Importing Your Existing Spreadsheet

Most people arrive with a list already. It might be a proper spreadsheet, a tab in the accounts workbook, or something the last person to do a stocktake typed up. Whatever shape it’s in, you should not have to retype it.

The importer takes an Excel (.xlsx) or CSV file and turns each row into an asset. Only a name column is needed — everything else is optional. You tell it which of your columns means what, it shows you exactly what it is about to do, and only then does it save anything. If it goes wrong, you can undo it.

You’ll find it at Settings → Import.

Coming from another system?

If your list is an export from another asset system rather than a spreadsheet you keep yourself, start with the guide for it. Each one gives the steps to get the export out of that product and a column-by-column map onto Asset Giant’s fields.

• Moving From AssetTiger to Asset Giant
• Moving From Sortly to Asset Giant
• Moving From Asset Panda to Asset Giant
• Moving From EZOfficeInventory to Asset Giant
• Moving From itemit to Asset Giant
• Moving From Snipe-IT to Asset Giant

It offers to create what your file needs

After it has checked every row, the importer lists everything in your file that your account does not hold yet — categories, manufacturers, folders, asset types, statuses, units of measure, locations, projects and clients — grouped by kind, most-used first, each with a tick box. Tick the ones you want, and it creates them and re-checks every row.

If your inventory is new (fewer than ten assets), everything in that list arrives already ticked, and one button — Create N things and import all your rows — does the lot. Untick anything you would rather not create; undo puts it all back for 7 days.

It does the checking a spreadsheet cannot:

• Near-duplicates are flagged. If you already have Makita and your file says MAKITA, it says so and offers to use yours instead. That is an alias for this import only — it creates nothing.
• Your file is de-duplicated against itself. A file with both Nike and Nike Inc would otherwise add two new manufacturers in one go.
• A mis-mapped column is caught. If one column produces fifty or more different categories, it tells you — that is usually a description column.
• A new asset type shows its consequence. Tick Vehicle and it tells you the ID series it will start, VEHICLE-000001, before it exists.

Setting things up first is optional

You can set things up in advance instead, and for asset types it is worth a minute. The Import screen has an optional checklist under the upload box:

• Asset types and ID format (Settings → Preferences) — this decides the Asset IDs your imported items get, for example TOOL-000001.
• Categories (Settings → Categories) — create the categories and sub-categories your spreadsheet refers to.
• Custom fields (Settings → Custom Fields) — anything Asset Giant doesn’t already have a column for. You can also create these from your spare columns on the matching step. Your plan sets how many custom fields you can have.
• Locations, projects and clients — create any you want to assign assets to.

See Organise Your Assets into Categories and Sub-Categories and Add Your Own Fields to Track Anything Extra if you need a hand with any of those.

Start from our template

There is a Download CSV template button on the Import screen, and it is worth using. The template isn’t a generic sample — it is built from your account. Your custom fields are already columns, and the example row uses your real asset types, categories and locations, so you can see exactly what a valid value looks like.

Paste your data underneath the example row, delete the example, and you have a file that will import first time.

If you’d rather use your own spreadsheet as it stands, that’s fine too — that’s what the matching step is for.

The smallest file that works

One column, headed Name, with one item per row underneath:

That imports perfectly well. Every row becomes an asset with your default asset type, its own generated Asset ID and your default status, and you fill in the detail later — by hand, by bulk edit, or by importing the same file again with more columns and the matching rule set to update.

A more typical file has six or seven columns, and there is no need to put them in any particular order:

Column headings we recognise

The first row of your file is your column headings, and the matching step recognises these on its own. It also recognises every heading our own exports use, so a file exported from Asset Giant, edited and brought back in lines up column for column.

Capitals, spaces and punctuation in a heading make no difference — SERIAL NO. and serial no are both read as Serial Number. Anything not on this list is left blank for you to choose, and a column you leave unmapped is simply ignored, so there is no need to delete your spare columns before uploading. Anything you do want to keep can become a custom field from the matching step.

Which files it reads

Asset Giant reads .xlsx (Excel) and .csv files directly. The first sheet of a workbook is the one that is read.

• Excel — upload the .xlsx as it is, or File → Save As → CSV (Comma delimited). An older .xls file needs saving as .xlsx first.
• Google Sheets — File → Download → Microsoft Excel (.xlsx) or Comma-separated values (.csv).
• Numbers (Mac) — File → Export To → Excel or CSV.

The first row of the file must be your column headings. Files can be up to 5MB and 5,000 rows; if yours is bigger, split it and import the parts one after another.

Step 1: Upload

Drag your file onto the upload box, or click to choose it. Nothing is saved at this point — the file is only read.

Step 2: Match your columns

You’ll see one row for every column in your file: its heading, a couple of real values from your own data so you can see what’s in it, and a dropdown to choose what it should become.

Asset Giant has a go at matching these for you. It recognises its own export headings exactly, and it knows the common alternatives — Item, Device or Equipment becomes Asset Name, Make becomes Manufacturer, Cost becomes Purchase Price, Qty becomes Quantity, Job becomes Project. Anything it doesn’t recognise is left blank for you to set, because a wrong guess is worse than no guess.

Dates. If your file has dates like 8/27/2025, a green box at the top of this step says which way round it is reading them — day first or month first — with a worked example. One click switches it. Dates written as 2026-01-31 work either way.

People who are not team members. If a column such as Assigned To names people who don’t log in to Asset Giant — borrowers, pupils, departments — a box under that column offers to keep it as a Client, as a custom field called Holder, or to leave it out. Assigned User is only for people on your team.

