How to import Accounts from a CSV file

You can use the import tool to import accounts from a CSV file into your ActiveCampaign account. You may want to do this if you previously used a different platform and wish to use ActiveCampaign.

Take note

• Account admins have access to this feature. All other user groups must have permission to use this feature
• The import tool only works with CSV files
• The file format of your CSV file should be UTF-8 to ensure special characters are imported
• The import file size limit is 100 MB
• You must configure account custom fields in ActiveCampaign before importing your file
• If you wish to test this process before using your file, you can download the sample import CSV file located at the bottom of this article

Account import CSV file requirements

• Your file must include the following:
  • Account Name or ActiveCampaign Account ID
  • Account Owner Username, Account Owner User ID, or Account Owner Email Address
• Date fields must follow this format: YYYY-MM-DD
• Multiple values for a field must be separated by a comma(s): Option 1,Option 2
• Remove line breaks. Including line breaks in field values can cause the import to fail

How to import accounts into ActiveCampaign

1. Click "Contacts" on the left menu.
2. Click the "Accounts" option. 
3. Click the "Import" button. 
   
   
   
   
4. A modal window will appear. Click the "Select File" button.
5. Click the CSV file you wish to import. The file will upload to the importer.
6. Map columns from your file to fields in ActiveCampaign. To do so, click each ActiveCampaign field name dropdown to map it to a column in your file.
   • You must map either the Account Name or ActiveCampaign account ID field to the corresponding column in your file
   • You must map either the Account Owner User ID, Account Owner Username, or Account Owner email field to the corresponding column in your file. If your file contains any "bad" values, for example, a misspelled user name or email address, we'll assign the account to the default account owner
   • You can only map one column to one field
7. Optional: Use Advanced Options. Click "Advanced Options" to expand the menu. Here you can click the toggle to turn on any of the following rules:
   • Allow blank fields to overwrite existing field data
     Clicking this toggle means that empty values in the CSV will replace previous values in your account.
   • Use default values for required fields if left blank (excluding Account Owner)
     If your file contains a blank value for a required field, we will use the default value for that field to complete the import. This means that empty instances will not be skipped by the import tool. Default values for required fields are set on the Manage Fields page in your ActiveCampaign account. 
   • Use the default Account Owner if left blank
     If your file contains a blank value for the Account Owner, we will use the default value for that field to complete the import. This means that empty instances will not be skipped by the import tool. Default values for required fields are set on the Manage Fields page in your ActiveCampaign account. 
8. When finished, click the "Import" button.

You may close or navigate away from the page while the import runs.

View account import results

The Import Status page will list all account and deal imports you performed in your account. Note that you need permission to import Accounts or Deals to access this page.

To locate the Import Status page:

1. Click "Deals" on the left menu.
2. Click "Import/Export Status."

Each account and deal import will contain the following information:

• File name
• Import date
• Imported by (will list account username of individual who performed the import)
• Status of import (Complete or Failed)
• Type of import (Deal or Account)
• Number of rows imported
• Number of rows that had errors
• Error file to download (available only if rows had errors)

View account import errors

We'll display the number of rows in your file that had an error. We'll also supply a CSV file containing errors that you can download. You can use this download to learn more about which rows did not import and why. This information is on the Import Status page of your ActiveCampaign account.

Note: Error message in the file can include Account id not found. This error will appear if you mapped the Account ID and there wasn't an exact match in ActiveCampaign.

Sample import file

Use the sample import file below to test out the import process.