--- title: "Pinterest CSV Checker for Bulk Uploads + Free Template" description: "Free Pinterest CSV checker. Drop in your bulk upload file and see every row that would fail, with the fix. Converts dates to UTC and splits files at 200 pins. Stays in your browser." canonical_url: "https://insightpins.com/tools/pinterest-csv-checker.html" author: "Ruslan Saifullin" source: "Generated from HTML by scripts/build-markdown.mjs — do not edit by hand." --- # Pinterest CSV checker for bulk upload errors This Pinterest CSV checker reads your bulk upload file in your browser and lists every row that would fail or publish wrongly, with the fix for each. Your file is not uploaded: it never leaves this tab. ## How this Pinterest CSV checker works ### Drop in your CSV Choose the file you saved from your spreadsheet, or paste its text. It is read in this browser tab and never sent to a server. ### Read the report Every problem comes with its row, the column, what is wrong and how to fix it. Errors are rows Pinterest would reject or publish wrongly. Warnings are worth a look. ### Fix and download Where a fix is mechanical, the tool makes it: trimmed spaces, one-line descriptions, dates in UTC, repeated links moved to a second file, files split at 200 pins. It never fills in a missing value or shortens your text. ### Where the rules come from The rules are the ones Pinterest states on its [bulk upload help page](https://help.pinterest.com/en/business/article/bulk-upload-video-pins): up to 200 pins per file, a title of up to 100 characters, a description of up to 500, a direct link to a public image or video file, and publish dates written as yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss in UTC (a space in place of the T also worked in our test). Pinterest can change them, so a file this tool passes can still be refused. This tool is built by InsightPins and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Pinterest. ## Pinterest CSV format: the eight columns and a template A Pinterest bulk upload CSV is a plain comma-separated file with one header row and one pin per row. The header is the one in Pinterest's sample spreadsheet, spelled like this: `Title,Media URL,Pinterest board,Thumbnail,Description,Link,Publish date,Keywords` The table gives the requirement Pinterest's help page states for each column. | Column | Needed? | What Pinterest asks for | Example | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Title | Required | 100 characters or fewer. | One Pot Pasta in 20 Minutes | | Media URL | Required | A public link to the image or video file itself, usually ending in .jpg, .png or .mp4. | `https://www.example.com/uploads/pasta-pin.jpg` | | Pinterest board | Required | The title of the board. For a section, add its title after a slash. A board or section that does not exist yet is created for you. | Easy Dinner Recipes/Pasta | | Thumbnail | Video only | A time as mm:ss, a number of seconds into the video, or a public image link in the video's aspect ratio. Leave it empty for images. | `00:05` | | Description | Optional | 500 characters or fewer. | One pot pasta that cooks in 20 minutes with pantry staples. | | Link | Optional | The page the pin opens when someone clicks it. | `https://www.example.com/one-pot-pasta/` | | Publish date | Optional | A date, or a date and time in UTC. Leave it empty to publish straight away. | `2026-10-07T22:00:00` | | Keywords | Optional | A comma-separated list of search terms that fit the pin. To find terms people search, try the [free Pinterest keyword tool](https://insightpins.com/free-pinterest-keyword-tool.html). | one pot pasta, easy weeknight dinner | Three more requirements come from the CSV format, not from Pinterest's table: - **A cell with a comma in it goes in double quotes.** That is most descriptions and every Keywords cell. A spreadsheet app adds the quotes when it exports; a file typed by hand often lacks them, and every column after that cell shifts by one. - **One pin, one line.** A line break inside a description splits the row in two. - **Commas, UTF-8, .csv.** Some regional Excel versions save with semicolons, and an .xlsx or .numbers file is not a CSV. Use your spreadsheet's CSV export or download option. ### Pinterest CSV template The template has the header row and three example pins, so you can see a quoted description and a UTC publish date in place. Replace the example rows with your own, export, then check the file above. ## Pinterest CSV date format: yyyy-mm-dd, in UTC Pinterest's help page shows two ways to write the Publish date column: `2023-12-17` for a day, and `2023-12-17T08:00:00` for a day and a time. The time is UTC, not your local time. If the date is not formatted correctly, Pinterest says you get an error and the pin is not published. - **A date and time** schedules the pin for that moment in UTC. - **A date with no time** publishes on that day, at the time of day you uploaded the file. - **An empty cell** publishes the pin as soon as the file is processed. ### Convert your local time to UTC by hand Take the time you want the pin to go out and apply your offset from UTC. 6:00 PM in New York on 7 October 2026 is four hours behind UTC, so the cell reads `2026-10-07T22:00:00`. After the clocks go back on 1 November, the same 6:00 PM is five hours behind and becomes `23:00:00`. A late evening slot often falls on the next day in UTC, so the date changes as well as the hour. ### Stop your spreadsheet rewriting the date Excel and Google Sheets recognise a date and show it again in your regional style, so `2026-10-07 22:00:00` is saved as `10/7/2026 22:00` and the row fails. Set the column to text before you type or paste into it: in Excel, select the column and choose Text as the number format; in Google Sheets, choose Format, Number, Plain text. Then open the exported CSV in a text