Reference a record by external ID
Use an external ID to identify a QuickStart record with the same unique alphanumeric value used by another application. Adding (eid) to a CSV reference column lets File import find or relate that record without relying on its display name or QuickStart internal ID.
In the CSV file template the column for the external ID can have two options:
-
External ID (set): In this column you enter the external ID for the new record you are creating with this import. -
External ID (lookup): In this column you enter the external ID of the record you want to update.
Avoid using external ID with the Create new or update existing records option, as it may lead to errors. If you want to use external ID, it is better to first create new records, and then update existing records, using two separate CSV files.
When you want to relate an existing record to the record you are importing, but you can’t retrieve its internal ID and the name is not unique, you can use the external ID. Normally, in the contact import example below, you would enter the name of the company record in the first column.
| Company | External ID (set) | * First name | * Last name | Mobile phone number |
|---|---|---|---|---|
If you can’t use the company’s name, though, you can edit the header, add the (eid) option and use the external ID instead.
| Company (eid) | External ID (set) | * First name | * Last name | Mobile phone number |
|---|---|---|---|---|
If your goal is to update an existing contact, then you must edit the External ID (set) header, change it to External ID (lookup), and enter the contact’s external ID in the column. In this case you must also remove the Internal ID column, if present, as having two identification columns in the same file results to errors.
| Company | External ID (lookup) | * First name | * Last name | Mobile phone number |
|---|---|---|---|---|
The external ID is useful when you are importing data from a third-party application to QuickStart and you want to use the same ID in QuickStart as in the third-party application.
Note:
If you want to update a record’s external ID with file import, you must identify the record by its internal ID and enter the new value for external ID in the column External ID (set).