Why did my ActiveCampaign import go wrong?

1. Your import CSV

The file from a spreadsheet, a mailing platform or another CRM, saved as CSV, that you plan to upload under Contacts, Accounts or Deals in ActiveCampaign.

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Choose a file or paste the text, then click Check file.

Result

Records

The rules, and what is not checked

Stated as read from memory of ActiveCampaign's public import help. ActiveCampaign can change them, and your account can differ.

• Required: a contact needs an Email, an account an Account Name, a deal a Title.
• Headings: ActiveCampaign lets you map columns by hand, but a heading that matches a field name is matched for you. Other spellings are noted, and a column that matches no standard field is a note, since it may be a custom field.
• Emails: one valid address per cell. The same email twice is a duplicate unless the import's update setting catches it.
• Tags: several tags in one cell are comma-separated and the cell is quoted; semicolons or pipes become one tag.
• Deals: Value is a plain number such as 1200.50, Currency a 3-letter code, Status Open, Won or Lost. Stage names belong to your pipeline, so they are listed for you to compare and never judged.
• Dates: one layout per file, ideally YYYY-MM-DD; month names, two-digit years, dots and Excel serial numbers are flagged, and a column that mixes day-first and month-first is an error.
• Excel damage: scientific notation is unrecoverable and flagged; a phone number is never rewritten beyond a trailing .0 or apostrophe.
• Safe fixes change formatting only: the separator, heading spelling to the field name, stray spaces, a mailto: prefix, email case, a trailing .0 or apostrophe on phone cells, a deal Status written as Open, Won or Lost, currency codes in capitals, and blank rows. Every change is listed with its line. Names, values, dates, IDs and phone digits are never edited, and duplicates are reported, not deleted.

Not checked

• Custom fields your account created in ActiveCampaign, and how you map them in the import
• Whether a Pipeline exists, or a Stage belongs to the Pipeline it sits on
• Whether an Owner matches a user in your account
• Whether a contact already exists, and what the update-existing choice in the import will do
• Whether a contact is already unsubscribed, bounced or on a suppression list, and whether it may lawfully be mailed
• The list, tags and automations you choose to apply in the import's own steps
• Whether a currency is enabled in your account
• The date format and decimal separator you choose in the import's mapping step
• Whether an email address can actually receive mail
• Your plan's limits on contacts and file size per import
• Anything ActiveCampaign has changed in its importer since these rules were read

Common questions

Why did my ActiveCampaign import skip contacts or create duplicates?

The usual causes are a row with no email or an invalid one, the same email on more than one row, tags separated by semicolons so the whole text becomes one tag, a deal Value with a currency symbol or thousands separator, dates in an order the import misreads, and an Excel save that damaged phone numbers. This tool tests each of them and names the line.

How do I check an ActiveCampaign import CSV before uploading it?

Paste the file or drop it onto this page. It reads the headings against ActiveCampaign contact, account or deal field names, then lists every problem with its line number as errors, warnings and notes. Nothing is uploaded.

How should I write tags in an ActiveCampaign contacts CSV?

From memory, several tags in one cell are separated by commas, so the cell must be quoted, for example "newsletter,wholesale". Semicolons or pipes would make one long tag. The tool flags them and leaves the cell for you to change.

How should I write a deal Value and currency for an ActiveCampaign import?

Write the Value as a plain number such as 1200.50, with no currency symbol, thousands separator or k or M suffix, and put a 3-letter ISO code such as USD, EUR or GBP in a Currency column. Without a Currency column every deal takes your account's currency.

What date format does an ActiveCampaign import want?

From memory, the import asks you to choose the date format used in the file, so the file must use one layout throughout. YYYY-MM-DD has a single reading and is the safest. Month names, two-digit years, dots and Excel serial numbers are flagged, and a column that mixes day-first and month-first dates cannot be read correctly under either choice.

Why did my phone numbers turn into 4.41175E+11?

Excel stored a long number in a cell formatted as General or Number and shortened it. Scientific notation loses digits for good, so the tool flags it as an error and leaves the cell alone.

What does Apply safe fixes change?

Only formatting with one reasonable reading: the separator, heading spelling to the field name, stray spaces, a mailto: prefix, upper or lower case in an email, a trailing .0 or apostrophe on a phone number, a deal Status written as Open, Won or Lost, currency codes in capitals, and blank rows. Every change is listed with its line. It never changes names, values, dates, IDs or the digits of a phone number.

Is it safe to put my contact list into a web page?

The page runs in your browser, the file is read locally and nothing is uploaded; a test in the code asserts there are no network calls. Your own policies still decide what you may open in a browser.

Does this check whether I may email these contacts?

No. It checks file formatting only. Whether a contact has consented, unsubscribed or bounced, and what the law requires for your audience, is for you and your own advisers to decide.

What does this not check?

Your custom fields, whether a pipeline or stage exists, whether an owner matches a user, whether a contact already exists and which update setting you pick, suppression and consent status, whether a currency is enabled, your plan's contact and file limits, the date and number formats you choose in the import, and anything ActiveCampaign changed after these rules were read. A clean result is not a promise of success: import a handful of rows first.