Common concerns with importing a CSV file into beehiiv

When importing a CSV file into beehiiv, you might encounter a few common issues. Here’s how to address them:

Import limit concerns

Import limit is not high enough: Import limits are set to prevent potential issues with spam and deliverability. By default, you can increase your import limit up to 10,000 directly from your account. If you need to import more than 10,000 subscribers, you’ll need to reach out to our team for assistance. To do so, simply go to the Help page in your account where you’ll find a variety of resources including our chatbot Buzz and the option to submit a ticket to support.

Discrepancies in subscriber counts

Import shows as 'Complete' but fewer subscribers are visible: If your final subscriber count in beehiiv is lower than in your original CSV, don’t worry. beehiiv automatically removes inactive and duplicate emails to maintain a clean list. This is normal and helps ensure better deliverability. If you import the same list more than once, beehiiv will overwrite existing data, which might also affect the count. To update a list with the same emails, include additional custom fields to avoid deleting existing data.

Why are some subscribers missing after importing? It’s common for your final count to be lower than the original CSV due to beehiiv’s removal of inactive or duplicate emails. For example, if your CSV had 10,000 subscribers but only 9,200 appear in beehiiv, this could be due to invalid or duplicate email addresses, formatting errors, or other system issues. This process helps reduce bounce rates and improve your domain reputation and email deliverability.

Missing custom fields

Some custom fields are missing from the import: beehiiv has reserved fields that cannot be used as custom fields (e.g., city). If your CSV includes these reserved fields, they will not be imported. To work around this, rename the CSV column to something like 'import_city' instead  of 'city' to avoid it being recognized as a reserved field.

If you encounter other issues with your CSV upload or import, please go to the Help page in your account and submit a support ticket or ask our chatbot, Buzz, for further assistance.