editor and read one date to be sure. If the file is already saved with rewritten dates, [the checker](https://insightpins.com/tools/pinterest-csv-checker.html#csv-app) saves you redoing the column. It asks whether your file writes the day or the month first and which time zone you meant, then writes the UTC value into the fixed file, daylight saving included. ## What the Pinterest CSV checker looks for ### The file Semicolons or tabs where Pinterest expects commas, a byte-order mark added by Excel's "CSV UTF-8", more than 200 pins in one file, a header row pasted in twice, and a row with too many or too few fields because a comma inside a description was not put in quotes. ### Each row A missing title, board or media link, a title over 100 characters, a description over 500 or split over several lines, a link that is not a full web address, a link already used by an earlier row, a media link that points at a Google Drive, Dropbox or Canva page instead of the file, and a video with no thumbnail. ### Publish dates A date in the wrong format, one that is not a real calendar day, one already in the past, one a spreadsheet app has rewritten as 3/4/2026, one with no time, and one more than 30 days ahead. Dates are read as UTC, the way Pinterest reads them. ### Images, if you ask A separate button loads each image link in your browser and reports the ones that do not load: a broken link, a login-only file, or a page that is not an image. It also notes pictures that are not 2:3. Your image host sees those requests. Need pins in the 2:3 shape Pinterest recommends? The [InsightPins Pin Generator](https://app.insightpins.com/?utm_source=insightpins&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=free_tools&utm_content=csv_checker_guide) designs them at 1000 x 1500 from templates. Upload the finished image to your own site, then put its link in the Media URL column. ## One file, four problems Take a file of three pins. The first is fine. The second links to a Google Drive page instead of the picture, and its date reads **10/7/2026 6:00 PM**, which a spreadsheet has rewritten from a proper date and which could be 10 July or 7 October. The third has a 104 character title and a link that starts with http://. The checker lists all of that by row. For the date it asks whether your file writes the day first or the month first, and in which time zone, then converts it to UTC. It does not guess, because a wrong guess would schedule the pin on the wrong day. The Drive link and the title it leaves to you. Only you know which picture belongs there and how to shorten your own words. ## Pinterest bulk upload not working? Go by the symptom Pinterest reports bulk upload errors by email, and not always row by row, so the quickest way in is what you saw happen. Each cause below says where it comes from: Pinterest's help page, our own test, or reports on Pinterest's Business Community forum. ### The file is refused, or you get a column error - **A column name differs from Pinterest's sample.** Forum users report uploads failing with a second column named "Media file URL" and working once it was renamed "Media URL". Copy the header row from the template instead of typing it. - **The file uses semicolons.** Open it in a text editor: if the header reads Title;Media URL;Pinterest board, a regional Excel export wrote it. Export again with commas. - **The file is not a CSV.** Pinterest's upload takes a .csv file (or a .txt file for video), not an .xlsx or .numbers workbook. ### The upload said success, but no pins appeared The success message means the file was accepted for processing, not that the pins exist. In our test Pinterest took about two hours to create them. Look under Scheduled Pins on your profile, then in your inbox and spam folder for an email about rows to review. ### Some pins are there and some are missing Start with the table in Pinterest's email, which names each refused pin and the reason. Its headline can mislead: in our test a file of image pins got an email headed "issue creating Video Pins" that said 0 rows were uploaded, while every other row was scheduled. - **The media link is a page, not a file.** A Google Drive, Dropbox or Canva share link opens a viewer page. Paste the link into a private browser window: you should see the picture and nothing else, with no login. Forum users report these rows failing with no error message at all. - **Several rows share one media link.** Forum users report the rows after the first failing. Give every pin its own image file. - **Several rows share one link.** In our tests on 4 October 2026, Pinterest refused every row whose Link was already used by an earlier row in the same file, on the same day or a later one, with the error "Duplicate Pin link". The first row went through. Any change to the link made it new: a row with a `?utm_source=` tag, one without the trailing slash, and one using a link from an earlier upload were all scheduled. Give every pin in a file its own link, or put the repeats in a second file. - **A title is over 100 characters or a description over 500.** Both limits are on Pinterest's help page. - **The publish date is malformed.** Pinterest says the row gets an error and the pin is not published. - **A comma is not in quotes.** The row has one field too many, so the link sits in the date column and the date in the keywords column. ### Pins went out at the wrong time - **The time was local, not UTC.** Pinterest reads the publish date as UTC, so a New York evening time written as it stands goes out four or five hours early. - **The date had no time.** The pin then publishes at the time of day you uploaded the file. - **The cell was empty.