SchoolAide
Help Center
Help Center Troubleshooting "My import file failed"
Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting Updated Jun 04, 2026

"My import file failed"

1 min read 14 views

What you might see: Error messages after trying to import a CSV or MARC21 file, or zero records imported.

Why this happens (CSV):

  1. Wrong encoding -- The file must be saved as UTF-8. Other encodings may cause errors.
  2. Bad column headers -- Column names must match what the system expects.
  3. Invalid ISBN -- ISBN-13 must be exactly 13 digits.
  4. Invalid year -- Published year must be between 1000 and 2100.
  5. File too large -- Maximum file size is 50 MB.

Why this happens (MARC21):

  1. Wrong format -- The file must be MARC21 binary (.mrc), not MARCXML.
  2. File too large -- Maximum file size is 50 MB.
  3. Corrupted file -- The file may not contain valid MARC21 records.

How to fix it:

  1. For CSV: Open the file in a spreadsheet program, check the data, and re-save as UTF-8 CSV.
  2. Review the error messages -- they tell you exactly which rows had problems and why.
  3. Fix the issues in your file and try importing again.
  4. For MARC21: Make sure you have the right file format from your catalog vendor.

Still stuck? Contact SchoolAide support with a sample of your file and the error messages.


Was this article helpful?

Let us know so we can improve our documentation.