Handling identifiers during an import
Importing your data
- Users can upload a .csv file or a .zip file containing multiple .csv files.
- The .zip file must be named, for example, Contacts.zip, Accounts.zip, etc.
Working with the Identifier Field
What are the Identifier Fields?
Identifier fields are fields used to find and match existing records when importing data into the product. They also help link related records, like connecting a contact’s name with their email address.
Each module supports different unique identifier fields for identification, as described in the table below:
Module | Unique Identifier Fields |
Accounts | Account ID Account External ID Account Name |
Contacts | Contact ID Contact External ID Last Name First Name Phone Number Mobile |
Tickets | Ticket ID Ticket External ID Ticket Number |
Products | Product ID Product External ID Product Name |
Tasks | TaskId Task External ID |
Calls | Call ID Call External ID |
Events | Event ID Event External ID |
Article Translation | Translation: External ID Translation ID |
Custom Modules | Record External ID Custom Module Name |
Points to remember:
- While these fields help find matching records.
- So, if multiple records match the value, the first matching record will be selected automatically.
- This can lead to unexpected matches or data being updated in the wrong record if you're not careful.
For your understanding:
Some users expressed a preference for matching Contacts by Last Name instead of Email, highlighting the importance of flexibility in their workflow. Furthermore, some additional users approached matching through the use of a custom field, emphasising the need for tailored solutions to fit their unique requirements. Moreover, users requested that the functionality be enhanced by updating existing records with the relevant entity's Zoho Desk ID, aiming to streamline their processes and improve data accuracy.
Commonly used identifier fields:
- Find By is used to identify an existing record during the import process.
- Map By is utilized to link a child record to a parent record, for instance, by linking a Contact to a Ticket.
You can now select specific fields for matching, providing enhanced control and customization during bulk processes or integrations. This functionality enables more precise data handling, ensuring that the information aligns with your specific requirements. By tailoring the matching criteria, you can streamline processes, ultimately leading to enhanced efficiency and better outcomes for your team. This flexibility enables you to harness the full potential of your data.
Import Systems
Let's start by preparing the CSV file.
A sample tickets module CSV file is given below,
External ID | Subject | Contact Email | Contact Name | About |
101 | Hitman | Sharma | Rohit Sharma's journey from a gifted schoolboy to an international icon and fierce competitor reflects resilience, elegance, and remarkable leadership. | |
102 | King Kohli | Virat | Virat Kohli is a world-renowned Indian cricketer known for his aggressive batting, unmatched consistency, and passionate leadership across all forms of the game. | |
103 | Lambu Ishanth | Sharma | Ishant Sharma is a tall and experienced Indian fast bowler known for his 300 test wickets and key performances in overseas conditions. |
Then choose the appropriate Find By identifier field.
The Find By field is selected from a predefined set of fields specific to each module. It is used to determine whether a record already exists in Zoho Desk.
When using the import tool, the system searches the Desk portal for a record (e.g., a ticket) that matches the value mapped to the selected Find By field. This prevents duplicate records by identifying existing entries based on the chosen field.
- Once the file is uploaded, you need to choose a Find By Field — for instance, Ticket External ID.
- Whichever Find By field we choose must correspond to the relevant column in the CSV file. Since we've selected the Ticket External ID, the Case External ID column in your file should be mapped to the Ticket External IDfield.
If the chosen operation is to 'create new records while avoiding duplicates', and there is no existing ticket with the External ID 101, the import tool will generate a new ticket using the mapped fields. To associate the ticket to the correct Contact, the import tool utilizes the Map By field feature.Finally, choose the appropriate Map By field.
The Map By field enables users to link imported records to their corresponding dependent records, such as associating a ticket with a specific contact. This functionality ensures that when you import ticket data, the import tool actively searches for a matching Contact in Zoho Desk based on the value defined in the selected Map By field.
For instance, during the field mapping process, you can specifically choose to map the Ticket to a Contact using criteria such as the Contact's email ID. This approach enhances the accuracy of data integration by ensuring that each ticket is correctly associated with the relevant Contact, thereby improving data integrity and streamlining the support process. This meticulous mapping not only minimizes the chances of errors but also facilitates a more organized and efficient ticket management system, ultimately leading to improved customer experiences and satisfaction.
Map by identifier field functionality
The tool efficiently searches for contacts associated with the provided email address.
Search: When a user submits a ticket, the system initiates a search for contacts associated with the specified email address.
Match found: If a single match is identified, the ticket is seamlessly associated with that Contact, ensuring that all relevant customer information is readily accessible for support agents.
