Contact Import - skipping unrecognized fields

[MichaelM7360]

When I first signed up for Constant Contact, after I uploaded my spreadsheet, I could select something that effectively told it to skip all fields that it didn't recognize. I would to this and then quickly go through and make small adjustments.

Our contacts are in a database which contains about 45 columns, and we only care about 15 or so. Having to go one field at a time to select skip is a pain in the you-know-where, but for the life of me I cannot find a quick way to skip those 30 columns we don't need in CC. Have I missed something??

[William_A]

Hello @MichaelM7360 ,

This is still available. At the top of the page with the first several contacts and their columns of info, select the "Skip Unmatched" next to where it tells you how many columns are unmatched. For step-by-step and visual guidance on importing contacts via file upload, see our main article on the topic. 

Follow-up:

If you're on the newer contacts import setup, skip unmatched is currently not available. 

[MichaelM7360]

Thanks for the reply. My import screen looks different and I cannot find Skip Unmatched anywhere. Instead , I have row after row with a Red ! and I have to select Skip one at a time. It is annoying. I had five lists to import with different tags, so I had to select skip more than 100 times. 

[William_A · Accepted solution]

I'll get it tracked to your account, that this functionality is missing from the newer import process. That said, if you're skipping that many columns in the first place, it'd likely lead to a much cleaner and quicker import process overall to remove those unnecessary columns. If the program you're exporting them from doesn't allow you to customize what's being exported, you can also use a spreadsheet program (Excel, Numbers, Google Sheets, etc.) to mass-delete those unneeded columns- which will significantly reduce the file size and aid in the import processing. 

See also:

Format a file before importing a contact list into Constant Contact

[MichaelM7360]

I have no control over the output. I know I can use Excel to clean it out, but I did not have to do that extra step in the past. I wear multiple hats so changes that add time to the process are not welcome.

[MichaelM7360]

Just a follow up that a very recent import worked well. It seemed to remember the skipped columns or something. While I know I could edit the data, it takes longer to edit the sheet than it does to just filter. I’m usually importing just 2-300 records, so load time is trivial. Hand culling single columns in excel is more work. 

[Chris-S]

Thanks for the update @MichaelM7360!