CSV File Import
If you wish to send packages to a large number of recipients, you can use the File Import function.
Importing XML instead of CSV? See XML File Import.
Create a Profile
Before importing the file, you must create an import profile.
- Go to Profiles → Addresses or Shipments → press +
- Choose Import Type → Addresses or Shipments
- Add a Profile Name (e.g. Address book)
- Choose Import File Type → CSV
These are pre-filled, not detected from your file — get them wrong and your rows import garbled or fail.
| Setting | Pre-filled with | Change it when |
|---|---|---|
| Encoding | UTF-8 | Your file is not UTF-8 — or pick Detect automatically if you are unsure |
| Column delimiter | ; | Your columns are separated by ,, | or Tab |
| Decimal separator | . | Your weights are written as 2,5 |
| Multiple value delimiter | , | You put several values in one column, separated by ; or | |
| Contains header | ticked | Your file has no header row |
- Press Continue
- Press Upload File
- Press Process File
- Map field names based on the header names of your CSV file
The dropdown is filled by reading your file with the profile settings you chose, so it shows you straight away whether they are right:
- your real column names — the settings match your file
- Position 0, 1, 2 — the file is being read without a header row. That is correct if your file has none (Position 0 is column A of the spreadsheet); if your file does have a header, tick Contains header in the profile.
- one long merged name — the Column delimiter does not match your file
The Function column can remain untouched.
If needed, you can add a Transformation — created and used when data from the CSV file must be adapted for import. For example, use this when the country name in your file is "Switzerland" but the system requires ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 format ("CH").
When all mandatory (and optional) field names are entered, press Save.
Shipment Fields You Can Map
When your Import Type is Shipments, you can map your CSV columns to the fields below. Map only the columns you have — anything you leave out simply won't be filled in.
Address details (sender / receiver)
Each address field can be mapped separately for the sender and the receiver.
| Field | What it means | Max length | Required? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Company or person name | 35 | Yes |
| Name2 | Second name line | 35 | Optional |
| Contact | Contact person | 35 | Optional |
| Country | Country as ISO code (e.g. CH, DE) | 2 | Yes |
| State / province | State code | — | For US/CA |
| Postal code | ZIP / postal code | 9 | Yes |
| City | City | 35 | Yes |
| Street | Street name and number | 35 | Yes |
| Street2 | Additional address line (receiver only) | 35 | Optional |
| House number | Separate house number | 8 | For NL |
| Phone | Phone in international format | 35 | For GB |
| Email address | 100 | For non-CH/LI countries | |
| Reference | Your address reference | — | Optional |
| Language | Recipient language, ISO 639-1 (DE, EN, FR, IT) | — | Optional |
The mandatory fields apply to the receiver. For the sender you can instead map a Sender address ID to pull in a saved address book entry. A dash in Max length means the length is not checked on import.
Service details
| Field | What it means | Max length | Required? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Service code | The DPD product/service for the shipment (e.g. Classic, Express) — see Services and Options | — | Optional |
| Option codes | Additional service options, separated by your multi-value delimiter — see Services and Options | — | Optional |
You can also map a full return address (name, company name, contact, street, house number, postal code, city, country, state, phone, email, language) — the same fields and limits as the address table above.
Parcel details
| Field | What it means | Max length | Required? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weight | Parcel weight in kg (e.g. 2.5) | number | Yes |
| Number of parcels | How many parcels are in the shipment. A higher number is reduced to 20 | 20 | Optional |
| Shipment note | Note for the shipment | — | Optional |
| Return shipment note | Note for the return shipment | — | Optional |
| Customer reference 1–4 | Your shipment-level references | 35 each | Optional |
| Parcel reference 1 / 2 | Your parcel-level references, printed on the label and manifest | 35 each | Optional |
| Parcel reference 3 / 4 | Additional parcel references for your own use | 35 each | Optional |
| Insured amount + currency | For the Higher Insurance service: the insured value and its currency (e.g. CHF) | currency 3 | Optional |
| Number of swap parcels | Number of swap parcels (Swap service) | number | Optional |
| Delivery information | Delivery information for the shipment | 175 | Optional |
A row with a value over one of these limits is rejected. The rest of the file is still imported.
Shipment note and Return shipment note can be mapped, but the values are not imported. A currency code longer than 3 characters is replaced by your default currency.
For dangerous goods in limited quantities, you can also map: UN number, substance code, packaging group, class, and substance weight. Their length is not checked on import.
Weight is required for every parcel — make sure your CSV has a weight column (in kg) before importing. A negative weight is rejected.
Upload the CSV File
- Go to File Imports
- Press Import File in the top-right corner
- Choose the Profile (the name you entered in step 1)
- Upload the CSV file and press Import
- Press Refresh
The imported information will appear in your address book or shipments.
ERP / CRM integration
Automatic, unattended import is a Desktop App feature. Online Label Print imports files that you upload by hand, as described above.
The Desktop App can connect to your existing ERP, CRM or e-commerce platform and import shipment data without manual entry.
