Could not parse date: fix the dates in your HubSpot CSV
HubSpot shows “Could not parse date” when a date in your CSV does not match the format you picked. Rewrite them as YYYY-MM-DD, in your browser.
What HubSpot found wrong
Could not parse date
HubSpot reads every date in the file in the Date format you pick during the import. A date written another way, such as 28/10/2023 when you picked month first, has no 28th month, so HubSpot cannot read it: the contact is still imported, but the date property stays empty. A date like 03/11/2023 is worse: with month first, HubSpot reads it as March 11 without a word.
HubSpot help centreFix the dates here, in your browser
Free, no sign-up. Your file is read in this browser tab and never uploaded.
Before and after
8,204 contacts
Do it in DocTransform
By hand: 5 stepsDocTransform: 1 sentence
- 1. Upload hubspot_contacts.csv into DocTransform.
- 2. Type and press Send. Check the step it adds; Undo takes it back.
Write Renewal date as YYYY-MM-DD
Or by hand
Apply the fix: open the Renewal date column’s ⋯ menu → Format dates… → input DD/MM/YYYY, output YYYY-MM-DD → Save Rule. If your file writes the month first, pick MM/DD/YYYY as the input.
- 3. Download the cleaned file as CSV with Download, ready for HubSpot’s import.
Save this step once, then rerun it on your next HubSpot export with one click.
Do it by hand in Excel or Sheets
- Open hubspot_contacts.csv in Excel: choose Data → From Text/CSV, set File Origin to 65001: Unicode (UTF-8) and click Load.
- Select the Renewal date column, press Ctrl+1, choose Custom, type yyyy-mm-dd and click OK.
- If a date does not change, Excel is holding it as text: select the column, choose Data → Text to Columns, click Next twice, pick Date: DMY under Column data format, click Finish, then repeat the step above.
- Choose File → Save As, pick CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited) (*.csv) and click Save.
- In HubSpot’s import, open the Date format dropdown and confirm it matches the way the dates now read, year first, then import the file again.
Questions
- Which Date format do I pick in HubSpot once the file is fixed?
- The one that matches how the dates now read. A file written YYYY-MM-DD is year first, so check the Date format dropdown says the same before you finish the import.
- Does the date tool on this page upload my file?
- No — it reads and rewrites the file in your browser tab, and nothing is sent anywhere.
- Will the dates be right on next month’s export?
- Yes, once you save the step in DocTransform: rerun it on the next export and the dates come out year first again.
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