If you don’t know how toimport customers to Magento 2, you’ve come to the right place. Below, we shed the light onMagento 2 customers import. There are three separate entities designed to simplify import from external sources by default: System > Data Transfer > Import > Entity > Customers Main File // Customer Addresses // Customers And Addresses. Below, we describe each one. Your journey into the world of the Magento 2 customer data import starts with a Magento 2 sample import table. We explain how to get a file with customers and addresses and describe the structure of the corresponding import table. Next, you will find out what Magento 2 customer import attributes are used for transferring data to your website. The article focuses on Customers Main File attributes, Customer Addresses attributes, and Customers and Addresses attributes used in Magento 2. Besides, we explain attributes mapping for transferring customers from external platforms. After that, we provide a detailed guide on how to import customers and customer addresses to Magento 2.
How to import Customers and Customer Addresses to Magento 2 post continues the line of guides for Magento 2 import/export guide list. The other articles in the line are:
Without further ado let’s dive into the customer import process starting with getting the import table we will be using.
Getting Magento 2 sample import table
There are several ways of getting the sample import table for customers import. Let’s cover all of them.
In your Magento 2 backend – In ‘Entity Type’, select ‘Customers And Addresses (single file)’. The link with Magento customer import sample CSV will be displayed. Download it for further exploration.
At GitHub – navigate to the FIreBear Studio GitHub and download the file with required entity type.
At Google Sheet Master Table – FireBear team composed a Google Sheet where we have gathered all import entity types with description and sample values.
Now that you have got the sample file, you can use it to compose your own import table. To get a complete understanding of the CSV table formatting and which Magento 2 customer attribute does what – read the following chapter.
The import table can be either a CSV file, if you are using native Magento 2 import, or CSV, XML or Google Sheets if you are using Improved Import and Export extension.
If you have decided to create the table manually make sure to edit the field separators, text delimited and character set.
Character set
Unicode (UTF-8)
Field separator
Comma, Tab
Text delimiter
”
In case you want to stick to your own table formatting, or your supplier provides you with the custom formatted import table, you can always take advantage of the field mapping right inside the import screen.
Magento 2 customer import attributes
There are three types of entities you can import to your Magento 2 store:
Customers Main File – where you import customer credentials and personal account information;
Customer Addresses – where you import customers billing and shipping addresses with all associated information;
Customers and Addresses– think of it as a conjunction of the first two, with the exception to some customer attribute names, that are a little different.
Now that we have listed all three Magento 2 customer import entities let’s get through the attributes listed in the tables:
Magento 2 Customers Main File attributes
You can get a full Magento 2 Customers Main File table with the attribute description and sample value reference at the Master Google Table. There you can click every customer attribute and get a quick reference of the attribute and which value is expected from you in the column.
Back to the ‘Customers Main File’, it contains the following columns:
Attribute name
Reference
Values
Value example
email
Email of the customer
Make sure to properly paste the email address with the domain
john.doe@test.com
_website
Associate to Website. Defines to which website the customer belongs
To find the value for the column navigate to Stores > All Stores > Click the required Website in Website column and find its Code
base
_store
The Store View customer belongs to
To find the value for the column navigate to Stores > All Stores > Click the required Store in Stores column and find its Code
default
confirmation
Confirmed email. Defines whether customer has confirm their email address associated with their account
1 – the email address has been confirmed
0 – customer needs to confirm the email address
1
created_at
Account Created. Defines the date and time the account has been created
The data format is:
yyyy/mm/dd hh:mm:ss
The time format uses 24 hour clock
2018-01-16 9:48:37
created_in
Account Created in. Defines the Website the account has been created in
You need to specify the name of the store view. You can find it at Stores > All Stores > Click the required store view in Store View column and find its Name
Default Store View
disable_auto_group_change
Disable Automatic Group Change Based on VAT ID
1 – the automatic group change disabled
0 – the automatic group change enabled
0
dob
Date of Birth of the customer
The date should be in the following format yyyy-mm-dd
1973-12-15
failures_num
The numbers of incorrect login attempts. Works with Maximum Login Failures to Lockout Account setting
Any numeral value
0
first_failure
First Failure Date. The date of the first failed login attempt
The date should be in the following format yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss
2018-03-30 8:33:01
firstname
First Name of the customer
Any characters allowed
John
gender
Gender of the customer
Male
Female
leave blank if not specified
Male
group_id
Id of the Customer Group the customer belongs to
ID of the Customer Group can be found under Customers > Customer Groups. In ID column
2
lastname
Last Name of the customer
Any characters allowed
Doe
lock_expires
Defines the date when the account lock expires.
