Skip to main content

Fixing errors when importing reviews

A step-by-step guide to troubleshoot and fix CSV import errors with examples.

Updated over a week ago

When importing reviews with a CSV file, most reviews will upload smoothly. But sometimes, specific values or formats in your file might not meet our system’s requirements—causing some reviews to fail.

Errors when uploading the file

When uploading your review file, you might run into processing errors that prevent the file from being accepted.

This section outlines common file uploading issues and explains how to fix them so your file can go through successfully.

Try uploading the file to Google Sheets

Issue:

After uploading the file, you might run into this error: "Try uploading the file to Google Sheets and download the sheet as CSV to fix errors automatically. Please make sure the first row is not empty."

Why it happens:

This error usually occurs when the file:

  • Has invisible formatting issues (e.g., encoding problems, hidden characters)

  • Is saved in a non-standard CSV format

How to fix:

To fix the "Try uploading the file to Google Sheets" error:

  1. Open our Google Sheet template and click Make a copy to start editing.

  2. Open your original file with the error and copy the data from the 2nd line.

  3. In the Google Sheet template:

    • Paste the data as plain text (press Ctrl + Shift + V) from the 2nd line to remove any hidden formatting or errors.

    • Go to File > Download > and select Comma-separated values (.csv, current sheet).

  4. Reimport with the file you've just downloaded.

The uploaded file is from another shop

Issue:

After uploading the file, you might run into this error: "The uploaded file is from another shop. Please contact us at support@judge.me if this error persists."

Errors after the file is uploaded

If your file was uploaded successfully but some reviews couldn’t be imported, this usually means there are formatting issues within the file. Here’s how to check and fix those errors:

Step 1: Download the error file

If the reviews can't be imported, we will email you an error file that lists the failed reviews and the reasons they weren’t imported.

To download the error file from a past review import:

  • From your Judge.me admin, go to Settings > Import reviews.

  • Scroll down to the Reviews import log section.

  • Find the relevant import event.

  • Click the three-dot icon (...) next to it and select Download error file.

Step 2: Fix the errors and reimport

To fix the errors and reimport the failed reviews (you don't need to reimport the successful reviews):

  1. Open the error file:

    • Download the error file.

    • Create a new Google Sheet.

    • From the Google Sheet screen, go to File > Import.

    • Go to Upload and click Browse to upload the error file.

    • Click Import data.

  2. Fix the errors:

    • Find the error message in the errors column (usually column K).

    • Refer to the list below for common error messages and how to fix them.

    • Apply the fix to the corresponding row.

  3. Follow the same steps in this guide to download and re-upload this corrected CSV file.

Common content errors and how to fix them

We couldn't find the product

Issue:
In the error file, you see one of the following messages:

  • "We couldn't find the product with this product_id"

  • "We couldn't find the product with this product_handle"

  • "We couldn't find the product with this product_url"

Why it happens:

This error might occur if we couldn’t match the product information in your uploaded file with any product in your store.

This usually means the Product ID, Product Handle, or Product URL in your file is incorrect, outdated, or doesn't exist in your current product catalog.

We couldn't find the product with this product_url

If your import error file shows the message "We couldn't find the product with this product_url", follow these steps to identify and fix the issue:

  1. Make sure you're using the correct type of URL:

    • Double-check that you're not using:

      • An admin URL, e.g. https://admin.shopify.com/store/...

      • A non-product page URL, such as a collection or homepage.

    • The correct format of the Product URL should look like this:
      https://yourstore.myshopify.com/products/product-handle

    • Example: https://myshinybottles.myshopify.com/products/pink-500-ml

  2. Check for special characters in the Product URL:

    • Some product URL contain special symbols like ™, ®, or accented characters. When copied into your import file, the URL might look encoded, e.g.:
      https://store.com/products/railbuilder%E2%84%A2-set. This type of URL won’t be recognized during import.

    • To avoid issues with special characters, instead of using the product_url column, use the Product ID in the product_id column of your file.

Review content not found

Issue:
The body column is empty. This is a required field, so reviews without content will be rejected.

How to fix:
Make sure each row has at least one character in the body column. If you're importing from another app (like Loox or Yotpo), locate the column that contains the review text (e.g., review, comments, text) and map it to body.

