Unrecognized Variable: variable name

Click here for a complete list of contact upload errors and how to fix them!

When you see a contact upload error that reads “Unrecognized Variable: followed by a field name” the variable specified has not yet been created for this program or the header has been mislabeled.

To fix these errors, check your column headers against your field names. Go to the programs tab and select Manage Fields to see your field names.

If the variable already exists, but is under a different name, go to the spreadsheet and rename the variable to match your custom field in Message. The name cannot contain spaces or capitals.

• If the variable does not exist, go to Programs – Manage Fields and create the custom field.
• Check for spaces at the start or end of your column title. Extra spaces can be hard to see, click on your headers to see if there is a space before the header name or after the header name. Delete any extra spaces.
• If it displays nothing or quotation marks for a column name, Message interpreted blank cells as having information. Go to the last column in your file. Highlight the blank columns by clicking and holding on the header with a letter and dragging that to the right to highlight several columns. Right click and select delete. Save the file and attempt to import again.