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Dynamics 365 Community / Forums / Microsoft Dynamics CRM (Archived) / 'The Source data i...
Microsoft Dynamics CRM (Archived)

'The Source data is not in the required format' when importing email addresses

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Posted on by Lindsey Worth 50

Hello,

I have recently tried to import Contacts into CRM containing email addresses.  CRM produced the error listed above and failed all of my records for the email address column.  The email addresses are in standard email format, and I did a test by exporting current contacts in CRM with emails to see the format the emails were in when exported and they look the same. What format should email addresses be in in order to be imported? 

Any help is appreciated.

Lindsey Worth

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  • cymorg Profile Picture
    cymorg 175 on at
    RE: 'The Source data is not in the required format' when importing email addresses

    This error message can also occur if you have a poorly named field in a custom entity.  For example, if you have a custom field named "Status" (logical name = "myStatus")  in a custom entity it will clash with the built-in "Status" (logical name = "statecode") field.  So be careful how you NAME your custom fields and make sure the field name doesn't clash with a built-in field name.

  • Andrés Profile Picture
    Andrés 5 on at
    Re: 'The Source data is not in the required format' when importing email addresses

    Hi Lindsey,

    I have just become a CRM blogg member, hopping to share my CRM experiences in this blog but also to learn from the experiences gained by other CRM bloggers.

    Lucky for you, I had this problem a few month ago. I suppose that you exported your data to an Excel file and then you saved it in ".csv format". In fact, the problem is that Excel shows that the file is saved in .csv format but it's not true. The file is still in semicolon value ( ; )and not in comma separated value ( , ).

    I solved it the following way:

    1.- I imported my leads ( contacts in your case) into an Excel file

    2.- I saved it in Excel "csv" format

    3.- I opened the file with a text editor and searched after semicolon signs (;) and replaced those signs with comma signs. To do that I used search and replace function that you find in every text editor.

    4.- I saved it in csv. Only now the file it indeed in csv format and ready to be imported into your CRM.

    Dont forget to use the CRM display names in your Excel columns in order to obtain an authomatic mapping.

    Good luck!

    /Andrés.

  • Leon Tribe Profile Picture
    Leon Tribe 7,034 on at
    Re: 'The Source data is not in the required format' when importing email addresses

    The field you're trying to import the email address into is actually a lookup to a record (contact, user, lead etc.). It is expecting a GUID. From memory there is another attribute you can put the email address into but I can't remember which it is. Your best bet is to look at the filtered views to see the format in the back end.

    Leon Tribe
    Want to hear me talk about all things CRM? Check out my blog
    http://leontribe.blogspot.com/ 
    or hear me tweet @leontribe

  • MercureIntegration Profile Picture
    MercureIntegration 1,725 on at
    Re: 'The Source data is not in the required format' when importing email addresses

    Did you check the raw characters of the email address?

    This kind of error is usually produced by a ending null character or a CrLF/LF character... which is invisible.

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