Contact Import Issues

Difficulty: All Levels | Time: 5 min | Tier: All Plans

If your contact import is failing or producing unexpected results, the issue is usually with the CSV file format, character encoding, or field mapping. Here is how to diagnose and fix it.

Common Causes

1. Incorrect CSV format -- The file is not a valid CSV, has inconsistent column counts, or uses the wrong delimiter.
2. Character encoding issues -- Non-UTF-8 encoding causes garbled names, accented characters, or import failures.
3. Field mapping errors -- CSV column headers do not match DreamFlow's expected fields, or required fields are missing.
4. Duplicate contacts -- The import contains email addresses that already exist in your workspace.
5. File too large -- The CSV exceeds the maximum import size for your plan.

How to Fix

1. Check your CSV format

1. Open your CSV in a text editor (not Excel) to verify it uses commas as delimiters.
2. Ensure every row has the same number of columns as the header row.
3. Remove any blank rows at the end of the file.
4. Make sure text containing commas is wrapped in double quotes: "Smith, John".

2. Fix character encoding

1. Open the file in your text editor and save it as UTF-8 encoding.
2. In Excel: File > Save As > choose "CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited)".
3. In Google Sheets: File > Download > CSV (UTF-8 by default).

3. Verify field mapping

1. During import, DreamFlow shows a field mapping screen. Check that each CSV column maps to the correct DreamFlow field.
2. Required fields: Email is always required. Full Name is strongly recommended.
3. Use DreamFlow's auto-detect feature -- it matches common header names automatically (e.g., "First Name", "E-mail", "Phone Number").

4. Handle duplicates

1. On the import screen, choose your duplicate handling strategy:
   • Skip duplicates -- existing contacts are left unchanged.
   • Update existing -- existing contacts are updated with new data from the CSV.
2. Duplicates are detected by email address (case-insensitive).

5. Reduce file size

• Split large files into batches of 5,000 contacts or fewer.
• Remove unnecessary columns before importing.

Still Having Issues?

• Check our Managing Contacts guide for import best practices.
• Ask Sally in the chat bubble -- describe the error message and she can help diagnose the issue.
• Contact support with your CSV file attached (remove sensitive data first) and we will investigate.

Need more help? Ask Sally in the chat bubble!