“My CSV has no column headings and the importer needs them”
Some banks export transactions with no heading row at all, which leaves an importer with columns it cannot name. The first transaction then usually vanishes, consumed as a header — so the fix is not only adding names but recovering that row.
Symptoms
The importer treats the first transaction as the column headings The mapping screen offers Column 1, Column 2 rather than field names Exactly one transaction is missing after every import
What actually causes it
The export omits headings by design
Formats intended for machine-to-machine transfer often carry no header row, because both ends already agree on the layout. Handed to a general-purpose importer, that agreement does not exist and the first data row is read as the names.
The importer assumes a header is always present
Many importers offer no option to say the file has no headings. They consume the first line regardless, which is why one transaction disappears without any error being raised.
How to fix it
- Check the file with the tool below first: it reports the column count and structure, which is what you need to know before naming anything.
- Work out each column from its content — dates, amounts and descriptions are usually unambiguous once you can see the counts line up.
- Add a heading row in a plain text editor rather than a spreadsheet, so nothing else in the file is rewritten while you are there.
- Look for a header option in your importer before editing at all; where it exists, it preserves the first transaction without touching the file.
Related import problems
Skip the manual edit — fix it automatically
The checker reports the column count and structure, which is what tells you whether a file genuinely lacks headings or is merely misaligned. Free, no signup, no upload.
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