File Import Checklist

A clean file makes for a clean import. Run through this checklist before you upload — it saves time spent re-importing later if the file gets rejected or rows fail.

Make sure you have consent for all Profiles in the file you import to Audience. After import, confirm the import is completed before executing any marketing activities against the imported Profiles.

For your very first file import, make sure you have a Subscription to place the Profiles into. Read more about how to create a Subscription.

Use only simple text data. Remove any images, charts or decorative formatting (fonts, colours, etc.).

Review the format of the cells and make sure there are no combined or split cells. It must look like a clean table when viewed as columns.

Pay attention to cells containing dates — set their type to Text in your spreadsheet before saving.

Make sure your file contains only one sheet, or that the data you need is in the first sheet of the file.

The File Import Wizard does not support formulas. Remove any existing formulas, or replace them with the resulting values.

Make sure phone numbers contain the country code and number in the same column, with no spaces and no leading zeros. The country code is mandatory. Follow the MSISDN format, for example: 46793699558

For Date-type Attributes, we accept the date formats listed in the Dates table below (including Unix timestamps). Time zones are disregarded.

For example, the Default Attribute Date of Birth with a value like Tue, 07 Mar 1993 04:22:23 +0300 will be converted to 1993-03-07.

For Timestamp-type Attributes, we support importing and storing Unix timestamps. Any other format will be converted to a Unix timestamp. See Timestamps below for details.

Make sure there are no duplicate Profiles in your file (duplicates in the column you'll use as the Unique Identifier). Duplicates cause errors at import. Before importing, find and remove duplicates from the Unique Identifier column.

Guide: Find and remove duplicates in Excel

We support CSV and XLSX files up to 50 MB.

For CSV files, convert to UTF-8 before import to ensure characters are correctly recognised.

For CSV files we support these delimiters: , \t | ;

Both Chinese and Cyrillic characters are supported.

When saving your Microsoft Excel file, or exporting data from another system, make sure the file is encoded as one of the following supported formats:

The Email Attribute must be formatted as a correct email address, containing a valid domain (for example gmail) and a valid domain extension (.com):

email_address@domain.com

Only public email addresses can be reached via email sendings.

The Mobile Attribute must have values in the MSISDN format, for example: 46793699558

[SCREENSHOT: Example phone number column in MSISDN format]

For Date-type Attributes, we accept the formats listed below. Time zones are disregarded.

For example, the Default Attribute Date of Birth with a value like Tue, 07 Mar 1993 04:22:23 +0300 will be converted to 1993-03-07.

We support importing and storing Unix timestamps for Timestamp-type Attributes. Any other format will be converted.

For example, a Custom Attribute "Member since" with a value like Tue, 07 Mar 2017 04:22:23 +0300 will be converted to 1488844800 (07 Mar 2017 00:00:00 +0000).

Other details:

❓ My dates are showing up as 1970-something in Apsis One.
Compact numeric date formats like 20130208 (without separators) are interpreted as day-of-year values, which fall in 1970. Use a separated format such as 2013-02-08 to get the date you expect.

❓ My CSV has accented or non-Latin characters that come in garbled.
CSV files must be saved as UTF-8. Re-export from Excel as "CSV UTF-8" or convert with a text editor before uploading.

❓ My phone numbers are not being recognised.
Phone numbers must be in MSISDN format — country code + number, no spaces, no leading zeros (for example 46793699558). Leading zeros from spreadsheet auto-formatting are a common cause; format the column as Text in your spreadsheet before saving.

❓ My import shows lots of duplicate errors.
Duplicates in the Unique Identifier column will cause rows to fail. De-duplicate that column before importing — see the Excel duplicate guide linked above.

❓ Excel converted my long numeric ID to scientific notation.
Excel will silently convert numeric IDs longer than 15 digits to scientific notation, which corrupts the value. Format the column as Text in your spreadsheet before pasting or entering IDs, or save and import as CSV with the column quoted.

❓ My file is over 50 MB.
Split the file into smaller chunks, or use Scheduled Import over SFTP for very large recurring jobs.