🔧Advanced import settings

Detailed guide to advanced CSV import settings including date formats, delimiters, encoding, and troubleshooting.

If you're having trouble getting your CSV data to import correctly or encountering format errors, the advanced import settings can help you configure the import process to match your specific file format.

Date Format Settings

Controls how dates in your CSV file are interpreted during import.

Available Formats

Format Code	Example	Description
MM-dd-yyyy	12-25-2023	Month-Day-Year (US format)
MM/dd/yyyy	12/25/2023	Month/Day/Year with slashes
dd-MM-yyyy	25-12-2023	Day-Month-Year (European format)
dd/MM/yyyy	25/12/2023	Day/Month/Year with slashes
yyyy-MM-dd	2023-12-25	Year-Month-Day (ISO format)
yyyy/MM/dd	2023/12/25	Year/Month/Day with slashes
dd.MM.yyyy	25.12.2023	Day.Month.Year with dots
MM.dd.yyyy	12.25.2023	Month.Day.Year with dots
yyyy.MM.dd	2023.12.25	Year.Month.Day with dots

Example Problem:

• Your CSV has dates like "25/12/2023" (European format)

• The default setting expects "12/25/2023" (US format)

• Solution: Change Date Format to "dd/MM/yyyy"

Delimiter Settings

Controls how columns are separated in your CSV file.

Available Delimiters

Delimiter	Symbol	Example	Use Case
Comma	,	John,Doe,25/12/2023	Standard CSV format
Semicolon	;	John;Doe;25/12/2023	European CSV format
Tab	⇥	John⇥Doe⇥25/12/2023	Tab-separated values
Pipe	|	John|Doe|25/12/2023	Alternative separator

Example Problem:

• Your CSV uses semicolons (;) to separate columns

• The default expects commas (,)

• Solution: Change Delimiter to "Semicolon"

Text Qualifier Settings

Controls how text values containing special characters are handled.

Available Qualifiers

Qualifier	Example	Description
Double Quote	"John ""The Great"" Doe"	Standard CSV text handling
Single Quote	'John 'The Great' Doe'	Alternative text delimiter
None	John Doe	No text qualification

Example Problem:

• Your CSV has names like "O'Connor, Patrick"

• Without proper qualification, this gets split incorrectly

• Solution: Use "Double Quote" text qualifier

Encoding Settings

Controls the character encoding of your CSV file.

Available Encodings

Encoding	Description	Use Case
UTF-8	Unicode standard	Most modern files, supports international characters
ASCII	Basic English characters	Simple text files, no special characters
ISO-8859-1	Latin-1, Western European	Files with accented characters
WINDOWS-1252	Windows standard	Files created on Windows systems

Example Problem:

• Your CSV has accented characters like "José" or "Müller"

• ASCII encoding can't handle these characters

• Solution: Change Encoding to "UTF-8" or "ISO-8859-1"

Start Row Settings

Controls which row contains your column headers.

Row Options

Start Row	Description	Use Case
1	Headers in first row	Standard CSV format
2	Headers in second row	Files with title/summary rows
3	Headers in third row	Files with multiple header rows

Example Problem:

• Your CSV has a title row and summary row before the headers

• Data import starts reading from row 1 instead of row 3

• Solution: Change Start Row to "3"

End of Line Settings

Controls how line endings are handled in your file.

EOL Options

EOL Type	Symbol	Description
LF	\n	Unix/Linux line endings
CRLF	\r\n	Windows line endings

Example Problem:

• Your CSV was created on Windows (CRLF endings)

• The import expects Unix/Linux format (LF endings)

• Solution: Change End of Line to "CRLF"

Common Troubleshooting Scenarios

Scenario 1: "Date Format Error"

Problem: Dates like "25/12/2023" are not being recognized Solution: Change Date Format to "dd/MM/yyyy" (European format)

Scenario 2: "Columns Split Incorrectly"

Problem: Names like "Smith, John Jr." are being split into multiple columns Solution: Change Delimiter to match your file format

Scenario 3: "Special Characters Not Displaying"

Problem: Names like "José" or "Müller" show as garbled text Solution: Change Encoding to "UTF-8"

Scenario 4: "Missing Headers"

Problem: Import is reading data rows as headers Solution: Adjust Start Row to point to the correct header row

Best Practices for CSV Formatting

1. Use consistent formatting throughout your file

2. Test with a small sample before importing large datasets

3. Check your spreadsheet application settings for CSV export

4. Avoid special characters in headers and data when possible

5. Use UTF-8 encoding for international characters

Getting Help

If you're still having issues after adjusting these settings:

• Check that your CSV file opens correctly in a text editor

• Verify that all required columns are present and spelled correctly

• Ensure no hidden characters or formatting issues in your data

• Try exporting your data again from your source application with different settings