, what we see in cells is actually separated by commas. What that means is that the file uses commas to separate different values.

Structure of a CSV fileĪ CSV file is a comma separated value file. To learn why your CSV file document isn’t properly uploading into the software you’re using, we first need to begin with an understanding of the structure of a CSV file.īreaking up the CSV file into its basic data structure parts will make it easier to identify the problem. How can you use email marketing software without customer contacts? You can’t.īut importing a CSV file doesn’t always go smoothly.

Importing data is critical to using a software program effectively. In this post, we cover the CSV import process, file data structure, and common issues to help you troubleshoot your import.

The good news is that most CSV data import errors fall into a few categories: mismatched headers or unexpected values for example. Wondering why your CSV file isn’t uploading properly? Unfortunately, it could be any number of issues.