The date should be in the following format yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss
2018-03-30 8:33:01
middlename
Middle Name/Initial of the customer
Any character value allowed
D
password_hash
Hash value of the customer account password
Proper hash value
testhashvalue123
prefix
Name Prefix of the customer
Any character value
Mr.
rp_token
Reset password token of the customer account
Proper token value
testtoken123
rp_token_created_at
The date the password had been reset
The date should be in the following format yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss
2018-01-16 9:48:37
store_id
ID of the store the customer belongs to
Numeric store ID
1
suffix
Name Suffix of the customer
Any character value
Jr.
taxvat
Tax/VAT Number of the customer
Proper VAT value
EU555555555
updated_at
Date when the customer’s account was last updated
The date should be in the following format yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss
2018-02-21 13:01:41
website_id
ID of the website the customer belongs to
Numeric website ID
1
_customer_group_code
A code of the Customer Group
The group_id has higher priority than _customer_group_code. So if values are different, the import will take the value from the group_id attribute
General
_tax_class_name
A name of a tax class. This tax class is assigned to the Customer Group of a customer
The _tax_class_name attribute has lower priority than _tax_class_id
Retail Customer
_tax_class_id
An ID of a tax class. This tax class is assigned to the Customer Group of the exported customer
Numeric tax class ID
3
password
If you want to change the password to the customer’s account this is the column you type it in.
Any values supported by password field
testpassword123
Magento 2 Customer Addresses attributes
As with the Customers Main File you can get a complete import table with all the attributes described from the Master Google Table.
The attributes available are:
Attribute name
Reference
Values
Value example
_website
Defines to which website the customer belongs
To find the value for the column navigate to Stores > All Stores > Click the required Website in Website column and find its Code
base
_email
Email of the customer
Make sure to properly paste the email address with the domain
john.doe@test.com
_entity_id
Internal ID of the customer address used for identification purposes inside of Magento 2
Defines if the imported address of customer is default for Billing
1 – the address is default
0 – the address is not default
1
_address_default_shipping_
Defines if the imported address of customer is default for Shipping
1 – the address is default
0 – the address is not default
1
Magento 2 Customers and Addresses attributes
Customers and Addresses table combines both Customers Main File and Customer Addresses table attributes. However, you cannot compose this type of table just by combining the attributes from the latter two as there are peculiarities to the attribute naming. That’s why it is much easier to get a sample table from Master Google Sheet.
Or you can use the table below to compose the table or for the reference purposes.
Attribute name
Reference
Values
Value example
increment_id
Unique customer address identifier which you can use to import multiple addresses for a single customer. Use the same value for every unique customer with different addresses.
Only numerals allowed
12
email
Email of the customer
Make sure to properly paste the email address with the domain
john.doe@test.com
_website
Associate to Website. Defines to which website the customer belongs
To find the value for the column navigate to Stores > All Stores > Click the required Website in Website column and find its Code
base
_store
The Store View customer belongs to
To find the value for the column navigate to Stores > All Stores > Click the required Store in Stores column and find its Code
default
confirmation
Confirmed email. Defines whether customer has confirm their email address associated with their account
1 – the email address has been confirmed
0 – customer needs to confirm the email address
1
created_at
Account Created. Defines the date and time the account has been created
The data format is:
yyyy/mm/dd hh:mm:ss
The time format uses 24 hour clock
2018-01-16 9:48:37
created_in
Account Created in. Defines the Website the account has been created in
You need to specify the name of the store view. You can find it at Stores > All Stores > Click the required store view in Store View column and find its Name
Default Store View
disable_auto_group_change
Disable Automatic Group Change Based on VAT ID
1 – the automatic group change disabled
0 – the automatic group change enabled
0
dob
Date of Birth of the customer
The date should be in the following format yyyy-mm-dd
1973-12-15
firstname
First Name of the customer
Any characters allowed
John
gender
Gender of the customer
Male
Female
leave blank if not specified
Male
group_id
If of the Customer Group the customer belongs to
ID of the Customer Group can be found under Customers > Customer Groups. In ID column
2
lastname
Last Name of the customer
Any characters allowed
Doe
middlename
Middle Name/Initial of the customer
Any character value allowed
D
password_hash
Hash value of the customer account password
Proper hash value
ef55cebdb2034a89
prefix
Name Prefix of the customer
Any character value
Mr.
rp_token
Reset password token of the customer account
Proper token value
09ae7838f74dc08343252255d7c69bf8
rp_token_created_at
The date the password had been reset
The date should be in the following format yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss
2018-01-16 9:48:37
store_id
ID of the store the customer belongs to
Numeric store ID
1
suffix
Name Suffix of the customer
Any character value
Jr.
