Skip to main content

Fix: Upload Errors, Excel ZIP Codes & Import Format Issues

Troubleshoot upload validation errors, Excel formatting problems with ZIP codes and phone numbers, and Import Format matching issues.

Excel Reformatting ZIP Codes and Phone Numbers​

What you're seeing: After uploading your spreadsheet, ZIP codes are missing leading zeros (e.g., "01234" becomes "1234"), phone numbers show in scientific notation (e.g., "8.48E+09"), or dates are converted to numbers.

Why this happens: Excel automatically interprets these columns as numbers and reformats them. This happens when the column is formatted as "General" or "Number" instead of "Text." The damage occurs when the file is saved in Excel, before it reaches Send To Many.

How to fix it:

  1. In Excel, select the affected columns.
  2. Right-click and choose Format Cells.
  3. Select Text as the format.
  4. Re-enter any values that were already corrupted (formatting as Text doesn't fix values that Excel has already changed).
  5. Save the file and re-upload.
warning

This must be done before entering data. If Excel has already stripped leading zeros, changing the format to Text won't restore them. You'll need to re-enter the values.

Column Headers Not Recognized / Import Format Not Auto-Applying​

What you're seeing: You have a saved Import Format, but when you upload a new file, columns aren't auto-mapped and you have to re-map manually.

Why this happens: Import Formats match on exact column header text, including capitalization, spacing, and special characters. If your new file's headers don't match exactly, the format won't auto-apply.

How to fix it:

  1. Go to Settings and open your saved Import Format to see the exact expected column names.
  2. Compare them character-by-character against your new file's headers.
  3. Fix any differences in your spreadsheet and re-upload.

See Saved Import Formats for details on how format matching works.

Shipping Rate Calculation Stuck on "Calculating"​

What you're seeing: During Step 4 (Review), shipping rates show "calculating" for some or all recipients and never resolve.

Why this happens: Shipping rates are fetched from your carrier service (or Shopify's built-in rates) for each recipient individually. If the carrier API is slow, times out, or returns an error for certain addresses, those rows can get stuck. This is more common with large Sends where dozens of rate lookups happen in sequence.

How to fix it:

  1. Check whether the stuck rows have unusual addresses (international, PO boxes, or remote locations) that your carrier may not serve.
  2. Try refreshing the page. In some cases, a page reload retriggers the calculation.
  3. If the issue persists, contact support. We can identify which addresses are causing carrier API failures and help you resolve or skip them.
Last updated on