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Cannot populate 'external_id' for customer in the right profile section when loading via csv file

Forum|Forum|1 month ago
October 3, 2025
3 replies
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+1

suminchoi2015
Contributor III

Hi,

We are trying to support our clients with loading existing customer profiles to Klaviyo via csv file during onboarding. After onboarding, we send customer create and update via real-time profiles API to Klaviyo.

When sending customer data via API, we send ‘external_id’ field under the attributes section per Klaviyo documentation.

This external_id field then gets populated correctly under ‘Profile details’ section.

However, when I upload customer profile via csv file and input the ID under ‘external_id’ column, Klaviyo asks to map the external_id field to a new field and when it gets uploaded, it is created under ‘Custom properties’.

How can I get the external_id field to be populated under ‘Profile detail’ section when loading data via csv file?

Best answer by Byrne C

Hey @suminchoi2015,

Could you try using $id as the heading in your CSV file where you’d like to map the external ID? This should allow this to map to a profile’s information section, rather than just as a custom property. Let me know if this works!

+27

Byrne C
Community Manager
Answer
Forum|Forum|1 month ago
October 6, 2025

Hey @suminchoi2015,

Could you try using $id as the heading in your CSV file where you’d like to map the external ID? This should allow this to map to a profile’s information section, rather than just as a custom property. Let me know if this works!