Views:

Issue:

When attempting an import and failures happen. When looking in the Error Details, you find the lookup reference could not be resolved.

Cause:

This can be caused by a number of factors:

  1. The value put in that field does not perfectly match an existing record in.
  2.  There are multiple records with the same value in the field that is used to match the lookup.
  3. The field you are trying to lookup on was not set as the lookup field in the import mapping.

When reading the error list, description will tell you the main reason why the record failed. Column Header will tell you which field it errored on. Column Value will tell the exact value that caused issue. Original Row Number will tell you which row in your source file had the issue. The More Information column is helpful for ISV errors as ISV errors show more detail into the issue in the More Information column.

 

Resolution:

1. Confirm the exact name of the lookup before importing.

2. If you have records that share a name, try using a different unique value for the records if available such as account number or order number. If none are available, the record GUID can be used for lookup. The GUID can be acquired through export of the potential lookup records. Upon export, unhide the 3 columns on the left. Column A houses the GUID for the record.

3. If matching a lookup on a field other than Name, you may need to change how the lookup maps. To do this, you will need to manually map your import. One way to do this is by saving your import file as a Comma delimited, tab delimited, or XML file. When importing, it will ask you to map your fields. When you get to your lookup field, click the lookup Icon. This will allow you to choose which fields are the lookup matches to. If using the GUID, map to the Entity/table name (Primary Key).

Note: If importing a "settings" style record such as Sales Territories, Products, or Incident type into an environment, you will want to use a similar GUID method on the primary record to ensure that any process or workflows that reference that record will work correctly across environments.

Keywords: Import, Lookup error, Dynamics 365 CE, import error, lookup