Issue symptoms

I get an error when I try to import users or organizations into my Zendesk account.

Resolution steps

The majority of errors related to user or organization import are a result of formatting issues in the CSV file.

If you have a specific error message you are looking for, check the table below for potential solutions.

Error message

Solution
Your CSV file request frequency limit has been exceeded. Try again later CSV (comma separated values) exports are limited to 100,000 results per hour and per user.
UTF-8 Errors This error is created when the uploaded file isn't in a UTF-8 format. See this article for more detail: How can I fix the UTF-8 error when bulk uploading users?
Upload failed. File type is not supported. The file must be a CSV file. If you use a CSV but still get this error, consider passing the file through Google Sheets as described in the tip at the bottom of this article to fix any potential encoding issues.
Failed to process row. Import aborted. These errors occur because of an issue with the formatting of the CSV file. To ensure that you format the file correctly, review the guidelines in this document: Bulk importing users.
Column 'user_id' cannot be null These errors occur because of an issue with the formatting of the CSV file. To ensure that you are formatting the file correctly, review the guidelines in this document: Bulk importing users.
User_id is invalid Include the user_id field in the header of one of the columns of your CSV file. 
Missing mandatory field in header: name The name field is required when you bulk import new users via a CSV file. See the article: Bulk importing users.
 403 error This usually occurs when the import feature isn't enabled for your account.

If you still experience an error when importing, try these common troubleshooting steps:

  1. Check the first row of your file to make sure you have all the required headers for importing.
  2. Check your CSV file for any formatting issues or unsupported characters.
  3. Copy and paste your data into a new CSV file to avoid formatting issues. 
Tip: If you have trouble with an unknown error, upload your CSV file to Google Sheets, and re-download the file in a CSV format. This process ensures the sheet is encoded correctly and can solve a number of import errors.

These general resources should also help you get your users and organizations imported smoothly:

  • How can I migrate information from another platform into Zendesk
  • How can I bulk update users?
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