---
schema_version: "1"
id: d880b6fe4d6463391154b1d6057dc1328141bbea101c7374fd27e94eb3ae33f4
title: Create an Import Definition in Contact Builder
collection: admin
version: current
locale: en-us
portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/admin/current/en-us/mktg/264-0-0/mc_cab_create_a_new_import_definition.md
canonical_url: https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.mc_cab_create_a_new_import_definition.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5
source_site: help.salesforce.com
content_type: documentation
content_hash: 1ab70723f46f9436a84f9190e5e967115624397ec13cb51e36c59443d1792519
description: Create an import definition in Contact Builder to bring contact data into Marketing Cloud Engagement.
products:
  - Marketing
  - Marketing Cloud Engagement
release: "264"
---
# Create an Import Definition in Contact Builder

Create an import definition in Contact Builder to bring contact data into Marketing Cloud Engagement.

1. From Contact Builder, click **Create** and select the destination for your data.
2. Select a file from the import folder on your FTP with a name that matches your file-naming pattern field.
3. To map the header fields, click **Choose File** and select a sample matching file from your desktop.
4. To import the file from a server, click **Select Source**, select **From File Location**, and enter the import filename, delimiting character, and date format.
    
    You can upload files larger than 6 MB with this option.
5. To import from a data extension, click **Select Source** and select **From Existing Data Extension**. Go to the data extension and click **Save**. Use a sendable data extension within the import definition.
    
    When you import a DateTime value from a data extension, millisecond information isn’t included in the import.
6. For Destination, select the data extension or chat messaging app and channel that receives the imported information.
7. Select how you want to handle the existing information.
8. Under Import Options, select any import options, and then click **Next**.
    1. To continue importing even if bad data is encountered, select **Skip rows in the import file with bad data**.
    2. To treat values between double quotes as text, select **Respect double quotes as a text qualifier**.
    3. To make sure that numeric values match the selected locale value, select **Normalize numbers based on locale**.
9. Map the attributes in your CSV file to the attributes in your account.
    
    You can map by header row, ordinal, or manually. To skip the first row when mapping attributes, click **Import File has Column Headers**.
10. Click **Next**.
11. Enter a name for the new import definition.
    
    An import activity can’t have the same name as an import activity that was deleted in Contact Builder.
12. For External Key, use the assigned key or manually enter your own key. Each import definition must use a unique external key.
13. Enter a brief description of the import definition.
14. Enter the pattern used to create the import file.
    
    You can enter a specific file name or use a wildcard to get the most recent version of a file in the import definition. For example, if the file name always includes the most recent date, click **Wildcard** and enter wildcards for the year, month, and day: filename%%Year%%%%Month%%%%Day%%.
15. Under Import Qualifications, select whether you want to import the most current information or skip the last import.
    1. To skip the import process when less than a certain amount of time has elapsed since the last import, select **Skip if last export was less than X hours ago**. Enter the number of hours in the text field.
    2. To import the most current information possible, select **Fail if file is older that X hours**. Enter the number of hours in the first text field. You can also add a system buffer time in the second text field to give the system time to account for servers in different time zones.
16. Enter the email address where you want to receive notifications.
17. Click **Create**.

When you complete the import definition, you can include it in an automation via Automation Studio.

#### See Also

- [Automation Studio](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.mc_as_automation_studio.htm&language=en_US)
- [Marketing Cloud Engagement Key Management](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.mc_overview_key_management.htm&language=en_US)