Supported File Formats
| Format | Extensions | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| CSV | .csv |
Comma, semicolon, tab, or pipe delimited |
| Excel | .xlsx, .xls |
Multiple sheets supported; each sheet becomes a separate table |
.pdf |
Tables are extracted automatically; works best with structured tabular PDFs |
File Size Limits by Plan
| Plan | Maximum File Size |
|---|---|
| Trial | 10 MB |
| Starter | 10 MB |
| Professional | 100 MB |
| Enterprise | 1 GB |
If your file exceeds the limit, consider splitting it into smaller files, connecting directly to the source database, or upgrading your plan. See Plans and Pricing.
How to Upload a File
Step 1: Open the Upload Wizard
Navigate to Data Sources in the sidebar and click Add Source. Under Direct Upload, select CSV File, Excel File, or the appropriate file type depending on your file format.
Step 2: Select or Drag Your File
Drag your file onto the upload area or click Browse to select it from your file system. The upload starts immediately.
Step 3: Preview and Configure
After the file uploads, clariBI shows a preview of the first 10 rows. Review the following:
Column Names -- clariBI reads column headers from the first row of CSV/Excel files. If your file has no header row, toggle First row is data and clariBI assigns generic column names (Column A, Column B, etc.).
Data Types -- each column is automatically classified as text, number, date, or boolean. Click any column header to change its type if the auto-detection was wrong. Common corrections:
- Zip codes detected as numbers -- change to text
- Date strings not recognized -- change to date and specify the format
- "Yes/No" values -- change to boolean
Sheet Selection (Excel only) -- if the Excel file has multiple sheets, choose which sheets to import. Each selected sheet becomes a separate data table.
Step 4: Save
Click Connect. The file data is stored in clariBI and ready for analysis.
Re-Uploading Updated Files
If your source data changes, you can update an existing file-based data source:
- Go to Data Sources and find the file source.
- Click the three-dot menu and select Re-upload.
- Upload the new version of the file.
- clariBI replaces the previous data with the new file content.
Dashboards and reports that reference this data source will automatically reflect the updated data the next time they are viewed or regenerated.
Tips for Best Results
- Use consistent column names across file versions so dashboards and analyses do not break when you re-upload.
- Clean your data before uploading -- remove empty rows, fix inconsistent formatting, and ensure dates are in a standard format (YYYY-MM-DD works best).
- For large CSV files, consider compressing to
.csv.gzbefore uploading (supported on Professional and Enterprise plans). - PDF extraction works best with simple, grid-style tables. Complex layouts with merged cells or multi-level headers may not extract cleanly.
Troubleshooting
Upload fails immediately: Check the file size against your plan limit and ensure the file extension is .csv, .xlsx, .xls, or .pdf.
Columns are misaligned: The CSV delimiter may be incorrect. clariBI auto-detects delimiters, but if your file uses an uncommon separator, contact support.
PDF tables are incomplete: If the PDF has images of tables (scanned documents), extraction will not work. The PDF must contain actual text-based tables.
Excel file shows no data: Ensure the data is in the first sheet, or select the correct sheet in the preview step.