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Import CSV files to create datasets

Last updated: November 8, 2024

Available with any of the following subscriptions, except where noted:

Operations Hub   Enterprise

Import CSV files to create a dataset. A dataset can be created with the CSV file as the data source or can be added to any HubSpot object or event data. 

Before you import

Set up your import file

The import file must:

  • Be a .csv file.
  • Have one sheet only.
  • Include a header row in which each column header represents a column in the dataset. The column headers can be organized in any order without affecting the import. To join your CSV data to a HubSpot object or event, one of the columns in the file must match a HubSpot property for the object or event you want to join your data with.
  • Contain less than 100 columns.
  • Be UTF-8 encoded if foreign language characters are included.
  • Contain cells in number format when importing date-time properties.
  • Ensure all cell values containing commas are enclosed in quotes.
  • Only contain currency data formatted for USD using decimals (for example 123.45).

There are additional technical limits for the import tool depending on your HubSpot subscription. These limits include the size and row limits of an import file, as well as how many files and rows you can import per day.

  • Import files up to 512 MB.
  • Import up to 10,000,000 rows per day, with a limit of 1,048,576 rows per file. 
  • These limits apply to a rolling 24-hour period and don't reset at a specific time of day.

Import a CSV file as a data source

  • In your HubSpot account, navigate to Data Management > Datasets.
  • Navigate to the CSV data sources tab.
  • Click Upload CSV.
upload-csv-dataset

 

  • Select a CSV file. Then, click the dropdown menu and select a language
  • Click Next.
  • Click the Data type dropdown menu and select the data type for each of the column headers. Data types include: boolean, text, date, datetime, number.
  • Map your columns to their data types, then click Next.

import-columns-dataset

  • Enter an Import name.
  • Click Finish import.

Please note: uploaded CSV files will be available to all dataset users in the account. 


Use the imported CSV file in the dataset builder

  • In your HubSpot account, navigate to Data Management > Datasets.
  • Navigate to the CSV data sources tab.
  • Hover over the name of the dataset upload and click Use in dataset builder.
use-in-dataset-builder

 

  • Select CSV in the Primary data sources dropdown menu. Or, to use the CSV file as a secondary data source, under Other select CSV. The CSV data source can be used by itself to create a dataset or can be joined with other data sources. 
  • In the right panel, select your CSV file. Only one CSV file can be selected as a data source.
  • If you are using more than one data source, select how to join your CSV data source to your HubSpot data. A column in your CSV file should map to a property on your selected HubSpot object. For example, select a unique identifier to link both data sources. A unique identifier could be a contact's email address because it is unique to them.
select-key-join

 

Please note: it isn't possible to join multiple CSV data sources.

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