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ActiveCampaign CSV Import Checker

ActiveCampaign is strict about a few formats, and some mistakes fail quietly: a date in the wrong format becomes a date in 1899, and a second row with the same email is simply skipped. Load your CSV below to find these before you import. The file is read in your browser and never uploaded.

Rules from ActiveCampaign's help center

From "How to prepare your CSV file for importing contacts" (source: https://help.activecampaign.com/hc/en-us/articles/360006760900-How-to-prepare-your-CSV-file-for-importing-contacts-in-ActiveCampaign) and "Import contacts from a CSV file" (source: https://help.activecampaign.com/hc/en-us/articles/221467787-Import-contacts-from-a-CSV-file):

• CSV only: the import tool only works with CSV files.
• Email or phone on every row: each contact needs an email address or phone number. Using phone as the identifier requires phone-only contacts to be turned on.
• Duplicates: if several contacts share an email or phone, ActiveCampaign imports the first one in the file and skips the others.
• Dates: YYYY-MM-DD, dashes only, no spaces or slashes. Other formats default to a date in 1899.
• Phones: E.164 format, for example +13125555555.
• Tags and multi-value fields: tags separated by commas; checkbox and list box values separated by ||.
• Characters: use UTF-8 encoding and double quotes around values. Remove line breaks, and do not use emojis, which ActiveCampaign says can get the whole import stuck.
• Size: ActiveCampaign recommends a maximum number of contacts by column count, from 250,000 contacts for 1 to 5 columns down to 35,000 for 40 or more. The checker applies that table.

Before you click Import

1. Create your lists first. ActiveCampaign says you cannot create a list during the import (source: https://help.activecampaign.com/hc/en-us/articles/221467787-Import-contacts-from-a-CSV-file).
2. Check your automations. Imported contacts may be added to active automations if the list, tags or fields you import are used in a trigger. You can turn off Trigger Automations in the import's Advanced Options (source: https://help.activecampaign.com/hc/en-us/articles/221467787-Import-contacts-from-a-CSV-file).
3. Delete the import_check column the tool adds, and import a small test file first.

Fixing what the checker finds

• Phones: the phone number format fixer converts numbers to E.164.
• Dates: the date format fixer converts mixed dates to YYYY-MM-DD.
• Emails and duplicates: the CSV email validator and dedupe tool.

FAQ

Why does it say my phone numbers are wrong?

Anything that is not a plus sign followed by the country code and number, with no spaces or dashes, is flagged, because ActiveCampaign asks for E.164.

Is my file uploaded?

No. The file is read by JavaScript in your browser. Nothing is sent to us or anyone else, and nothing is kept after you close the tab.

If you want the whole file cleaned

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