CSV Import: Unable to map all fields or update existing issues

Jamie Crawford

I am trying to update (or create) many issues (work items) by import with the "External System Import" tool, but have three challenges. I am not a super admin, but can create tickets with this tool. Are there configuration or permissions changes I need to request from my administrators?

Challenges

1. I am unable to map any "other" fields (based on the last item in the table under the Tips for importing CSV data into Jira fields heading in the Import data from a CSV file article.
2. I believe I am unable to update existing items because I'm unable to map the Issue/Work item key in this interface. The CSV file structure section has a sub-heading of "Updating existing work items" that indicates I should be able to update existing items this way.
3. Lower Priority: Two of three custom date fields cannot be imported due to "fields.validation.date.format" errors even though the same date format is being used for all date fields. I have tried multiple date formats; always keeping the CSV format and the import config format the same. I noticed that the dates in these fields are displayed in a different format in the issue search results.
   1. Dates I can update by import are displayed as MMM dd, yyyy (example: Jun 05, 2025).
   2. Dates I can NOT import are displayed as dd/MMM/yy (example: 05/May/25). They can also not be edited in-line in the search results.

NOTE: There are some discrepancies between what I see and what this documentation shows: for example, I am unable to switch to the old import view and I access this interface through the issue/work item search, rather than the "Settings" menu.

Tomislav Tobijas

Hi @Jamie Crawford ,

Yeah... CSV imports can be a bit tricky. From my experience, using old import wizard proved to be the best (although there are some good features in the new one as well).

Anyway, related to your questions:

1. Other fields are actually custom fields in your instance. For example, if you have field named "Project Manager", you should be able to select it while mapping CSV columns and Jira fields.
   Can you share which fields it appears you cannot import/select?
2. To update existing items, it's easiest to export items you have in Jira (as you will then get item keys) and then edit the table/CSV file. These "TT-1" (and similar) values from the example are actually item keys.
3. I'm guessing you've formatted all date values the same way in your CSV file? All date fields need to have the same format as you're defining in the first steps in the import wizard.
   Can you share which date types these two fields are? Are we talking about 'Date picker' or 'Date time picker'?

As for date formats, these can also cause some problems. The experience showed you really need to know your way with constructing files that are ready for import. And this highly depends on what kind of OS you're using, regional settings on your device, etc.

If you have any example of CSV/table you're trying to import, together with a list of Jira fields and their types, we could maybe try to recreate this and see how to import stuff properly.

Cheers,
Tobi