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Tips & Tricks

Import Your Data into RapidStart

A step-by-step guide to importing your existing data into RapidStart — get your data, clean it, import it, fix errors, and update existing records.

Overview

Importing data is one of the first things most customers want to do after installing a RapidStart App. The good news is that the Power Platform has a built-in data import tool that makes this straightforward.

Step 1: Get Your Data

Export your existing data from your current system into a CSV or Excel file. Each table (Accounts, Contacts, etc.) should be in a separate file.

Export data from your current system
  1. Export each entity (Accounts, Contacts, Leads, etc.) as a separate CSV file.
  2. Make sure the first row contains column headers.
  3. Remove any columns you don't need.

Step 2: Clean Your Data

Before importing, clean your data to avoid errors:

  • Remove duplicate records.
  • Standardize phone number formats.
  • Ensure email addresses are valid.
  • Check that required fields are populated.
  • Make sure option set values match the values in RapidStart CRM.

Step 3: Import Accounts First

Always import Accounts before Contacts, since Contacts are linked to Accounts.

Navigate to Import Data in RapidStart CRM
  1. In RapidStart CRM, go to Settings → Data Management → Imports.
  2. Click Import Data in the top navigation.
Upload your CSV file
  1. Click Choose File and select your Accounts CSV file.
  2. Click Next.

Step 4: Map Your Columns

The import wizard will ask you to map your CSV columns to the corresponding fields in RapidStart CRM.

Map CSV columns to CRM fields
  1. For each column in your CSV, select the corresponding field in RapidStart CRM.
  2. If a column doesn't map to any field, you can ignore it.
  3. Click Next when all columns are mapped.
Review mapping and submit import
  1. Review the mapping summary.
  2. Click Submit to start the import.

Step 5: Monitor the Import

Import status page
  1. The import will run in the background.
  2. Refresh the page periodically to check the status.
  3. When complete, you will see the number of records imported and any errors.

Step 6: Fix Import Errors

If there are errors, you can download the error file to see which records failed and why.

Download error file
  1. Click Download Error File to get a CSV of failed records.
  2. Fix the errors in the CSV file.
  3. Re-import the corrected file.

Step 7: Import Contacts

After Accounts are imported, import your Contacts. The process is the same, but you will need to map the Account Name column to link contacts to their accounts.

Import Contacts — map Account Name
  1. Follow the same steps as importing Accounts.
  2. When mapping columns, make sure to map the Account Name column to the Company Name field.
  3. This will link each contact to their account.

Step 8: Update Existing Records

If you need to update existing records (rather than create new ones), you can use the import tool with the Update option.

Update existing records via import
  1. Your CSV must include the Record ID column for the records you want to update.
  2. In the import wizard, select Update instead of Create.
  3. Map the Record ID column to the ID field.
  4. Complete the import as normal.
Import complete — records updated

Additional Tips

Import tips and best practices
  • Import in small batches (500–1000 records) to make error fixing easier.
  • Always test with a small sample file first.
  • Back up your environment before a large import.
  • Import during off-peak hours to avoid impacting users.
Final import results
Verify imported data in RapidStart CRM
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