Review already exists in Metaobjects

Issue:
You exported reviews from Judge.me and tried to reimport them. These reviews already exist in Shopify’s Metaobjects, so duplicates are blocked.

How to fix:

  1. Open the CSV file in Google Sheets.

  2. Delete the metaobject_handle column.

  3. Save as .csv and reimport it.

Version

product_handle

title

body

rating

metaobject_handle

❌ Incorrect

cool-shirt

Love it!

Great quality!

5

review_12345

✅ Corrected

cool-shirt

Love it!

Great quality!

5

(column removed)

Review rating invalid

Issue:
The rating value is missing or not a valid whole number. Ratings must be 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5.

How to fix:
Ensure all entries in the rating column are whole numbers between 1 and 5.

Version

rating

❌ Incorrect

4.5

five

(blank)

✅ Corrected

4

5

3

Reviewer name invalid

Issue:
The name in the reviewer_name column exceeds 100 characters.

How to fix:
Keep names under 100 characters. If you leave this field blank, we’ll use “Anonymous” by default.

Version

reviewer_name

❌ Incorrect

This is a very long name that exceeds the maximum length...

✅ Corrected

Alex Carter

(blank → will show as "Anonymous")

Missing required headers

Issue:
Your CSV file is missing one or more required headers. Judge.me needs these to process each review correctly.

How to fix:
Use our CSV import template to make sure all necessary headers are included. Required columns:

  • title

  • body

  • rating

  • review_date

  • reviewer_name

  • reviewer_email

  • product_id or product_handle

❌ Missing headers

product_handle

title

reviewer_name

cool-shirt

Great fit

Alex

✅ Required headers added

product_handle

title

body

rating

review_date

reviewer_name

reviewer_email

cool-shirt

Great fit

Fits perfectly!

5

2024-03-20

Alex Carter

alex@example.com

Errors after the reviews are imported

If your file was uploaded and reviews were imported successfully, but you don't see them on your product page, this can happen for a couple of reasons:

  1. The Review Widget is not added. Without the Review Widget installed, reviews won't be displayed, even if they were successfully imported.

  2. Reviews were imported as store reviews instead of product reviews.

    Store reviews won’t appear on specific product pages. Product reviews must be linked to a valid product handle or ID to display correctly.

To show your imported reviews on the product page, first check if the reviews were imported as Product reviews or Store reviews.

  • From your Judge.me admin, go to Reviews.
    ​

  • Under the Reviewer name, look for the clickable link.

  • Depending on the link text, the review type is:

    • If the link says “your shop”, it’s a Store review. These won’t appear on individual product pages.
      ​

    • If the link shows a product title, it’s a Product review and will display on that specific product’s page.
      ​

If you correctly imported the reviews as Product reviews: install the Star Rating Badge and Review Widget to show these Product reviews on your product page.

If you mistakenly imported the reviews as Store reviews:

First, remove the incorrect import:

  • Scroll down to the Reviews import log section at the bottom of the page.

  • Find the import you want to remove.

  • Click the three-dot menu (⋯) next to the import event.

  • Select Delete reviews.

Then, in the original CSV file that you used to import:

  1. Add and fill in one of these columns: product_id, product_handle, or product_url.

Once you've adjusted the original file:

  1. Reimport the file you've corrected.

  2. Install the Star Rating Badge and Review Widget (if not already done).


    ​

Other issues with import

Imported reviews are added to a different store

Issue:

The import is done in 1 store, but the reviews are being added to another store.

Why it happens:

This usually occurs when you have multiple Shopify stores open in the same browser (in different tabs or windows). Judge.me may connect to the wrong store session.

How to fix:

To make sure reviews are imported to the right store:

  1. Close all other store tabs or windows.

  2. Make sure only the correct store is open in your browser.

  3. Then, go back to Judge.me and reimport your reviews.

Related Articles
Importing reviews from a CSV file
Migrating reviews from Klaviyo to Judge.me
Importing reviews using Judge.me template
Migrating reviews from Yotpo to Judge.me
Migrating reviews from Growave to Judge.me
Did this answer your question?