Multiple Matches: If numerous contacts are found with the same email address, the system will prioritize and use the first match. This helps streamline the ticketing process while maintaining clarity in customer support.
In summary, the strategic use of Custom Unique Fields and External ID fields as identifiers, along with the potential for composite identifiers, positions support teams to operate more effectively and improve overall customer interactions.
Significant improvements in user experience
Transparent process and status tracking
Unique identifiers for entity mapping
Enhanced error handling and log accessibility
Support for custom modules
Takeaway
Access your files securely from anywhere
All-in-one knowledge management and training platform for your employees and customers.
Zoho Developer Community
Topic Participants
Kavya Rao Addepalli
Sticky Posts
Reach us through our official support channels
Dear Customers, Thanks a lot for choosing Zoho! Our applications are built to help achieve your day-to-day business goals. We are committed to engaging with you, to understand and develop solutions that enhance your productivity. We are happy and readyZoho Desk Partners with Microsoft's M365 Copilot for seamless customer service experiences
Hello Zoho Desk users, We are happy to announce that Zoho Desk has partnered with Microsoft's M365 to empower customer service teams with enhanced capabilities and seamless experiences for agents. Microsoft announced their partnership during their keynoteWhatsApp pricing changes: Pay per message starting July 1, 2025
Starting July 1, 2025, WhatsApp is shifting from conversation-based pricing to per-message billing. That means every business-initiated message you send will count. Not just the first one in a 24-hour window. Pricing updates on the WhatsApp Business PlatformLive Webinar - Work smarter with Zoho Desk and Zoho Workplace integration
Hello customers! Zoho Desk and Zoho Workplace are coming together for a webinar on 14th May, 2024. Zoho Workplace is a suite of productivity apps for email, chat, docs, calls, and more at one single place. Zoho Desk is closely integrated with a few toolsApple iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 updates for Zoho Desk users
Hello Zoho Desk users! Apple recently announced the release of iOS 17 and iPad OS 17. These latest OS updates will help you stay productive and efficient, through interactive and seamless user experiences. Zoho Desk has incorporated the updates to help
Zoho TeamInbox Resources
Zoho CRM Plus Resources
Zoho Books Resources
Zoho Subscriptions Resources
Zoho Projects Resources
Zoho Sprints Resources
Qntrl Resources
Zoho Creator Resources
Zoho CRM Resources
Design. Discuss. Deliver.
Zoho Show Resources
Get Started. Write Away!
Writer is a powerful online word processor, designed for collaborative work.
-
オンラインヘルプ
-
Webセミナー
-
機能活用動画
-
よくある質問
-
Ebook
-
-
Zoho Campaigns
- Zoho サービスのWebセミナー
その他のサービス コンテンツ
Nederlandse Hulpbronnen
ご検討中の方
Recent Topics
#13 Fix Mistakes Without Breaking Your Records
A customer purchases 100 custom-printed invitations for an upcoming event. A few days after delivery, they call to say that some invitations were damaged and others need to be reprinted. They request a return. The customer isn't asking for a completelyZoho Directory : transformez vos données d’identité en décisions de sécurité
Que sont les rapports d’identité dans Zoho Directory et pourquoi sont-ils importants? À mesure que les organisations se développent, la gestion des identités devient plus complexe. Les informations existent, mais elles sont souvent réparties entre plusieursHow to use Zoho Billing info in a workflow
We have Zoho Billing and CRM sync'd and the Billing info appears as expected for each Account in Zoho CRM, including subscription status, plan type etc. But how can we use this in a workflow? Thanks DylanWhy can't we choose Fixed Asset account for Purchased Items? (eTims issue?)
Hello, When the company purchase items not for sale and not supposed to be in the inventory stock, like equipment for operational use, there is no way to access the Fixed Asset accounts in the drop down list. Is that an eTims limitation again? Or somethingAuto-approval for shared key access not working for new users
Hello, I'm an admin of a Zoho Vault organization (34 active users, ZOHO identity provider). I have the "Auto-approval for shared key access" setting enabled in Settings → Fine-Grained Controls → Global, but it does not work as expected. The problem: WhenZoho Analytics UI Bug
Hello, all, The Aggregate Formulas in Zoho Analytics' list of fields have a 3-dot menu: If the formula has a long name, the name is not fully visible in the list, and a 3-dot menu is not accessible from it: This is not convenient, especially when theCanvases Auto-Skewing/Adding Scroll Bars When They Were Not There Prior
Is anyone else noticing rendering issues in their canvases today? It seems to be mainly icons which now have scroll bars added which makes them all look off, though some fields seemed to revert to squished length as well. Were the icons replaced withMarketing Tip #37: Reduce purchase doubts with better product images
When customers shop online, they cannot pick up, turn around, or inspect a product in person. That is why your product images need to do more of the selling. Two simple upgrades can make a big difference: Use zoom-friendly images so customers can lookWhy don't Zia agents support file uploads?
