DocsUpload Failures
Fix common property file upload issues
Upload Failures
This page covers common problems when uploading Excel or CSV files to Sift.
Special Characters Appear Garbled
Problem: Property names or descriptions display as ???? or garbled characters after import.
Cause: The CSV file wasn't saved with UTF-8 encoding.
Fix:
- Open your file in Excel
- Go to File → Save As
- Choose CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited) (.csv) as the format
- Save and re-upload to Sift
Columns Not Mapped
Problem: Sift didn't auto-detect your column names.
Cause: Your column headers use unusual names that fuzzy matching couldn't identify.
Fix: Rename your columns to match common names:
| Sift Field | Use These Names |
|---|---|
| Title | title, property name, listing |
| Price | price, amount, asking price |
| Bedrooms | bedrooms, beds, BR |
| Bathrooms | bathrooms, baths |
| Area | area, size, sqft, square feet |
| Location | location, area, district, neighbourhood |
| Type | type, property type, category |
| Description | description, details, notes |
Then re-upload the file.
Rows Were Skipped
Problem: Some rows weren't imported.
Causes and fixes:
File Too Large
Problem: Upload fails with a size error.
Fix: Reduce the file size by removing unnecessary columns or rows, or delete old uploads from Sources to free space before re-uploading.
File Format Not Recognized
Problem: Upload fails immediately.
Fix: Ensure your file has one of these extensions:
.xlsx(Excel).xls(Legacy Excel).csv(Comma-separated values)
Other formats (.numbers, .ods, .tsv) are not supported. Convert to one of the supported formats first.
Low Quality Score
Problem: Upload succeeds but the quality score is low (under 40).
Fix: Check the quality report for specific issues:
- Missing prices — add price data so the agent can filter by budget
- Missing locations — add area/neighbourhood names for location matching
- Missing bedrooms — add bedroom counts for property matching
- Short descriptions — longer descriptions help the agent present properties better
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