Only Asset Name is required. Every other column is optional. If your spreadsheet is just a list of names, that will import perfectly well and you can fill in the detail later.

Two things are worth knowing:

• Asset IDs are generated for you. Asset Giant creates them from the format in Settings → Preferences (TOOL-000001 and so on), and an import never overwrites them. If your file has its own reference or tag column you can still match it — it will be used to recognise assets you already have, not written over the Asset ID.
• Categories, locations and the rest are matched by name. A cell that says Main Workshop finds your location called “Main Workshop”. Capitals and extra spaces don’t matter. For a sub-category, use either its own name or the full path, written as Power Tools > Drills.

The three settings underneath

Below the matching table are three choices that apply to the whole file.

Recognise an existing asset by — if some rows are already in your inventory, tell us how to spot them. A serial number is usually the best answer, because it identifies one physical item. Asset names are the worst, because two drills are very often called the same thing. Choose Do not match if everything in the file is new.

When a row matches an existing asset — leave the existing asset alone, update it with the row from your file, or import it anyway as a second asset. This applies to the whole import; you can’t choose row by row.

When a category, location or similar does not exist — either don’t import that row and tell you so you can fix it (the default, and usually right), or import the row anyway and leave that one field empty.

Step 3: Preview — nothing has been saved yet

This is the important screen. Asset Giant checks every row and shows you what it is about to do: how many assets it will create, how many it will update, how many it will skip, and how many it cannot import.

Underneath, a table lists rows with the reason for each. The reasons are specific and tell you what to do about them, for example “Category “Fixings” does not exist yet. Create it first, then re-import.”

If your plan doesn’t have room for everything, you’ll be told here — before anything is written — exactly how many rows will not fit.

Nothing has been saved at this point. You can go back, fix the matching, or close the page entirely and no harm is done.

Step 4: Import

Click Import now and a progress bar runs while the assets are created. Larger files are processed in small batches so the import doesn’t time out and doesn’t slow the app down for everyone else, so give it a moment and keep the tab open until it finishes.

When it’s done you’ll see the final counts, a link straight to your inventory, and — if anything failed — a Download the rows that failed button.

That download is genuinely useful: it’s a CSV containing only the problem rows, in your original columns, with a first column explaining what was wrong with each one. Fix them in your spreadsheet, save it, and import just that file. You don’t have to touch the rows that worked.

What happens to rows it cannot read

Nothing is written for them, and nothing else is held up.

• A row with a problem is not imported, and the rest of the file still is. One bad date in row 40 does not stop rows 1 to 39.
• Every failed row is listed on the preview with its reason — before anything is saved — so the usual fix is to go back to the matching step and change one setting, not to edit your spreadsheet at all.
• A row with no name is always refused. Asset Name is the one column that must have a value.
• After the import, there is a Download the rows that failed button. That file holds only the problem rows, in your original columns, with a first column saying what was wrong with each one. Fix them, save, and import just that file — the rows that worked are left alone.
• A blank cell is not an error. It means “no value”, and for an update it means “leave whatever is there alone”. A column you do not map is treated the same way.
• Nothing is half-written. A row either becomes an asset or it does not.

What does not come across, and what to do about it

A spreadsheet carries words and numbers, so a few things need a second step — and none of them need doing by you.

• Photographs. Upload the pictures you already have (Uploading and Managing Asset Photos), or point your phone at an item and let the AI identify it and fill in the make, model and specifications.
• Manuals, certificates, test sheets and the old export itself. These live on the asset as files: Keep Receipts, Manuals and Certificates with the Asset. Attaching the original spreadsheet to an asset keeps the detail you did not map, searchable, on the record it belongs to.
• A column with no obvious home. Every spare column can become a custom field on the matching step (Add Your Own Fields to Track Anything Extra), and a date custom field can carry a reminder, so a service, test or renewal date emails you before it passes — included on every paid plan: Getting Alerts Before a Date Passes.
• A list of people who do not log in. Keep them as Clients, as a custom field, or as Checked Out To. The matching step offers all three.

Anything on that list, we will sort out with you. On any paid plan our team does the manual part at no charge — loading photos and documents, and setting up the custom fields, folders and reminders that hold the rest of your file. Send it over and tell us what matters: How to Get Help and Support.

What if my plan runs out part-way?

The import fills your plan up to its limit and stops there. It doesn’t fail, and it doesn’t half-write anything — the rows it couldn’t fit are reported as skipped and listed for you.

If you then upgrade, import the same file again with a matching key set (usually the serial number). Everything already imported is recognised and skipped, and only the remainder goes in. See What Happens When You Reach Your Asset Limit.

Undoing an import

Every import can be undone for 7 days. Go to Settings → Import, find it in the Recent imports table, and click Undo this import.

• Assets the import created are permanently deleted.
• Assets it changed are put back the way they were.
• Anything somebody has edited since the import is left alone and named in the result, so an undo can never quietly throw away someone’s work.

WARNING: Undo permanently deletes the assets an import created. If people have been adding photos or notes to them, those assets are the ones it will skip — but check the Recent imports table before you click if you’re unsure.

Would you rather we just did it?

On any paid plan, importing your spreadsheet is included. Send us the file and we’ll match it, import it, and tell you when it’s done. There’s no charge and no catch — we would rather you were up and running.

On the Free Forever plan we’re still happy to help if your spreadsheet won’t behave; email it over and we’ll talk you through it. Use How to Get Help and Support to get in touch.

Common problems

Related articles

• How to Add Your First Asset
• Exporting a List to PDF or CSV
• Add Your Own Fields to Track Anything Extra