I am trying to import users or organizations and get an error

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 get an error message, 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 occurs when the uploaded file isn't in UTF-8 format.

Convert your CSV file to UTF-8

Your import file might use another format, such as ISO-8859, instead of UTF-8. Use one of the following methods to convert the file.

Use Google Sheets

Open Google Drive.</mark>

Create a new Google Sheets document.

Import your CSV file.

Select File > Download > Comma-Separated Values (.csv).

The downloaded file uses UTF-8 encoding. You can use it to import users or organizations.

Use Microsoft Excel

Open the CSV file in Microsoft Excel.

Select File > Save As.

Select CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited) (*.csv) as the file format.

Select Save.

If you cannot save the file as a UTF-8 CSV file in Excel, save it as Unicode Text (.txt), open it in Notepad, replace the tab characters with commas, and save the file with UTF-8 encoding and a .csv file extension.

Open the converted CSV file to check the data before importing it. If you find a problem, fix the original spreadsheet and repeat the conversion steps. Saving the file again in Excel can cause the UTF-8 error to return.

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, follow the guidelines on 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 format the file correctly, follow the guidelines on 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 with a CSV file. For details, see Bulk importing users.
403 error | This occurs when the import feature isn't turned on for your account.

If you still experience an error when you import users or organizations, try these common troubleshooting steps:

Check the first row of your file to make sure you have all the required headers

Review your CSV file for any formatting issues or unsupported characters

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 download the file in a CSV format. This process ensures that the sheet is encoded correctly, which solves a number of import errors.