taxvat
Tax/VAT Number of the customer
Proper VAT value
EU555555555
website_id
ID of the website the customer belongs to
Numeric website ID
1
password
If you want to change the password to the customer’s account this is the column you type it in
Any values supported by password field
testpassword123
_address_city
City of the customer
Can be any character value
Potsdam
_address_company
Company of the customer
Can be any value
FireBear Studio
_address_country_id
ID the customer country
For full list of country IDs refer to the Country and State Codes sheet of this table
DE
_address_fax
Fax of the customer
Can be any numeral value
5555555555
_address_firstname
Customer’s first name for the address
Can be any character value
John
_address_lastname
Customer’s last name for the address
Can be any character value
Doe
_address_middlename
Customer’s middle name for the address
Can be any character value
D
_address_postcode
Postcode of the customer
Can be any numeral value
12345
_address_prefix
Customer’s name prefix for address
Can be any character value
Mr.
_address_region
Region of the country of the customer
Refer to the Country and State Codes sheet of this table for proper region name or state code. Both can be entered in this field
BRG
_address_street
Name of the street of the customer
Can be any character or numeric value
83
_address_suffix
Customer’s name suffix for address
Can be any character value
Jr.
_address_telephone
Customer’s telephone number
Can be any numeral value
5555555555
_address_vat_id
Customer’s VAT for the address
Can be any proper VAT value
EU555555555
_address_default_billing_
Defines if the imported address of customer is default for Billing
1 – the address is default
0 – the address is not default
1
_address_default_shipping_
Defines if the imported address of customer is default for Shipping
1 – the address is default
0 – the address is not default
1
Attribute mapping
But you can essentially improve the aforementioned procedure with the help of theImproved Import & Export Magento 2 extension which allows applying mapping, automating import/export procedures, as well as selecting various sources for import/export that are not available in default Magento 2. We will get to this later in this post.
Now, that you have learned all customer attributes it is time to proceed to the actual import.
Importing customers and addresses
You are probably familiar with native Magento 2 import procedure, that’s why we’ll describe how to import customers using Improved Import and Export extension by FireBear Studio, and what benefits the store owner gets using the extension.
Automatically upload and synchronize external product listing with M2
No programming skills required
CSV, XML, TXT & Google Sheets support
Flexible cron jobs (admin run, CLI)
Powerful import & export mapping for any data structure with filters and static values
Categories, Attributes and values import
Orders, invoices, shipping export
Supported sources: FTP, SFTP, URL, Dropbox
Support all product types, customers, orders
Magento 1 and Shopify products migration presets
User friendly & intuitive interface
Handle millions of products on single file
Average import speed – 3000 products/min
Back to importing customers, follow the next steps to master the customers import procedure.
Step 1: create an import job
The import job can be created at System > Improved Import / Export. There you will the the import job grid, where you need to click ‘Add New Job’ button.
At the new job screen you will be presented with the general job settings.
Here you can name the job, to identify it in the job list. Set the job schedule, in case you know that you will be importing the job, say, every Monday. And specify the locale of the store you will be importing to.
Step 2: select entity and behavior
After done with general settings you will need to select the entity you are going to import:
Customers Main File;
Customer Addresses;
Customers and Addresses.
We have described the table structure for every entity above, so we consider that you have already composed the table.
Next, configure import behavior. In ‘Import Behavior’ select one of the following options:
Add/Update – add new customers and update the existing ones;
Replace – replace customers with new ones;
Delete – delete old customers.
Then, you can select one of two options: Stop on Error and Skip Error Entries. Specify number of errors to halt import process. Enter field and multi value separator. Enable Magento 2 fields enclosure if it was used in the import CSV file. This is especially handy in case you are trying to import table of the different from supported by Magento 2 formatting.
Step 3: specify source
With Improved Import and Export extension you can specify different import sources:
File;
FTP/SFTP;
Direct URL;
Google Sheet.
For example if you with your colleagues use a single Google Sheet to approve edits, the only thing you are left to do – is to paste the link and you are good to go. The sheet can be edited every week, and the import job can run automatically every week, speeding up your import management process.
After the file has been uploaded click the ‘Validate file’ button, to let the extension make sure the table is properly formatted.
Step 4: map attributes
If you have got the import table from the different ecommerce platform, or you are importing it from your CRM system, you can always take advantage of the attribute mapping.
Here, you can either select the platform you are import from and let the extension do the rest of the mapping process. Or, you can map all the attributes manually. The process is really simple.
