> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.getsmelt.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Uploading Files

> How to upload your lead data CSV files

Upload your CSV data files containing leads/contacts for copy generation.

## Supported Format

* **File type:** CSV only
* **Size limit:** 50MB maximum
* **Encoding:** UTF-8 recommended (also supports UTF-16, Latin-1, Windows-1252)

## How to Upload

<Steps>
  <Step title="Navigate to Files">
    Click **Files** in the left sidebar
  </Step>

  <Step title="Click Upload File">
    Click the **Upload File** button
  </Step>

  <Step title="Select Your File">
    Either drag-and-drop your CSV file or click to browse your computer
  </Step>

  <Step title="Wait for Processing">
    Smelt will:

    * Parse and validate the file
    * Detect and map columns automatically
    * Calculate a quality score
    * Identify duplicates
    * Store securely in cloud storage
  </Step>

  <Step title="Review Quality Analysis">
    See your file's quality score and column mappings
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Upload Success/Failure

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Success">
    * ✅ Green checkmark appears
    * Redirected to file detail page
    * Quality score and column mappings displayed
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Failure">
    * ❌ Red error message with specific issue
    * Common causes:
      * File too large (>50MB)
      * Invalid format (not CSV)
      * Encoding issues
      * Empty file
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

## What Happens During Upload

1. **File is parsed** — Rows and columns extracted
2. **Columns detected** — Headers matched to known field types
3. **Quality scored** — Completeness and data quality assessed
4. **Duplicates identified** — Email, company, phone, LinkedIn duplicates flagged
5. **File stored** — Securely saved in encrypted cloud storage

## Best Practices

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Use headers in the first row">
    Column names should be in row 1. Smelt uses these for variable matching.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Use consistent column names">
    `Company Name` and `company_name` will both work, but be consistent.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Clean your data before upload">
    Remove empty rows, trim whitespace, fix obvious errors.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Use UTF-8 encoding">
    When exporting from Excel: Save As → CSV UTF-8
    When exporting from Google Sheets: File → Download → CSV
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Deduplicate if possible">
    While Smelt detects duplicates, deduping before upload saves processing.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

<Tip>
  Start with a small test file (100-500 rows) to verify your template works before uploading large files.
</Tip>