> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.maestra.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# What is Data Import?

The **Settings → Import** section lets you bulk-upload data into your project: customers, orders, products, loyalty cards, and other entities.

**When to use it:**

* Migrating data from another system
* Bulk-fixing existing records
* Loading data for new promotions and campaigns

## How import works

<Steps>
  <Step title="Choose the entity you want to work with and the specific action you'd like to perform. ">
    For example, you might select Customers as your entity type and Merge customers as your action. Check out the Import types section below for a full list of supported entities and actions.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Decide which fields to send">
    * **Required** — core fields, without them the import will not run.
    * **Required-if** — at least one field from the group must be present. For example, a customer must always have an email, mobile phone, or one of the supported identifiers.
    * **Optional** — extra data you may want to include (birthday, custom fields, etc.).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Prepare your file">
    Follow the [file requirements](#file-requirements) below.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Upload the file">
    Drag-and-drop or browse to your `.csv` or `.txt` file.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Start the import and track it">
    Watch progress and results in the [list of imports](#list-of-imports).
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Note>
  Each import type requires its own set of permissions. See the permissions reference for details.
</Note>

## File requirements

| Parameter      | Value                                                  |
| -------------- | ------------------------------------------------------ |
| Format         | `.csv` or `.txt`                                       |
| Encoding       | `UTF-8`, `UTF-8 with BOM`, or `Windows-1251`           |
| Delimiter      | Any single character (commonly `,` or `;`)             |
| Text qualifier | Any (double quotes `"` recommended)                    |
| Size           | Up to 2 GB                                             |
| File name      | Up to 400 characters; cannot contain `\ / : * ? " < >` |

For step-by-step guidance, see [Preparing a file for import](/import-data/preparing-a-file-for-import).

## Import types

<Note>
  The list of imports available under **Settings → Import** keeps growing.
</Note>

### Customers

* **Add and edit** — creates new customers and updates existing ones.
* **Edit existing** — updates existing customers only; new records are not created.
* **Merge customers** — merges customer profiles by Maestra ID. The primary profile is kept and data from the second profile is transferred into it.

### Customers and their cards

* **Add and edit cards and customers** — import customers together with their loyalty cards.

### Blocklist

* **Import to blocklist** — adds contacts to the [blocklist](/import-data/customers/how-to-add-contacts-to-the-blocklist).
* **Remove from blocklist** — removes contacts from the blocklist.

<Warning>
  Adding contacts to the blocklist **does not stop campaigns from sending to them.** After the import, either delete those customers or clear the contact values on their profiles.
</Warning>

## List of imports

The **Settings → Import** page shows every import in the project — completed, running, and drafts.

For each import you can see:

* Import type
* Author
* Date and time the import was started