# Importing Contacts **URL:** \ **Category:** CRM\ **Tags:** professional\ **Created:** [January 25, 2024, 10:57pm UTC](https://community.hubspot.com/t/importing-contacts/98709 "2024-01-25T22:57:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JGray30](https://d10pqhm3lwygmk.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/community.hubspot.com/jgray30/32/7787_2.png) [@JGray30](https://community.hubspot.com/u/JGray30)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2024, 10:57pm UTC](https://community.hubspot.com/t/importing-contacts/98709/1 "2024-01-25T22:57:19Z")
Hi I imported some contacts today which was fine. I selected new contacts. Around 5000, of that 5000 450 were rejected because the emails existed. Again fine, I wont bore you with the reason why The 450 I then imported and chose to update existing contacts (which of course there was). It did update which was great apart from one field which is a multichoice field. For some reason and obviously I have missed something, it did an overide and not append. The field already had Warranty selected, what I wanted Hupspot to do was select Show. I expected to see in that field WARRANTY & SHOW What i had returned was SHOW I then had to filter the records with SHOW, then select them, edit and then append to get my WARRANTY & SHOW WHen I import how do I tell hubspot this particular field only needs to be appended? ---
**Author:** ![jnix284](https://d10pqhm3lwygmk.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/community.hubspot.com/jnix284/32/29_2.png) [@jnix284](https://community.hubspot.com/u/jnix284)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2024, 12:30am UTC](https://community.hubspot.com/t/importing-contacts/98709/2 "2024-01-26T00:30:17Z")
Hi @JGray30, happy to help! The next time you import contacts with a multi-select property and you need to append the value instead of replace it, you can add a ; to the beginning. So you would import the data as: ;show which would result in Warranty and Show being selected in the contact record property. Here’s more from the [knowledge base](https://knowledge.hubspot.com/crm-setup/import-data-to-checkbox-properties#:~:text=To%20add%20or%20append%20values,value%203%3B%20value%204).): To add or append values to a multiple checkboxes property, **add a semicolon before the first value**. This will append the value instead of overwriting the existing property. To import multiple values, in your import file, add a semicolon between each value (;value 2;value 3; value 4) ---
**Author:** ![BMcCaffrey](https://d10pqhm3lwygmk.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/community.hubspot.com/bmccaffrey/32/57633_2.png) [@BMcCaffrey](https://community.hubspot.com/u/BMcCaffrey)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 4:00pm UTC](https://community.hubspot.com/t/importing-contacts/98709/3 "2024-12-17T16:00:31Z")
hi @Jnix284 - I’m attempting to do the same thing - I want to select an additional checkbox for an import of users so I am adding the field as “;2025 ATP” but when I try to do the upload, I’m receiving an error. What am I doing wrong? (I created the option “2025 ATP” in the checkbox property. It seems that HubSpot does not want to simply add this additional checkbox to the exisiting values for my users) ![Screenshot 2024-12-17 at 10.57.37 AM.png](https://d2qpr2jzcazej7.cloudfront.net/original/3X/c/b/cb45f140d344b3044771ce944e3baf7d34741eac.png) ---
**Author:** ![jnix284](https://d10pqhm3lwygmk.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/community.hubspot.com/jnix284/32/29_2.png) [@jnix284](https://community.hubspot.com/u/jnix284)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2025, 11:38pm UTC](https://community.hubspot.com/t/importing-contacts/98709/4 "2025-01-18T23:38:44Z")
Hi @BMcCaffrey I’m sorry I didn’t respond sooner, please note that when you reply to an existing thread with a new question, it can get lost in the notifications and may cause a delayed response. If the post you’ve found doesn’t fully answer your question, it’s better to create a new post with your question and then link to any relevant posts that you’ve found as reference. Since it’s been a while, were you able to resolve the issue or do you still need help? ---
**Author:** ![BMcCaffrey](https://d10pqhm3lwygmk.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/community.hubspot.com/bmccaffrey/32/57633_2.png) [@BMcCaffrey](https://community.hubspot.com/u/BMcCaffrey)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2025, 4:17pm UTC](https://community.hubspot.com/t/importing-contacts/98709/5 "2025-01-21T16:17:56Z")
Hi Jennifer, Thanks for letting me know! It did not work for me to simply amend a properpty…. Instead, I ended up having to do all the formatting in excel to add the additional checkbox property and then reupload the list to HubSpot with the correct properties already indicated. ---
**Author:** ![jnix284](https://d10pqhm3lwygmk.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/community.hubspot.com/jnix284/32/29_2.png) [@jnix284](https://community.hubspot.com/u/jnix284)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2025, 4:37pm UTC](https://community.hubspot.com/t/importing-contacts/98709/6 "2025-01-21T16:37:49Z")
Thanks for confirming @BMcCaffrey, I’m going to do some testing to see if I can recreate the issue and determine if something might’ve changed. ---
**Author:** ![karstenkoehler](https://d10pqhm3lwygmk.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/community.hubspot.com/karstenkoehler/32/68554_2.png) [@karstenkoehler](https://community.hubspot.com/u/karstenkoehler)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2024, 5:04am UTC](https://community.hubspot.com/t/importing-contacts/98709/7 "2024-01-26T05:04:43Z")
Hi @JGray30, This article explains how to import data into checkbox properties: [Format import files](https://knowledge.hubspot.com/crm-setup/import-data-to-checkbox-properties) > * * * > > To add or append values to a [multiple checkboxes property](https://knowledge.hubspot.com/account/property-field-types-in-hubspot), add a semicolon before the first value. This will append the value instead of overwriting the existing property. > > To import multiple values, in your [import file](https://knowledge.hubspot.com/crm-setup/set-up-your-import-file), add a semicolon between each value (;value 2;value 3; value 4). These property options must be created prior to the import. > > For example, if you have a _Items_ property and a contact with the value _lawn mowers_, you can import additional values to the property for that contact. To do so, include the following in the corresponding column of your CSV for that contact: > > `;scissors;hedgers;clippers` > > * * * If you need to reverse the import, you can find instructions here: [https://community.hubspot.com/t5/Tips-Tricks-Best-Practices/Reverting-Bulk-Property-Changes-by-Importing-Historical-Property/m-p/332929](https://community.hubspot.com/t5/Tips-Tricks-Best-Practices/Reverting-Bulk-Property-Changes-by-Importing-Historical-Property/m-p/332929) Best regards! ---
**Author:** ![Lucila-Andimol](https://d10pqhm3lwygmk.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/community.hubspot.com/lucila-andimol/32/69276_2.png) [@Lucila-Andimol](https://community.hubspot.com/u/Lucila-Andimol)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2024, 1:03pm UTC](https://community.hubspot.com/t/importing-contacts/98709/8 "2024-01-26T13:03:46Z")
Hey @JGray30 Summarizing what they say here you can only do append manually, from workflows or forms. From the imports you must place the 2 values that you want to have in that property. (warranty ; show) Hope this helps ---
**Author:** ![jnix284](https://d10pqhm3lwygmk.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/community.hubspot.com/jnix284/32/29_2.png) [@jnix284](https://community.hubspot.com/u/jnix284)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2024, 2:27pm UTC](https://community.hubspot.com/t/importing-contacts/98709/9 "2024-01-26T14:27:53Z")
@Lucila-Andimol to clarify, the user would not need to include “warranty” in the import if it already exists in the record. adding as ;show would append show to ANY value already selected, rather than replace it with warranty and show - which is what warranty;show would do. a semi-colon at the beginning retains any existing data, which is important if different options are selected on different records and you only want to add a new value.