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I have an error using Bulk Send. What should I do?
I have an error using Bulk Send. What should I do?
Ferdinand avatar
Written by Ferdinand
Updated over a week ago

📖 Table of contents


When uploading your CSV file, you may encounter various errors that require correction before proceeding to the next step. This article outlines the possible errors and provides resolution tips. Yousign categorizes errors into two different types:

Errors in the structure of your CSV file


If you see an error message while trying to upload your CSV file for a Bulk Send, please refers to your error message:

Error 1: The headers in the CSV are invalid: the mandatory column "expected_column_name” is missing in the CSV file.

It means than one or more columns are absent. Ensure your CSV includes the required columns for each signer:

  • First name (first_name) required

  • Last name (last_name) required

  • Email address (email_address) required

  • Language (locale) required

    • Allowed values: [de, en, es, fr, it, nl, pl]

    • If this value is not provided in the CSV, your locale will be used

  • Phone number (phone_number) required only if the authentication mode of your signer is a code by SMS

    • Format: E.164

    • E.164 numbers are formatted: [+] [country code] [subscriber number including area code]

    • It can have a maximum of fifteen digits

    • Example: +33 6 02 03 04 05

👉 Verify your columns, correct them in your document, download it again in the CSV format and upload your CSV again on Yousign.


Error 2: The number of recipients in the CSV file exceeds the bulk send limits. Please include up to 500 rows.

With Bulk Send, you can send up to 500 signature requests per bulk request. Each line in your CSV file corresponds to a future signature, it should contain up to 500 rows, in addition to the headers row.

If you need to send more than 500 signature requests, we advise you to separate your sending and prepare several bulk requests.

👉 Delete some rows in your document, download it again in the CSV format and upload your CSV again on Yousign.

Error 3: The row XX doesn’t contain the minimum amount of data

This error is not likely to happen if you’re using a spreadsheet editor such as Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets to build your CSV file, but if you’re using text editors to create it.

You are missing one or several column in your file. Verify its structure to ensure that each row contains the same amount of columns than the headers.

👉 Please revise your document (and use a spreadsheet editor if possible), download it again in the CSV format and upload it again on Yousign.

Errors in one or several cells of your CSV file


After successfully importing your CSV file, you will be prompted to review the imported lines; it is possible that one or more cells contain errors.

In the "Errors" tab, you will find the lines affected by errors. Here are the different types of errors and how to correct them:

  • "Unfilled": The cell is empty

  • "This value is too long. It should have 255 character or less": First and last names should not exceed 255 characters.

  • "This value has unauthorized chars": Allowed characters includ:

    • Any digit from 0 to 9

    • Any uppercase letter from A to Z

    • Any lowercase letter from a to z

    • Special characters: Ą À Á Â Ã Ä Å Ç Ć È É Ê Ë Ę Ì Í Î Ï Ł Ñ Ń Ò Ó Ô Õ Ö Ś Ù Ú Û Ü Ý Ź Ż ą à á â ã ä å æ ç ć è é ê ë ę ì í î ï ł ñ ń ò ó ô õ ö ś ù ú û ü ý ÿ ź ż ß ` ' ( ) - space

  • "This value is not a valid email address": The entered information does not meet the required format for an email address. Ensure it includes a username, "@" symbol, and a domain with a valid name, dot, and extension (e.g., ".com," ".org").

    • The username (before the ”@” symbol) must not exceed 64 characters

  • "Value must be in [de, en, es, fr, it, nl, pl]": Invalid locale entered. Accepted values are

    • de (for German)

    • en (for English)

    • es (for Spanish)

    • fr (for French)

    • it (for Italian)

    • nl (for Nederlands)

    • pl (for Polish.)

    • If not provided in the CSV, the language of your application will be used

  • "This value is not a valid phone number.": The expected format for phone numbers is the E.164 format.

    • E.164 numbers are formatted: [+] [country code] [subscriber number including area code]

    • It can have a maximum of fifteen digits.

    • Example: +33601020304

👉 Review each line containing errors in your spreadsheet (outside of Yousign), save it again in CSV format, and upload it again on Yousign.

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