Importing Employees from CSV

The CSV import wizard lets you add many employees at once from a spreadsheet. This article walks through each step of the 4-step wizard. Navigate to Employees in the sidebar, then click Import CSV in the top-right corner (or press Alt+I).

---

​

Before You Start

Prepare your data:

• Export your employee list from your HR system as CSV, or fill in the downloadable template
• Make sure at least First Name and Last Name columns are present — these are the only required fields
• Dates should be in a standard format (e.g. YYYY-MM-DD or MM/DD/YYYY)
• Blood type values should be: A+, A-, B+, B-, AB+, AB-, O+, or O-

Supported file formats: .csv, .tsv, .txt

---

​

Step 1 — Upload Your File

Drag your file onto the upload zone, or click anywhere in the zone to browse and select a file. After the file is loaded, the wizard shows:

• Row count — the number of data rows detected
• Column count — the number of header columns
• File size
• Detected Columns — a list of all column headers found in the file

If you do not have a file ready, click Download Template to get a pre-formatted CSV with all the standard field headers filled in.

---

​

Step 2 — Map Columns

Essal Access automatically maps your CSV columns to employee fields using AI-assisted inference. The mapping table shows: Review the mappings and correct any that are wrong using the Mapped To dropdown. Options include:

• Skip — ignore this column entirely
• Full Name → First + Last — splits a single full-name column (e.g. "Jane Smith" → First: Jane, Last: Smith)
• All standard employee fields (see table below)
• Any custom fields defined in Settings → Custom Fields

​

Standard Importable Fields

AI mapping notice: If the AI service is unavailable, Essal Access falls back to keyword-based column matching. An amber notice is shown when automatic fallback was used — review the mappings carefully in that case.

---

​

Step 3 — Preview and Validate

Before importing, the wizard validates every row. Three counters appear at the top:

• Ready — rows that passed validation and will be imported
• Warnings — rows with minor issues that will still import (e.g. unrecognized department name)
• Errors — rows that cannot be imported as-is

The preview table shows the first 10 valid rows and all error rows. Each row has a status pill:

• OK (green) — valid, will import
• Warning (amber) — will import with the issue noted
• Error (red) — will be skipped unless you choose to import anyway

​

Handling Errors

Two options when errors exist:

1. Fix the file — click Back, correct the issues in your spreadsheet, and re-upload
2. Skip errors and import anyway — check the Skip Errors checkbox. Error rows are skipped; all valid rows are still imported
3. Download Error Report — exports a CSV listing each error row with the issue description, useful for correcting the source file

---

​

Step 4 — Import

Click Import to start. A progress bar tracks the operation:

• Imported — rows successfully added so far
• Failed — rows that encountered an error during insert
• Processed — total rows handled so far
• ETA — estimated time remaining

The import runs in batches of 50 rows. You can click Cancel Import to stop after the current batch finishes — rows already processed are kept.

​

After Import

When the import completes:

• A summary shows the final counts (imported, failed)
• Click View Employees to go to the employee list — a notification shows the import count and date
• Click Undo Import if you need to reverse it — a confirmation prompt appears, then all imported records are deleted one by one

---

​

Common Import Errors