Excel Import

kim.wade56346

What are the prerequisites for importing an Excel spreadsheet into a new sheet.  I read number of columns, size and row constraints, which my Excel spreadsheet meets.  I am getting a warning regarding fields cannot be more than 50 characters long.  Is this regarding the primary column only or is this for all columns?

Andrée Starå

Hi Kim,

That limitation is only for the column headers so if you change the names or select another row for the headers it should work.

Hope that helps!

Have a fantastic week!

Best,

Andrée Starå

Workflow Consultant @ Get Done Consulting

Heather Hutchens

I’m working on building a process where a report will be run from a third party software monthly, output as Excel and imported to Smartsheet to entirely replace the existing data for use in Smartsheet created reports that will be accessed from the web.   The problem is, I too can’t get the import to work and getting the error that one of the fields is more than 50 chars.

Since the response above says this applies only to the column headers - I have looked (for blanks as well) and none of my headers are that large.  Neither is the content of any of the fields that I could use as primary. I’ve also tried importing with and without formulas and by first saving as a .CSV but getting the same 50 characters error.  

Since we’re going to replacing this data regularly, doing it manually is not a practical option. Any help you can provide to troubleshoot this would be greatly appreciated.

Andrée Starå

Hi @Heather Hutchens

I hope you're well and safe!

Can you describe your process in more detail and maybe share the sheet(s)/copies of the sheet(s) or some screenshots? (Delete/replace any confidential/sensitive information before sharing) That would make it easier to help. (share too, andree@workbold.com)

I hope that helps!

Be safe and have a fantastic week!

Best,

Andrée Starå | Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

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Madalyn Nelson

I ran into the same issue, the error of 50 Characters long is referring to the designated Sheet name. Edit the name of the sheet and that should solve your problem.

Oana A.

You were so right! The name of the file needs to be < 50 characters, otherwise you get this error even though your column names are under 50.