I am trying to build a Zia Agent that allows uploading of a PDF file and uses the GLM5 model to process it and extract information. But agents.zoho.com has no way to enable file uploads on the agent. Additionally, GLM5 based agents keep outputting theirZia Agent built in ChatKit UI does not render markdown
Hi, You have a major shortcoming in the Zia Agent UI. The test UI that is embedded in agents.zoho.com allows you to test the agent has full support for rendering markdown, but your ChatKit UI does not have support for rendering markdown. If I embed itZoho Books | Product updates | June 2026
Hello users, Welcome to this month's roundup of what's new in Zoho Books! We have an exciting line-up this time. The highlight is the launch of the all-new France Edition with full ISCA compliance. We're also introducing features such as Layout RulesAdd spaces to input format
In Zoho Inovices, I am trying to do a custom input format for a custom field. I have tried a few variations, but this is my most recent: ^[a-z][A-Z][0-9][,][-][_][:][ ]$ In this field, I will be entering different alphanumeric information, depending onGLM 5 not available
Hello, I am trying to setup a Zia Agent using agents.zoho.com. The settings says that GLM5 is among the list of free zoho hosted models available. However, when I try to setup an agent and pick a model from the list only GLM 4.7 Flash is available. HowSupervisor Rules --> Custom Function
Hello, currently I can't add a custom function to a supervise rule. Is there a reason for this? Background: We have BluePrint managed tickets and actually we have a Supervise rule which should set the ticket to "closed" after 168 hours since the lastVault Chrome Extension Asks for Master Password every single time
Is this supposed to be a feature, or is this a bug? My assumption is that it's a bug, because every time I click on the Extension, there is a red exclamation mark/notification on the Zoho Vault extension. Is the idea with the Extension that I have toWhat's New in Zoho Inventory | April & May 2026
Hello users, We're excited to roll out the latest Zoho Inventory updates for April and May 2026. These enhancements are designed to make your daily operations smoother and more efficient, from advanced inventory management and flexible pricing to automatedPermission Denied for Worklogs URL
We're attempting to pull worklogs data from service desk plus and when using the below URL we are met with a message stating we do not have permission. https://sdpondemand.manageengine.com/api/v3/requests/xxxxxx/worklogs/ We used SDPOnDemand.requests.ALLAnyone in Australia using Zoho Books AND has their account with NAB?
Hi I have an account with both NAB and Suncorp. Suncorp transaction come in the next day however NAB transactions take 4-5 business days to appear. eg: A deposit made today in my Suncorp will be imported into Zoho tomorrow. A deposit made today to the NAB account will be imported maybe Saturday (Friday overnight). I have contacted both Zoho and NAB but noone seems to know why. I was just wondering if anyone else in Australia uses NAB and has this issue (or doesn't) maybe we could compare notes andPartner with HDFC And Sbi Bank.
Hdfc and sbi both are very popular bank if zoho books become partner with this banks then many of the zoho books users will benefit premium features of partnered banks.#12 Never Leave a Billable Hour Behind
A client approves a website redesign project. The estimated effort? 40 hours. The project is going well. A few additional review meetings are scheduled. Several rounds of content changes are requested. A few "quick fixes" get added along the way. TheClose task on Completion Date entry
This discussion is similar to my issue: "backdated-task-completion-date" discussion Scenario: A bunch of tasks have been completed. But, they have not been closed. Time goes by You finally get around to closing those tasks Projects assigns the date theCan I add Conditional merge tags on my Templates?
