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Editing and uploading a CSV file
Editing and uploading a CSV file

CSV file requirements and various tips on how to structure the CSV

Vedran avatar
Written by Vedran
Updated over a week ago

Toggl Track allows you to bulk import data via CSV files on our Import page. CSV import is limited to workspace admins

This guide details tips on creating this CSV file. For more information on importing datasets and sample tables, please read this guide.

General requirements

To import data from a CSV file to Toggl Track, the CSV file must have:

  • Comma-separated values

  • UTF-8 encoding

Columns and column structure

Columns must have headers in English. The allowed column headers are:

  • User 

  • Email 

  • Client

  • Project (All new projects are private by default)

  • Task (only available on paid plans)

  • Description

  • Billable (only available on paid plans)

  • Start date

  • Start time

  • Duration

  • Tags

The order of columns isn't important. You can also import one, all, or specific set of columns. It depends on what you're importing. Some samples are available here.

Do note, if the import tool finds multiple time entries that have identical data, including start date and time, it will merge them.

Columns that you can import on their own:

  • Email (to import users)

  • Client

  • Project (All new projects are private by default)

  • Tags

 Columns that must have at least one other column:

  • User – must have Email to attach it to

  • Task – must have Project to attach it to

  • Description – must have Email, Start date, Start time, Duration

  • Billable – is a time entry flag only so must have at least Email, Start date, Start time and Duration attached

Quick tip: The easiest way to see how your CSV file should look like is to export a Detailed report into the CSV. Please make sure your Profile has the Duration format set to Improved.

Notes for Windows and Excel users

When using Excel on Windows, pay attention to these things:

  • Regional settings – make sure that your list separator is a comma.

  • Date and time fields – they must be in the required format as explained in Importing time entries here. If you don’t manually import the file and set the fields to “Text”, Excel will likely change your date/time fields to a different format.

  • UTF-8 export – some Excel versions struggle with exporting UTF-8. If Toggl Track rejects your CSV, open it in regular ol’ Notepad and save it as a new CSV file encoded in UTF-8. You should see the “Encoding” option inside the Save As window. 

Uploading the CSV file

Data can be imported to Toggl Track from a CSV file by uploading the file via the Import page.

Once there, click on the "Select CSV file to upload" icon and upload your CSV. You can also drag and drop a file in this area. 

The importer will analyze your file and show an error if it can't be imported. You will also see what you will be importing (how many projects, users, etc.). 

If everything looks good, click “Import now” to complete the process.

Keep in mind that:

  • The app always displays the “Adding new users increases your workspace fee” warning. If you’re uploading time for existing users, just ignore this.

  • When importing users via CSV:

    • Ticking the option to invite new users will make them active or invited users. This is chosen by default.

    • Not ticking this option will make them inactive users. Inactive users can be seen on the Team page under the Inactive filter.

  • Maximum file size is 1 MB.

Important:

Please only uncheck the invite option if you are sure this user will never need to use Track in the future as a user made Inactive when importing cannot be reactivated at a later stage.

If you still have questions about uploading data using a CSV file, please contact our Support team by clicking on the purple chat icon in the bottom right corner of this page to start a chat.

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