How it works
- Your ERP or CRM exports shipment data — recipient addresses, weights, service codes, references
- The Desktop App picks up the exported data from a configured source
- Shipments are created automatically, and labels can be printed straight away
- Tracking numbers and status are written back to your ERP if configured
Supported integration methods
| Method | Description |
|---|---|
| File import (CSV / flat file) | Your ERP writes files to a folder, an FTP or an SFTP server; the Desktop App picks them up |
| Database connection | Direct connection to your ERP database (PostgreSQL, MSSQL, …) |
| REST API | Your ERP calls the Shipment REST API directly |
Automatic pick-up from a folder, FTP or SFTP is configured under Imports → Data sources in the installed application. The available options — interval checks, semaphore files, error and archive folders, and printing labels after processing — are documented under Data sources.
Technical Requirements for CSV File
The system supports flexible CSV formats with several encoding and delimiter options.
Character Encoding
Choose one of the supported encodings:
| Encoding | Use Case | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| UTF-8 | Recommended for all files | Universal support, handles all special characters |
| ISO-8859-1 | Western European languages | German umlauts (ä, ö, ü), French accents (Latin-1) |
| Windows-1250 | Central European languages | Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Slovak |
| Windows-1251 | Cyrillic characters | Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Russian |
| Windows-1252 | Western European languages | German, French, Italian (Windows Latin-1) |
| Detect automatically | When you are not sure which encoding your file uses | The system reads the encoding from the file itself |
Save your CSV as UTF-8 in Excel: File → Save As → CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited)
Field Delimiters
| Delimiter | Symbol | Excel Export (Region) | Use When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Semicolon | ; | European Excel (DE/FR/IT) | Recommended for European locales |
| Comma | , | US/UK Excel | Data doesn't contain commas |
| Tab | \t | Manual export | Data contains many special characters |
| Pipe | | | Database exports | Technical integrations |
Your data must not contain the delimiter character, or it must be properly quoted.
CSV Header Format
Headers must start with a letter (A–Z, a–z) or underscore (_).
Allowed characters in headers (after the first character):
| Character | Examples |
|---|---|
| Letters | A–Z, a–z |
| Numbers | 0–9 |
| Underscore | _ |
| Hyphen | - |
| Dot | . |
| Space | |
| Parentheses | ( ) |
| Forward slash | / |
| Colon | : |
| Ampersand | & |
| Comma | , |
Not allowed as first character: Numbers, special symbols ($, #, @, !, etc.)
Valid header examples:
Name;Address1;PostalCode;Country
DokStatus;DokDat.;Order_Nr;Weight.KG
Customer Name;Street & Number;Date/Time;Status (Active)
recipient_name;recipient_address;tracking-number
Invalid header examples:
123;456;789 (starts with number)
$Amount;#ID;@Email (special chars: $, #, @)
;Name;Address (empty first column)
CSV Configuration Parameters
| Parameter | Type | Description | Example Values |
|---|---|---|---|
columnDelimiter | String | Character separating fields | ; , \t | |
decimalSeparator | String | Decimal point for numbers | . (US) or , (EU) |
multiValueDelimiter | String | Separator for multi-value fields | | ; , |
containsHeader | Boolean | Whether first row is a header | true / false |
Decimal separator examples:
European format (comma as decimal):
Name;Weight;Price
Product A;2,5;19,99
Product B;1,8;15,50
US format (dot as decimal):
Name,Weight,Price
Product A,2.5,19.99
Product B,1.8,15.50
Creating CSV Files from Excel
-
Prepare your data:
- First row = headers
- No empty rows at the top
- Consistent column count
-
Save as CSV:
- European (semicolon): File → Save As → CSV (Semicolon delimited) *.csv
- UTF-8: File → Save As → CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited) *.csv
- US (comma): File → Save As → CSV (Comma delimited) *.csv
-
Verify encoding:
- Open the file in Notepad or TextEdit
- Check that special characters (ä, ö, ü, é) display correctly
Common Issues & Solutions
Something not looking right after import? Here are the most common cases and how to fix them in your import profile.
Special characters look wrong — e.g. Müller shows up as Müller
The file's encoding doesn't match your profile. Re-save the file as UTF-8 (in Excel: Save As → CSV UTF-8) and set Encoding to UTF-8 in the profile. Open the file in a text editor to check the accents look right.
Numbers are treated as text — e.g. 2,5 isn't recognised as a number
Your decimal sign doesn't match the profile. Set Decimal separator to match your file: a comma (,) for European files, a dot (.) for US/international files.
All your data lands in one column
The profile is splitting columns on the wrong character. Check what separates the columns in your file, then set the matching Column delimiter — European Excel usually uses a semicolon (;), US Excel a comma (,).
Your header row is imported as data
Contains header is switched off in the profile. Turn it on, and make sure your headers start with a letter, not a number.
The import fails or shows unexpected columns
This is usually caused by stray rows or columns. Remove any empty rows at the top of the file, make sure every row has the same number of columns, and delete any leftover delimiters at the end of your lines.
Pre-Import Checklist
Before importing, verify:
- File encoding is UTF-8 (or appropriate for your language)
- Delimiter matches configuration (semicolon for Europe, comma for US)
- Headers start with letters (if using headers)
- No empty rows at the top
- Consistent column count across all rows
- Decimal separator matches your number format
- Special characters (ä, ö, ü, é) display correctly in a text editor
- No trailing spaces or delimiters
- File size is reasonable (< 25 MB recommended)