Common Import Errors

--- title: Common Import Errors collection: Clients tags: [import, errors, troubleshooting, csv]

summary: Plain-English explanations of every error message you might see during a client import, and how to fix each one.

Common Import Errors

If a row fails during import, BenchFlow keeps a downloadable error report listing each problem row and the reason it was skipped. Here's how to fix the most common ones.

"Missing name, email and phone"

What it means: the row has no way to identify the client — no name, no email and no phone.

Fix: open the source file and either add one of those values or delete the empty row.

"Invalid email"

What it means: the value in the Email column isn't in name@domain.com format.

Common causes: - Trailing spaces or commas (e.g. john@example.com,) - Typos (john@examplecom, john@@example.com) - Multiple emails in one cell (john@x.com; jane@x.com)

Fix: clean the email cell. If a client has two emails, keep the primary one and move the second to Notes.

"Invalid phone"

What it means: the phone number has fewer than 6 digits.

Fix: add the missing digits or clear the cell.

"Invalid birthday" / "Invalid anniversary"

What it means: BenchFlow couldn't read the date. Accepted formats are YYYY-MM-DD, DD/MM/YYYY, and DD-MM-YYYY.

Common causes: - US format (MM/DD/YYYY) being misread - Text values like January 1990 - Empty cells with stray spaces

Fix: reformat the column to DD/MM/YYYY in Excel/Google Sheets before re-importing. To be safe, format the cell as Text so spreadsheets don't auto-convert it.

"Could not read file. Try CSV or XLSX."

What it means: the file isn't a valid CSV or Excel spreadsheet.

Fix: - Make sure the file extension is .csv, .xlsx, or .xls - If you exported from Numbers (macOS), use File → Export To → CSV, not "Save" - Open the file in Excel/Sheets and re-save as CSV

Duplicates being skipped

If many rows show as "skipped", BenchFlow matched them to existing clients by email → phone → name (in that order).

Options: - Skip (default) — leave existing clients untouched - Update existing — overwrite matching fields with the new data - Import as new — create a duplicate record anyway

Re-run the import with the strategy you want.

All rows failed

If every row fails, the most common cause is a mismatched Map columns step — none of the headers were mapped to a recognised field. Go back to the Map columns step and check that Full Name, Email and/or Phone are mapped to the right columns.

How to fix and re-import

1. Download the error report from the import results screen.
2. Open it — the first column shows the row number and the second shows the reason.
3. Fix the affected rows in your original spreadsheet (or just in the error report).
4. Re-import the fixed file. Choose Skip duplicates so previously-imported rows aren't duplicated.

Need to undo an import?

You can roll back any import from Clients → Import History → Rollback. This deletes every client created by that import batch. Updates made to existing clients are not reversed.