Hi I was wondering if I can use Conditional Mail Merge tags inside my Email templates/Quotes etc within the CRM? In spanish and in our business we use gender and academic degree salutations , ie: Dr., Dra., Sr., Srta., so the beginning of an email / letterRecords from ATE 29: Knowledge Base, Community, and AI for smarter user education
Hi Everyone, "Ask the Experts 29" was an engaging session, where we explored how to utilize the Knowledge Base for customers and internal teams, as well as emphasizing the importance of our Community. This post highlights the questions and use cases discussed,Kaizen #246 - Incoming Lead Email Intent Detection using Zia Assistant API in Zoho CRM
Hello all! Welcome back to a fresh Kaizen week. In this post, we will explore how Zia detects positive intent from incoming emails in the Leads module using the Zia Assistant API along with Workflow Rules and Custom Functions in Zoho CRM. Use Case ProblemSmart URL Determination
I would like to see Vault implement some sort of "smart" URL determination. When one starts to add a new username-password combination from a new site, Vault brings in the exact URL of the page from which this is happening. All too often, it looks somethingRemoving To or CC Addresses from Desk Ticket
I was hoping i could find a way to remove unnecessary email addresses from tickets submitted via email. For example, a customer may email the support address AND others who are in the helpdesk notification group, in either the TO or CC address. This resultsTip #76- Exploring Technician Console: Quick Launch- 'Insider Insights'
Hello Zoho Assist Community! Welcome back to our Technician Console series. Last time we explored Power Options, and this time we are turning the spotlight on a feature that quietly saves you dozens of clicks in every session by getting you exactly whereMulti-Book Accounting Support in Zoho Books
Currently, businesses that operate multiple entities, regions, or divisions need to maintain separate Zoho Books instances or resort to manual consolidation processes. This creates significant operational friction and increases the risk of errors. PROBLEM:Automated Multi-Subsidiary Consolidation Engine in Zoho Books
For organizations managing multiple subsidiaries across different geographies or business units, consolidation is a quarterly/annual nightmare. Zoho Books lacks native consolidation tools, forcing companies to export data, manipulate it in Excel, andZoho Books | Product updates | April 2026
Hello users, Welcome to our April 2026 product updates roundup! Highlights include profit margin for sales transactions, insights in reports, recording deposits from undeposited funds in banking, and faster production workflows with improved assemblyUnable to charge GST on shipping/packing & Forwarding charges in INDIA
Currently, tax rates only apply to items. It does not apply tax to any shipping or packing & forwarding charges that may be on the order as well. However, these charges are taxable under GST in India. Please add the ability to apply tax to these charges.How to add packing & forwarding charge in purchase order & quotation???
Hello Zoho Team I have just started using Zoho for my company and I wanted to make purchase order. My supplier charges fix 2% as packing & forwarding on Total amount of material and then they charge me tax. For example, Material 1 = 100 Rs Material 2How to book GST paid in zoho books
hi, i am a new user to Zoho books and not able to book GST paid in books, kindly suggest how i can book it in books. thanks, siddharth[Bug] WebAuthn passkey registration blocked on rpIds with TLDs longer than 6 characters (.accountant, .technology, etc.) — isValidDomain regex too strict
Hi, Filing on behalf of an enterprise customer where Zoho Vault is deployed across the company. The Chrome extension blocks WebAuthn passkey registration on legitimate sites whose Relying Party ID (rpId) has a TLD longer than 6 letters. This affects everyZoho Payroll: Product Updates - H1, 2026
Over the last few months, Zoho Payroll has added updates that make payroll easier to process, review, explain, and manage for businesses. The most important improvements focus on payroll flexibility, gratuity tracking, employee self-service, reporting,Pushover Notification Module
Hello, it would be good if there would be a "Pushover" (https://pushover.net/) module besides the standard SMS module. Pushover is now very well known, especially in IT, and is becoming more and more popular. The biggest advantage are the customizableE-Mail Blacklist via GUI
Hello, It would be helpful if the GUI included an option to block specific email addresses (both incoming and outgoing). I want a setting where I can completely block certain email addresses. This means that no tickets can be opened from those addresses,How to migrate cpanel mail to new zoho mail?
Hi, I have a client whose email (for his website domain) is currently on "cpanel mail". Now client wants to move to Zoho Mail. I checked migration docs and its mentioned that I can migrate using IMAP or POP but I am not getting exactly what steps should I follow in order to achieve this. As soon I will add clients domain and setup MX Records and SPF for that, I will lose access to currently setup email (cpanel mail) and without adding domain in zoho mail, I can't setup email for that. Sorry if ISalesIQ Integration with LINE: API Rate Limit Issue and Pre-Chat Flow Concerns
Hello SalesIQ Developer Team. I have investigated the issue and found that the LINE Rate Limit is being consumed unusually quickly. LINE API free usage limit: 300 messages per month per brand. This limit will be reached within the first few days. 1. LINEHow to Backup Zoho to PST?
I'm looking for a simple way to backup Zoho Mail emails to PST format. I tried the IMAP method with Outlook, but it seems slow and complicated for large mailboxes. I need a solution that can: Export Zoho emails to PST Preserve attachments and folder hierarchyNext Page