Why did my Pipedrive import go wrong?

1. Your import CSV

The file from a spreadsheet, another CRM or an old export, saved as CSV, that you plan to upload under Import data in Pipedrive.

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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 Pipedrive's public import help. Pipedrive can change them, and your account can differ.

• Required: a person needs a name (or first and last name), an organization needs a name, a deal needs a title.
• Headings: Pipedrive 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.
• Deal status: Open, Won or Lost. Stage goes in its own column and has to match a stage in your pipeline.
• Value and currency: a plain number such as 1200.50, and a 3-letter code such as USD in a Currency column.
• Probability: a number from 0 to 100; 0.6 is read as 0.6 percent, not 60.
• Emails: one valid address per cell; extra addresses belong in extra labelled columns. The same email twice is two people unless merged.
• 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, 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 you created in Pipedrive, and the options of dropdown custom fields
• Whether a Pipeline or Stage name exists in your account (an unmatched stage is created or rejected depending on the import step)
• Whether an Owner matches a user in your account
• Whether a person, organization or deal already exists, and how the import would merge or duplicate it
• Whether a currency is enabled in your account
• The date format and number format you choose in the import's mapping step
• Whether an email address can actually receive mail
• Anything Pipedrive has changed in its importer since these rules were read

Common questions

Why did my Pipedrive import skip rows or create duplicates?

The usual causes are a person with no name or a deal with no title, the same email on more than one row, a deal Status that is not Open, Won or Lost, a Value with a currency symbol or thousands separator, dates in an order the import misreads, a Probability written as a fraction, and an Excel save that damaged phone numbers. This tool tests each of them and names the line.

How do I check a Pipedrive import CSV before uploading it?

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

What statuses can a Pipedrive deal have in an import?

From memory, a deal's status is Open, Won or Lost. Words from another CRM, such as Closed Won or In progress, are not statuses; the stage goes in the Stage column and its name has to match a stage in your pipeline.

How should I write a deal value and currency for a Pipedrive 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 default currency.

What date format does a Pipedrive 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, 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 customer 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.

What does this not check?

Your custom fields, whether a pipeline or stage exists in your account, whether an owner matches a user, whether a record already exists, whether a currency is enabled, the date and number formats you choose in the import, and anything Pipedrive changed after these rules were read. A clean result is not a promise of success: import a handful of rows first.