File requirements
- Comma-separated
.csv, UTF-8 encoded - One header row
- Up to 10,000 rows per file — split larger lists
- One email address per row
A valid file
```
email,first_name,last_name,company,title,city
ana@acme.com,Ana,Silva,Acme Packaging,Head of Ops,Lisbon
tom@northline.io,Tom,Reed,Northline,Operations Manager,Denver
```
Files that will cause problems
Two addresses in one cell:
```
email,first_name
ana@acme.com; ops@acme.com,Ana
```
Missing header row — the first lead is consumed as column names:
```
ana@acme.com,Ana,Silva
tom@northline.io,Tom,Reed
```
Semicolon-separated export saved as .csv:
```
email;first_name;company
ana@acme.com;Ana;Acme
```
Required and recommended fields
Required: email.
Strongly recommended: first name, company. These are the variables most sequences depend on, and a missing value is where personalization visibly breaks.
Useful: last name, job title, location, website, plus any custom field you want to merge into copy.
Common errors and fixes
- "Invalid email" — typos, trailing spaces, or a name in the email column. Clean the source file.
- Everything mapped to one column — the file is not comma separated. Re-export as CSV, or open in a spreadsheet and save as comma separated.
- Accented characters look wrong — re-save as UTF-8.
- Duplicate rows — only the first occurrence is kept, which is usually what you want.
- Import silently smaller than expected — check the review counts: invalid, in-file duplicates and already-in-workspace are all reported separately.
Troubleshooting steps
- Open the file in a plain-text editor and confirm the header and the delimiter.
- Import 10 rows first to validate the mapping.
- Then import the full file into the same list.
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Frequently asked questions
- Can I import custom fields?
- Yes. In the mapping step choose Custom field for that column, and the value becomes available as a variable in your copy.
- What happens to leads already in my workspace?
- They are reported as already present and not duplicated. Existing data is preserved.
- Can I import an Excel file?
- Save it as CSV first. Excel workbooks are not read directly.
