When a CSV import skips rows, the Review step lists the skipped rows and the reason for each. A CSV file is a spreadsheet saved as plain text with commas between columns. The most common cause is rows with an email address but no name. Every contact needs a name.
Check that every row has a name
What you see: On the Review step, a card says “invalid rows skipped”. Rows in it end with “a name is required”.
Why it happens: Each contact (a person you add yourself) needs a name. An email address alone is not enough. The Match columns step lets you continue with only an email column mapped, but each of those rows then fails.
How to fix:
In your file, add a first name, last name or full name to each row that has none.
Save the file as CSV and upload it again.
If your file has names, go back to the Match columns step. Set the name column to First name, Last name or Full name under Imports as.
Check each email address and web address in the row
What you see: In the “invalid rows skipped” card, a row ends with a message such as “invalid email address: sam@example” or “website URL is not a valid URL: n/a”. The value after the colon comes from your file.
Why it happens: One bad value makes the whole row invalid, even when the row has other email addresses that work. An email address or web address needs a domain with a dot, such as “example.com”.
How to fix:
Find the row in your file and correct the value, or delete it.
Save the file as CSV and upload it again.
Note: If your file had blank lines, row numbers after them can be lower than in your spreadsheet. Search the file for the value instead.
Check whether the rows are duplicates
What you see: On the Review step, a card says “duplicate rows skipped”. Each row ends with “already on the roster” or “repeated in the file”.
Why it happens: We skip a row when one of its email addresses already belongs to a contact you or your team can see. We also skip a row when all its email addresses appear on an earlier row of the file. Importing never updates existing contacts. If you import the same file twice, the second import skips every row that has an email address.
How to fix:
To change a contact who already exists, edit the contact. Add, edit or delete a contact explains how.
Check for rows with no name, email or phone
What you see: The Review step says, for example, “From 50 rows in contacts.csv.” The contacts to be created plus the rows in the “duplicate rows skipped” and “invalid rows skipped” cards add up to fewer than 50. If no other rows were skipped, the Done step still says “Every row made it in.”
Why it happens: We skip a row with no name, email address or phone number in the columns you mapped. These rows are not listed in any card.
How to fix:
On the Match columns step, check that the name, email and phone columns are mapped. If those cells are empty in your file, fill them in and upload it again.
Check the message on the Upload step
What you see: On the Upload step, a red message shows. This table lists each message and its fix.
Message | How to fix |
“That file is not a CSV. Export your contacts as CSV and try again.” | Save the file as CSV. Excel files (.xlsx) are not accepted. |
“That file does not look like a CSV. Export your contacts as CSV and try again.” | Export the file as CSV from the app it came from. |
“Could not read that file as CSV.” | Export the file as CSV again. |
“That file looks empty. Add at least one contact row and try again.” | Add contact rows. |
“That file only has a header row. Add at least one contact row and try again.” | Add contact rows under the column names. |
“Imports are capped at 1000 rows per file. This file has 1250. Remove some rows or split the file and import it in parts.” | Split the file into files of 1,000 rows or fewer. |
Check your plan's contact limit
What you see: On the Review step, a red message says, for example:
“You can't import this many contacts. Your plan holds 1000 and 900 are already in use, which leaves room for 100. Remove at least 150 contacts from the file and upload it again.”
The numbers show your own counts. The import button cannot be clicked.
Why it happens: Your plan allows a set number of contacts, and a team shares one total. We check the whole file against the limit. We do not import only the rows that fit.
How to fix:
Remove the number of rows the message gives, or delete contacts you no longer need.
Upload the file again.
Your limit is in the Contacts row at Preferences > Limits. Email Outreach plans and limits lists the limits for each plan.
Check for an error at the end of the import
What you see: “Could not build the import report.” after you click Review import. Or “Import failed. Nothing was created.” after you click the import button, for example Import 48 contacts.
Why it happens: You can click Review import or the import button 6 times a minute in total. A server problem shows the same messages.
How to fix:
Wait one minute, then click the same button again. A failed import creates no contacts.
Still not working?
Contact support. Send us the first few rows of the CSV file, the exact message and the step it appears on, a screenshot of the Review step, and the time you tried.