The only thing you are left to do now is click ‘Save & Run’ button to start the import process. The extension will present you with the import log where you can check how the import process went.
This it it! You have just imported customers to your store using Improved Import and Export extension.
As you can see, there are two ways to import customers into Magento 2. Firstly, you can use the platform’s default data transfer solution. Although it is built into the system, the standard customer import mechanism is limited. It doesn’t let you import customers on schedule, transfer them with the help of XLSX, ODS, or JSON files, move from Google Sheets, or deliver them into your e-commerce website via APIs. Alternatively, you can implement the same process using the Improved Import & Export extension. It avoids all the limitations mentioned above. Besides, the module offers a robust mapping functionality, described in this article.
How to import customers from Magento into Shopify?
If you decide to migrate from Magento 2 to Shopify or just need to synchronize data between the two storefronts, Improved Import & Export also comes in handy. The solution lets you import customers from Magento into Shopify with minimum effort. You only need to apply the correct mapping to the Magento data. We also offer the Improved Import & Export tool for Shopify which will help you transfer customers to the storefront. Alternatively, it is possible to establish an API connection between the two systems, synchronizing customer transfers between the two websites in both directions.
How to import WooCommerce customers into Magento?
The situation is similar to the one that happens around the Magento 2 Shopify integration. You need to Improved Import & Export extension to establish the connection between the two systems, moving customers from WooCommerce into Magento.
How to import Magento 2 customers from Google Sheets?
You can use the Improved Import & Export Magento 2 module to import customers from numerous sources, including Google Sheets. The extension provides the ability to choose the desired storage when you configure an import profile. Just select Google Sheets as your data source and specify the URL address of a file with customers to import the corresponding update to your Magento 2 website.
How to import Magento 2 customers from Dropbox?
In addition to Google Sheets, you can also transfer customer data to Magento 2 from Dropbox. Provide the address details of a file stored there and the Improved Import & Export extension will easily move it to your e-commerce storefront. Note that it should be a CSV, XML, ODS, XLSX, or JSON file. You can provide them in a compressed state as ZIP or TAR archives.
How to import Magento 2 customers from a CSV file?
You can use the Improved Import & Export Magento 2 extension to import customers via a CSV file. Follow the instructions mentioned in this article to configure the corresponding import process. Choose a CSV file as your import file type.
How to import Magento 2 customers from an XML file?
You can use the Improved Import & Export Magento 2 extension to import customers via an XML file. Follow the instructions mentioned in this article to configure the corresponding import process. Choose an XML file as your import file type.
How to import Magento 2 customers from an ODS file?
You can use the Improved Import & Export Magento 2 extension to import customers via an ODS file. Follow the instructions mentioned in this article to configure the corresponding import process. Choose an ODS file as your import file type.
How to import Magento 2 customers from an XLSX file?
You can use the Improved Import & Export Magento 2 extension to import customers via an XLSX file. Follow the instructions mentioned in this article to configure the corresponding import process. Choose an XLSX file as your import file type.
How to import Magento 2 customers from a JSON file?
You can use the Improved Import & Export Magento 2 extension to import customers via a JSON file. Follow the instructions mentioned in this article to configure the corresponding import process. Choose a JSON file as your import file type.
How to import Magento 2 customers in a ZIP or TAR archive?
You can use the Improved Import & Export Magento 2 extension to import customers in a ZIP or TAR archive. Note that they should be stored in a CSV, XML, ODS, XLSX, or JSON file.
How to import Magento 2 customers via API?
You can use the Improved Import & Export Magento 2 extension to import customers to Magento 2 via API. The module provides the ability to create a direct connection between the two systems so that you avoid the use of intermediate data exchange points and file transfers.
How to export customers from Magento 2?
It is possible to export customers from Magento 2 with the help of the default data transfer tools. Go to System > Export and select Customers Main File or Customer Addresses depending on your export needs. Configure entity attributes, creating filters. Run the export process. That’s it. However, you cannot apply mapping, create any files except CSV, export customers on schedule, or transfer them via API. If you need all these features, pay heed to the Improved Import & Export Magento 2 extension. The module delivers advanced data transfer capabilities. As a result, you can export customers from Magento 2 in many more ways. Firstly, the plugin’s mapping interface lets you create output that is suitable for the requirements of an external platform. Secondly, the extension lets you create cron-based schedules so that the data output is generated automatically. Thirdly, you can export customers from Magento 2 in numerous file formats to multiple sources, such as FTP, SFTP, Dropbox, etc. Fourthly, the plugin lets you create an API connection between Magento 2 and the external platform you want to move the customer data to. These and many more useful enhancements are available in the Improved Import & Export Magento 2 module.