Whether you’re uploading a spreadsheet of contacts or copy/pasting that spreadsheet directly into Podium, you may encounter a few errors about how your contact information is formatted. Please consult the list of common errors below to resolve any issues. If you’re still having trouble, contact support@podium.com, and our teams will be sure to help you out.
To learn how to upload your contacts step-by-step, check out Uploading Your Contacts Into Podium.
Before Uploading: Check Your File Type
If you’re uploading your spreadsheet, make sure you’ve downloaded or exported your document as a CSV file before attempting your upload. For example, Microsoft Excel (Desktop) and Google Sheets both enable you to download your files as .CSV, which represents a file of Comma Separated Values, or Comma Delimited. Refer to the images below for Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel, respectively. Alternatively, you can copy and paste your spreadsheet directly into Podium.
Before Uploading: Check Your Labels And Columns
The most common errors that occur during the upload process are when spreadsheets are missing labels for one or more of the uploaded columns. In order for Podium to properly map your contacts’ information to the appropriate contact or custom field, your columns must each have unique labels in the first row of your spreadsheet.
To make it easier, any columns that you don’t wish to upload should be deleted from your spreadsheet – try not to leave them in your file unlabeled or incomplete (i.e. not full of data). Each contact must have a phone number attached to it, and if you’re uploading custom fields, each contact must have the custom field filled out in order to successfully upload that contact.
Any rows that are missing required data (phone numbers and custom fields) will not be uploaded. (In the example below, Jason’s phone number is missing, so they will not be uploaded as a contact.) Fill in the missing data or delete the incomplete column or row from your spreadsheet, and then re-upload.
Resolving Upload Errors
Your file is missing some column labels.
Make sure each column has a label indicated in the first row of your spreadsheet. Any column that has data in it (even if the whole column isn’t full of data) will need a label in the top row in order to upload your file properly. If you don’t want to upload the data in the columns that are unlabeled, delete them from your file and then re-upload your spreadsheet.
At least one of your columns has a duplicate label.
If any of the columns in your spreadsheet have the same labels, your file will not be able to upload properly. Podium reads each column label individually in order to map the contact information to the label you provide. You’ll need to change or delete any duplicates, and then re-upload your spreadsheet.
Your file isn’t properly formatted for upload. / Your information isn’t properly formatted.
Your spreadsheet must be uploaded as a single table of contact information without any outlying data or unlabeled columns. Outlying data could appear as information in columns that are incomplete (i.e. not full of data) or unlabeled. Any columns that you want to upload must have unique labels in the first row.
Your file is too large to upload.
Whether you're copy/pasting from a spreadsheet or uploading it to Podium, your file can only contain up to 100,000 rows or be under 5MB in size. If your file exceeds either of those conditions, we recommend dividing your file into multiple uploads in order to properly upload your contacts.