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ActiveCampaign won't import your contacts file?

Fix the errors ActiveCampaign shows when importing a contacts CSV, then import clean every week.

Errors ActiveCampaign shows

An existing contact is not updated

"Existing contact details NOT updated" error.
ActiveCampaign help centre

A contact has no email address

If you do not list an email address, or if you have included an email address that is not properly formatted, the contact will get skipped by the importer.
ActiveCampaign help centre

A contact repeats in the file

If you have any contacts in your file who have bounced in the past, is unsubscribed, or if you have duplicate contacts in your file, the importer will skip them.
ActiveCampaign help centre

A deal amount has a thousands separator

The CSV has odd number formatting in the custom fields, e.g. 100.000,00 when it should be 100000.00 (no commas).
ActiveCampaign help centre

What ActiveCampaign’s importer checks

  • Every contact needs a unique email address.

    ActiveCampaign help centre

  • The importer skips duplicate contacts in the file.

    DocTransform fixes this: type

    Lowercase Email and remove rows with a duplicate Email

    Or by hand

    click the Email column header → lowercase, then Remove duplicates; the repeat contact’s row is removed

    ActiveCampaign help centre

  • Phone numbers must be in E.164 format, such as +13125555555.

    DocTransform fixes this: open Health → Phone formats → Convert 3 (the button shows how many numbers it writes); each readable number is written as +[country code][number], a number that names no country is read in your language’s region, and one it cannot read stays as written

    ActiveCampaign help centre

  • Deal amounts must be plain numbers such as 100000.00, with no thousands separators.

    ActiveCampaign help centre

  • A file may hold at most 250,000 contacts with 1-5 columns, and fewer with more columns.

    ActiveCampaign help centre

Before and after

8,400 contacts

activecampaign_contacts.csv
EmailFirst NameLast NamePhone Number
Marta@Lumen.example1MartaVega+34611223344
marta@lumen.example2MartaVega+34611223344
henrik.dahl@fjord.exampleHenrikDahl+4745123456
sofia.rinaldi@brio.exampleSofiaRinaldi+393312345678
paulo.costa@porto.examplePauloCosta+351931234567
3NoraWeiss
clara.dupont@lyon.exampleClaraDupont+33687654321

    Before

    Fix it in DocTransform

    By hand: 12 stepsDocTransform: 1 sentence

    1. 1. Upload activecampaign_contacts.csv into DocTransform.
    2. 2. Type

      Lowercase Email and remove rows with a duplicate Email

      and press Send. Check the steps it adds; Undo takes them all back.
      Or by hand

      Apply the fixes: click the Email column header → lowercase, then Remove duplicates to drop the repeat contact. For a phone number with no country code, open Health → Phone formats → Convert 3. Fill in the row with no email address by hand, write deal amounts as plain numbers yourself, and split an oversized file yourself: DocTransform saves no step for them.

    3. 3. Download the cleaned file as CSV with Download, ready for ActiveCampaign’s importer.
    “Lowercase Email and remove rows with a duplicate Email” typed into DocTransform; two steps applied, one Email lowercased, one duplicate row removed; Undo shown
    1. Type the change in one sentence, in your own words.
    2. Wait about 5 seconds while the steps are written. Stop cancels.
    3. Check each step and how many cells or rows it changes.
    4. The file is clean. Not what you meant? One Undo takes it all back.

    Save this fix once, then rerun it on next week’s export with one click.

    Fix it by hand in Excel or Sheets

    1. Right-click the column B header and choose Insert to add an empty helper column next to Email.
    2. In B2, type =LOWER(A2) and press Enter.
    3. Double-click the fill handle at B2’s bottom-right corner to fill the formula down to the last row.
    4. With the filled cells in column B still selected, press Ctrl+C to copy them.
    5. Select A2, choose Home → Paste → Paste Special → Values and click OK, so Marta@Lumen.example becomes marta@lumen.example.
    6. Right-click the column B header and choose Delete to remove the helper column.
    7. Click any cell in the table, choose Data → Remove Duplicates, click Unselect All, tick Email and click OK to drop the repeat Marta Vega row.
    8. Look at the Email and Phone Number columns for the row with neither, as row 6 here (Nora Weiss), and fill in one of them by hand.
    9. Check each phone number starts with + and its country code; to add one, right-click the column D header, choose Format Cells → Text and click OK so Excel keeps the +, then retype the number, e.g. 600 123 456 as +34600123456 for Spain.
    10. Choose File → Save As, pick CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited) (*.csv) and click Save.
    11. In a deals file, replace 100.000,00 with 100000.00 in each amount cell, so the amount has no thousands separator.
    12. If the file has more contacts than the recommended maximum for its number of columns (250,000 for 1-5 columns), split it by hand into smaller files and import them one at a time.

    Questions

    Will DocTransform split my file if it has more contacts than ActiveCampaign recommends?
    No — DocTransform doesn’t split files. If your export is over the recommended size for its columns, split it by hand before importing.
    Will DocTransform guess a country code that is missing from a phone number?
    Only from your language’s region: a number that names no country is read in that region, and a number DocTransform cannot read stays as written. Check those cells before you import.
    Can I reuse this fix next time I export my contacts?
    Yes — save it once in DocTransform and rerun it on next week’s export.

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    Salesforce, HubSpot, Shopify, QuickBooks, Mailchimp, Pipedrive, WooCommerce, Klaviyo, Google Contacts, ActiveCampaign, Brevo, Zendesk, Square, Zoho CRM, and Xero are trademarks of their owners. DocTransform is not affiliated with them.