HubSpot Import Cleanup

Most import trouble comes from the file, not the CRM: the same email twice, dates in mixed formats, and dropdown values spelled three ways. This worked example shows what a rule-based cleanup fixes and what still needs a person.

ℹ️ A worked example you can check. The before and after tables below were produced by the free tool on this site from a fictional sample file. Open the same file yourself and you will get the same result.

What Usually Goes Wrong

• The same email twice with different capitalization, which creates confusion about which row wins
• Create dates typed as 3/14/2026, 2026-03-18 and 14 March 2026 in one column
• Phone numbers in five formats
• Lifecycle stage written as lead, Lead, MQL and Marketing Qualified Lead
• Names in ALL CAPITALS from a form tool

The Sample File, Before

7 rows of fictional data with the problems above. Every person and company is invented.

Open This File in the Workspace Download the CSV

HubSpot Import Cleanup sample before cleaning
First Name	Last Name	Email	Phone Number	Company Name	Lifecycle Stage	Create Date
ALICIA	BRENNAN	alicia.brennan@norwell-example.com	(617) 555-0114	Norwell Example Co	Lead	3/14/2026
devon	achebe	Devon.Achebe@Larkspur-Example.com	617.555.0120	Larkspur Example LLC	lead	3/18/2026
Hana	Kobayashi	hana@kobayashi-example.jp	+81 3 5555 0133	Kobayashi Example KK	MQL	2026-03-18
Alicia	Brennan	Alicia.Brennan@norwell-example.com	(617) 555-0114	Norwell Example Co	Lead	3/14/2026
Rafael	Monteiro	rafael.monteiro@example	6175550141	Monteiro Example Ltda	Marketing Qualified Lead	14 March 2026
Sinead	Gallagher	sinead@gallagher-example.ie	+353 1 555 0156	Gallagher Example Ltd	Customer	4/2/2026
Victor	Lindholm	victor.lindholm@gmial.com	(617) 555-0162		Subscriber	4/5/2026

How to Clean It

1. Export or collect the contact file as CSV and keep an untouched copy.
2. Run it through the Data Workspace with duplicates, emails, phones, dates and name capitalization switched on.
3. Read the review list. Here it contains one invalid email, one likely typo, and a note about how the date column was read.
4. Fix the Lifecycle Stage values by hand so each matches an option that exists in your portal. The tool does not change them.
5. Remove the email_check column before importing, or map it to a custom property if you want to keep it.

Prefer the command line or an AI agent? The same result comes from smartdata-clean clean hubspot-import.csv --dedupe-rows --lower-emails --merge-duplicate-emails --flag-emails --phones --dates --names. See tools for agents.

The Result

7 rows in, 1 removed, 6 out. Emails, phones, dates and names come out consistent, and the repeated contact is merged because the second row added nothing. The four spellings of lifecycle stage are untouched: mapping free text to your portal's dropdown options depends on how your portal is set up, so the rules do not attempt it.

HubSpot Import Cleanup sample after cleaning
First Name	Last Name	Email	Phone Number	Company Name	Lifecycle Stage	Create Date	email_check
Alicia	Brennan	alicia.brennan@norwell-example.com	+16175550114	Norwell Example Co	Lead	2026-03-14	ok
Devon	Achebe	devon.achebe@larkspur-example.com	+16175550120	Larkspur Example LLC	lead	2026-03-18	ok
Hana	Kobayashi	hana@kobayashi-example.jp	+81355550133	Kobayashi Example KK	MQL	2026-03-18	ok
Rafael	Monteiro	rafael.monteiro@example	+16175550141	Monteiro Example Ltda	Marketing Qualified Lead	2026-03-14	invalid format
Sinead	Gallagher	sinead@gallagher-example.ie	+35315550156	Gallagher Example Ltd	Customer	2026-04-02	ok
Victor	Lindholm	victor.lindholm@gmial.com	+16175550162		Subscriber	2026-04-05	check domain (did you mean gmail.com?)

