Data cleaning for CRM imports

HubSpot import errors

HubSpot import errors: what they mean and how to fix them

HubSpot publishes about 50 import error codes in its troubleshooting documentation, and most of them are file problems you can fix before you import, not account problems. This page groups the common ones, tells you what each message actually means, and links to the deep-dive fixes. The goal is a file that imports clean the first time, not one error export chased down after another.

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Common HubSpot import errors, and what they mean

The file-level errors Sift pre-empts

Most of the messages above come from the same handful of file problems, so one readiness pass catches them together instead of one at a time. Sift checks:

• Structure and quoting. Robust CSV parsing with correct quoting, so cells that contain commas, quotes, or line breaks stay in one column and every row has the same column count. This is what "incorrect number of columns" is really about.
• Dates and numbers. Dates standardized to one format across the whole column, and numbers with currency symbols and thousands separators stripped to a plain value, so "could not parse date" and "could not parse number" do not fire.
• Dropdown and allowed values. Each value checked against the options defined for that property in a mapped HubSpot template, so values that would trigger "invalid or ambiguous enumeration option" are flagged per row.
• Required properties. Every property the template marks required is checked for blank or whitespace-only cells, per row, before HubSpot sees the file.
• Duplicates. Exact and fuzzy duplicate detection on the columns you choose, so the same email or ID does not slip through as a "duplicate unique property value".

Deep dives

Detailed fixes for the specific errors people hit most:

The Sift fix

1. Drop your CSV or Excel file into Sift. It runs in your browser; the file is never uploaded.
2. Clean the obvious problems: tidy headers, correct quoting, standardized dates and numbers.
3. Dedupe with exact and fuzzy matching so no unique value is doubled up.
4. Map your columns to the HubSpot template, so allowed values, required properties, and types are checked against the real target.
5. Run the readiness check and fix the flagged rows inline, or split them into a separate list.
6. Export a clean single-sheet CSV and import it into HubSpot.

What Sift can't fix

Some HubSpot import errors are account-side, not file-side, and Sift cannot resolve them because it never connects to your portal. Examples: an owner value that does not match any user in your HubSpot account, a contact that is on your GDPR communications blocklist, or an import that hits a plan or object limit. Those are fixed inside HubSpot, not in the file. Sift also does not enrich, verify emails over SMTP, or guess missing data; rows that genuinely lack a required value still need a human or a better source.

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