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---
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stage: Manage
group: Import
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info: To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with this page, see https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/ux/technical-writing/#assignments
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---
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# Importing issues from CSV **(FREE)**
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> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-foss/-/merge_requests/23532) in GitLab 11.7.
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Issues can be imported to a project by uploading a CSV file with the columns
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`title` and `description` . Other columns are **not** imported. If you want to
retain columns such as labels and milestones, consider the [Move Issue feature ](managing_issues.md#moving-issues ).
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The user uploading the CSV file is set as the author of the imported issues.
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NOTE:
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A permission level of [Developer ](../../permissions.md ), or higher, is required
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to import issues.
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## Prepare for the import
- Consider importing a test file containing only a few issues. There is no way to undo a large import without using the GitLab API.
- Ensure your CSV file meets the [file format ](#csv-file-format ) requirements.
## Import the file
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To import issues:
1. Navigate to a project's Issues list page.
1. If existing issues are present, click the import icon at the top right, next to the **Edit issues** button.
1. For a project without any issues, click the button labeled **Import CSV** in the middle of the page.
1. Select the file and click the **Import issues** button.
The file is processed in the background and a notification email is sent
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to you once the import is complete.
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## CSV file format
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When importing issues from a CSV file, it must be formatted in a certain way:
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- **header row:** CSV files must include the following headers:
`title` and `description` . The case of the headers does not matter.
- **columns:** Data from columns beyond `title` and `description` are not imported.
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- **separators:** The column separator is automatically detected from the header row.
Supported separator characters are: commas (`,`), semicolons (`;`), and tabs (`\t`).
The row separator can be either `CRLF` or `LF` .
- **double-quote character:** The double-quote (`"`) character is used to quote fields,
enabling the use of the column separator within a field (see the third line in the
sample CSV data below). To insert a double-quote (`"`) within a quoted
field, use two double-quote characters in succession, i.e. `""` .
- **data rows:** After the header row, succeeding rows must follow the same column
order. The issue title is required while the description is optional.
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If you have special characters _within_ a field, (such as `\n` or `,` ),
wrap the characters in double quotes.
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Sample CSV data:
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```plaintext
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title,description
My Issue Title,My Issue Description
Another Title,"A description, with a comma"
"One More Title","One More Description"
```
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### File size
The limit depends on the configuration value of Max Attachment Size for the GitLab instance.
For GitLab.com, it is set to 10 MB.
