Why didn't my ActiveCampaign import add new contacts?

What causes it?

1. If the import file is saved in a different text encoding, ActiveCampaign can add none of its contacts.

   In the ActiveCampaign help: If your file is not UTF-8 encoded, then none of your contacts will be added to your account. My import failed. What can I do?, read 2026-11-12.

2. Rows with a missing or badly formatted email address are skipped, so they never become new contacts.

   In the ActiveCampaign help: Valid email addresses are required for all contacts. My import failed. What can I do?, read 2026-11-12.

3. Addresses on your exclusion list are left out of an import on purpose.

   In the ActiveCampaign help: If your contact is on the exclusion list, then the importer will skip them. My import failed. What can I do?, read 2026-11-12.

4. ActiveCampaign skips addresses that bounced before or unsubscribed, and counts a contact listed twice in a file only once.

   In the ActiveCampaign help: Your contact has bounced in the past, is unsubscribed, or you have duplicates of the same contact in your file. My import failed. What can I do?, read 2026-11-12.

How do I check it myself?

1. Contacts already in your account are not new contacts, and an import leaves them unchanged unless you choose to update them.

   In the ActiveCampaign help: We will not update existing contacts without this box checked. My import failed. What can I do?, read 2026-11-12.

2. Check your recent imports to confirm when the import ran and how, before comparing it with your new contacts for that day.

   In the ActiveCampaign help: A modal will appear indicating the date of your last import and the method of import. My import failed. What can I do?, read 2026-11-12.

How would I know the day it starts?

• Feder reads your new contacts and your active contact count from ActiveCampaign each day and compares each day with your own history.
• It tells you when new contacts go quiet or either number moves outside its usual range.

Some numbers are too quiet to judge daily, such as a form filled in a few times a week. Until there is enough of your own history to judge a change, Feder says it is still learning and scores nothing, rather than guessing.

See what Feder reads from ActiveCampaign, which feeds Interest. Feder only reads. It never changes anything in ActiveCampaign.

What else goes wrong with these numbers?

• Why did my ActiveCampaign active contacts drop?ActiveCampaign
• Why doesn't my ActiveCampaign contact count add up?ActiveCampaign
• Why did Google Analytics stop collecting data?Google Analytics
• Why aren't my key events showing in Google Analytics?Google Analytics
• Why does Google Analytics show (not set)?Google Analytics

See every question.

Where do these answers come from?

Every cause and check on this page comes from the ActiveCampaign help pages, quoted above with the date we read them. Last reviewed 2026-11-12. We read them again by 2027-11-12. If one changes, this page changes or comes down.