What the tool left for you

The tool listed these 4 items for a person to check:

• Dates in "Create Date" were read as month first (MM/DD) because other dates in that column can only be read that way. 2 date(s) that could be read either way on their own were converted on that basis (rows 7, 8). Check them, or set the date order yourself.
• Invalid email format: 1 (rows 6)
• Possible email domain typos: 1 (rows 8)
• This list contains international numbers. 5 ten-digit number(s) with no country code were read as US/Canada (+1) (rows 2, 3, 5, 6, 8). Check that those rows are US or Canadian numbers.

Checked, not just claimed

The original file, the cleaned file and the change log were run through the separate verifier. Result: PASS.

✓ Removed rows with a valid, verified reason: 1 of 1
✓ Rows: 7 in, 1 removed with a logged reason, 6 out
✓ Cells compared: 42; changed: 16; every change matched to the log: yes
✓ Log entries: 20; not matching the files: 0

The verifier confirms that the change log explains every difference between the two files. It does not judge whether each cleaning choice suits your situation; that part is yours.

The cleaning report

Report text for the sample file

SMARTDATAAI — CLEANING REPORT
Source: hubspot-import.csv (fictional practice data)

SUMMARY
Rows in (excluding header): 7
Rows out: 6
Rows removed: 1
  Exact duplicates: 1
Cells changed: 19
  Emails normalized: 2
  Phones standardized to +E.164: 7
  Dates standardized to YYYY-MM-DD: 6
  Names re-cased: 4
Columns added: email_check

COLUMNS DETECTED
Email: Email
Phone: Phone Number
Date: Create Date
Name: First Name, Last Name

NEEDS REVIEW
- Dates in "Create Date" were read as month first (MM/DD) because other dates in that column can only be read that way. 2 date(s) that could be read either way on their own were converted on that basis (rows 7, 8). Check them, or set the date order yourself.
- Invalid email format: 1 (rows 6)
- Possible email domain typos: 1 (rows 8)
- This list contains international numbers. 5 ten-digit number(s) with no country code were read as US/Canada (+1) (rows 2, 3, 5, 6, 8). Check that those rows are US or Canadian numbers.

SAMPLE OF CHANGES (first 15 of 19)
Row 2 · Phone Number: "(617) 555-0114" → "+16175550114"  [phone]
Row 2 · Create Date: "3/14/2026" → "2026-03-14"  [date]
Row 2 · First Name: "ALICIA" → "Alicia"  [name case]
Row 2 · Last Name: "BRENNAN" → "Brennan"  [name case]
Row 3 · Email: "Devon.Achebe@Larkspur-Example.com" → "devon.achebe@larkspur-example.com"  [email]
Row 3 · Phone Number: "617.555.0120" → "+16175550120"  [phone]
Row 3 · Create Date: "3/18/2026" → "2026-03-18"  [date]
Row 3 · First Name: "devon" → "Devon"  [name case]
Row 3 · Last Name: "achebe" → "Achebe"  [name case]
Row 4 · Phone Number: "+81 3 5555 0133" → "+81355550133"  [phone]
Row 5 · Email: "Alicia.Brennan@norwell-example.com" → "alicia.brennan@norwell-example.com"  [email]
Row 5 · Phone Number: "(617) 555-0114" → "+16175550114"  [phone]
Row 5 · Create Date: "3/14/2026" → "2026-03-14"  [date]
Row 6 · Phone Number: "6175550141" → "+16175550141"  [phone]
Row 6 · Create Date: "14 March 2026" → "2026-03-14"  [date]

Values the tool cannot settle are left as they were and listed above. Where the day/month order of a date was worked out from other dates in the same column, that is listed above too.
Row numbers refer to the original file (header = row 1). Email checks cover format only; they do not confirm that a mailbox exists.

Where a Tool Stops and a Person Starts

Mapping stage and owner values to your portal's options, matching columns to properties, and de-duplicating against contacts that are already in the CRM need someone who can see your setup. That is the CRM Import Prep service.

See Service Levels From $19 How We Check Our Work

HubSpot is a trademark of its owner. SmartDataAI is not affiliated with HubSpot. Import rules change; confirm the current requirements in HubSpot's own documentation.