An import was refused or came in wrong
Fix a file Hailo would not read, and check the four things worth checking after an import lands.
Your export was refused, or it went in and the numbers look wrong. Every one of these is recoverable, and re-running an import never writes a record twice.
Retrying is always safe. Couples are matched on name and email, so a second run updates the existing record rather than creating another. Clicking Run import twice within two minutes hands you the same job, not a second one.
The file was refused
| Message | Fix |
|---|---|
| "Too many rows in clients. Cap is 5,000 per file." (or "in financials") | The cap is 5,000 rows per file. Split the export by year and import each part |
| "That file is too large to import in one go. Split it into smaller files." | The cap is 32 MB per upload. Export fewer columns or fewer years per file |
| "That file was empty." | A zero-byte or header-only file. Re-export it |
| "Couldn't read that file." | Save it as CSV and try again |
| "Couldn't read those files. Check the columns and try again." | There is no header row, or no column Hailo recognises. Put column names in the first row |
| "Couldn't read a booking from that file." | A contract or quote with no couple, date or amount. Add the details on the couple's card afterwards |
| "Upload at least one file." / "No file uploaded." | Drop a clients file, or click the zone to pick it |
| "Import failed partway. Nothing was double-written. Open Manage → Clients to check, then try again." | Open Clients to see what arrived, then run the same files again |
| "Unknown import job." | The progress check lost track of the job. Run the import again |
A file with more than 5,000 rows read from Excel, PDF or a screenshot is cut to the first 5,000 without a message. Split it if you have more couples than that.
It came in wrong
The preview shows zero for every couple's money. Your clients file has no revenue or balance column and you did not upload a payments file. Add the invoices and payments export, or fill the totals in the gap interview.
Everything landed as a lead. Hailo found no money for any couple, so they were filed as prospects. Upload the payments file, or open each lead and use Book.
Dates are a month off. The export uses day-first dates and Hailo read them month-first, or the reverse. Reformat the date column to an unambiguous form such as 2026-06-14 and re-import. Pixieset exports are read day-first on purpose.
The progress bar sits at the same number. Large imports keep writing in the background. Give it a minute, then open Manage > Clients and see what arrived. If nothing changes after several minutes, run the import again.
Check these four things afterwards
- Manage > Clients: names, partner names, wedding dates and venues. Anything the old tool did not export is blank here.
- Manage > Leads: anyone with no payment on record was filed as a prospect. Book the ones that are booked.
- Finance > Invoices: totals, collected and outstanding. Where a jobs list only gave revenue and balance, Hailo built one invoice and one deposit per couple.
- Duplicate couples, especially from tools that export each partner as a separate contact. Merge or delete the extra.
If the preview offered Download the skipped list, fix those rows in the CSV and import that file on its own.
The full detail is in Import limits and fixes, and the list of tools with a ready-made column map is in Which CRMs Hailo imports. Still stuck? See Contact support.