Format Guide

How to prepare your CSV and Excel files for Replay

Download sample files

Download sample files to see exactly the format accepted by Replay.

Download sample CSV Download sample Excel

Format rules

1. Required header row

The first row of the file must contain column names. Each column must have a unique name.

ID	Nome	Email	Importo
001	Mario Rossi	mario@example.com	1500.50
002	Anna Bianchi	anna@example.com	2300.00

2. Key column with unique values

There must be a column with unique values (like an ID or code). This column is used to compare rows across different versions.

Correct

ID
001
002
003

Wrong - Duplicates

ID
001
001
003

Wrong - Empty

ID
001
(vuoto)
003

3. CSV format

For CSV files, the delimiter is automatically detected (comma, semicolon, tab).

ID;Nome;Email;Importo
001;Mario Rossi;mario@example.com;1500.50
002;Anna Bianchi;anna@example.com;2300.00

4. Excel format (.xlsx)

FormatGuide_Rule4Intro

One sheet only: the file must contain a single worksheet

FormatGuide_Rule4_NoMerged

Clean table: header in the first row, data in subsequent rows

Not protected: the file must not be password-protected

5. Version compatibility

When uploading a new version of a project, the file must have exactly the same columns (same name and order) as the previous version.

If you rename a column, add or remove columns, Replay will not be able to compare the data.

Common errors and how to fix them

Invalid file

The uploaded file does not appear to be a valid table. It may be corrupted, password-protected, or in an unrecognized format.

Solution: Make sure the file is a valid CSV (comma or semicolon separated) or an unprotected Excel .xlsx file. See the "Format Guide" page for examples.

Merged cells in Excel file

The Excel file contains merged cells. Merged cells make it impossible to correctly interpret the tabular structure. Select all cells and use "Merge & Center" to unmerge them before uploading.

Solution: Open the Excel file, select all (Ctrl+A), go to Home → Merge & Center (deselect) to unmerge all cells. Then save and re-upload the file.

Too many sheets in Excel file

The Excel file contains multiple worksheets. Replay only supports files with a single sheet. Remove extra sheets or create a new file with only one sheet containing your data.

Solution: Open the Excel file, delete extra sheets and keep only the one with the data to compare. Alternatively, copy the data to a new single-sheet Excel file.

Column schema mismatch

The uploaded file's columns don't match the project's columns. The file must have exactly the same columns (same name and order) as the baseline version.

Solution: Check that the file has the same columns as the project. Make sure no columns have been renamed, added, or removed.

Duplicate values in key column

The key column contains repeated values. Each value in the key column must be unique to uniquely identify each row.

Solution: Remove or fix duplicate values in the key column. If needed, add a suffix to make each value unique.

Missing values in key column

The key column contains empty or null cells. Every row must have a value in the key column to compare versions.

Solution: Fill in all empty cells in the key column. Every row must have a unique identifier.

File too large

The file exceeds the maximum allowed size of 10 MB. Try reducing the number of rows or removing unnecessary columns.

Solution: Split the file into smaller parts or remove unnecessary columns to reduce the size.

Unsupported format

The file format is not supported. Replay only accepts CSV (.csv) and Excel (.xlsx) files.

Solution: Save the file in CSV (.csv) or Excel (.xlsx) format. If you have an .xls file (old Excel format), save it as .xlsx.

Limits

Parameter	Limit
File size	10 MB
Maximum number of rows	100.000
Maximum number of columns	100
Excel sheets	1 1 (single sheet only)
Accepted formats	CSV (.csv), Excel (.xlsx)