** An empty publish date means publish now. ### You cannot find the upload option Bulk upload needs a Pinterest business account and a desktop browser. Pinterest's help page says it is not available from a phone. Every cause above that sits inside the file, apart from a local time written where UTC belongs, is one the checker reports by row, so [check the file](https://insightpins.com/tools/pinterest-csv-checker.html#csv-app) before you upload it a second time. In our test a second file was added to the first instead of replacing it, so a repeat upload can duplicate the pins that did go through. ## How to bulk upload pins to Pinterest with a CSV Bulk upload is part of Pinterest itself: its help page calls it the bulk creation tool. It is free, and it is the way to upload multiple pins to Pinterest at once, up to 200 images or videos per file. The upload steps below are the ones on that help page. 1. **Choose what to pin.** Write titles and keywords around terms people search: the [free Pinterest keyword tool](https://insightpins.com/free-pinterest-keyword-tool.html) shows Pinterest search volumes, and [Keyword Explorer](https://insightpins.com/keyword-explorer.html) in Pin Stats researches them inside Pinterest. Pin Stats also shows the saves on every pin as you browse, so you can see which ideas already work. 2. **Build the spreadsheet.** One pin per row under the template's header, then export it as .csv. 3. **Check the file.** Drop it into [the checker above](https://insightpins.com/tools/pinterest-csv-checker.html#csv-app) and fix what it lists. 4. **Open Settings.** Log in to your Pinterest business account on desktop, open the menu at the top right corner and click Settings. 5. **Choose Import content** in the left-side navigation. 6. **Upload the file.** Next to "Upload .csv or .txt file", click Upload, then drag the file into the box. 7. **Wait for the email.** Pinterest sends a confirmation and may contact you about rows to review or reformat. Then look under Scheduled Pins on your profile. To upload more than 200 pins, split them over several files. The fixed file download does the split for you when a file is over the limit. ## What Pinterest did with our test uploads Pinterest's help page leaves gaps, so we uploaded test files to a Pinterest business account and wrote down what happened, including the rows Pinterest refused. Each file went in through Settings, Import content, the same way you upload yours. We then read Scheduled Pins on the profile and the email Pinterest sent. The checker's rules follow these results where the help page is silent. | Date | What we uploaded | What Pinterest did | What the checker does | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 Oct 2026 | Three files, 21 image pins on one board, spread over several days | All 21 appeared under Scheduled Pins together, more than the 10 that Pinterest's one-at-a-time scheduler holds | Does not cap a file at 10 pins | | 1 Oct 2026 | A second file for the same days as the first | Added to the first, did not replace it | The guide warns that uploading a file again can duplicate pins | | 1 Oct 2026 | A row dated 35 days ahead | Scheduled | Warns past 30 days, because Pinterest's help does not say how far a CSV can go | | 1 Oct 2026 | Dates written with a space, such as `2026-10-05 21:00:00` | Scheduled | Accepts the space form | | 1 Oct 2026 | Landscape and square images | Accepted and cropped | A note, not an error, for an image that is not 2:3 | | 1 Oct 2026 | The image file deleted from its host after the pin was scheduled | The pin still published with its image: Pinterest keeps its own copy | Checks image links only before you upload | | 1 Oct 2026 | Waiting for the pins | About two hours after the success message | Tells you to check Scheduled Pins and your email before uploading again | | 4 Oct 2026 | `2026-10-04T05:29:00Z`, the T form with a Z | Scheduled for 05:29 UTC | Accepts it and leaves it as written | | 4 Oct 2026 | Dates in Pinterest's documented T form, `2026-10-06T08:00:00` | Scheduled | Accepts it | | 4 Oct 2026 | Two more rows with the first row's link, on the same day | Both refused: "Duplicate Pin link" | An error on every row after the first | | 4 Oct 2026 | The same link again on the next day | Refused: "Duplicate Pin link" | An error on any day, and the fixed file moves the repeat to a second file | | 4 Oct 2026 | The same link with `?utm_source=pinterest`, the same link without its trailing slash, and a link already used by a pin from an earlier upload | All three scheduled | Counts them as different links | | 4 Oct 2026 | A file of image pins with one refused row | The email was headed "issue creating Video Pins" and said 0 rows uploaded, while the other rows were scheduled | The guide tells you to read the email's table of rows, not its headline | Two of the emails Pinterest sent us, unedited: [image: Email from Pinterest Business: an issue creating Video Pins from your .csv file, 0 rows uploaded, a problem with 2 rows. Both rows, Date test T form and Date test space form, failed with Duplicate Pin link.] The date test. Both rows reused the first row's link and were refused. The first row, dated with a trailing Z, was scheduled, though the email says 0 rows. [image: Email from Pinterest Business: a problem with 1 row. Link test B same link next day failed with Duplicate Pin link.] The duplicate link test. Only the row repeating a link on the next day was refused. The other five rows were scheduled, though the email says 0 rows. This is one account over a few days, not a statement from Pinterest, and Pinterest can change how bulk upload works. If it does something different with your file, [tell us](https://insightpins.com/contacts.html) and we will test it again. ## What this Pinterest CSV checker does not do - **It cannot see what Pinterest does after the upload.** Account limits, rows refused later and whether a pin published are visible only in your Pinterest account and your email. - **It never logs in, uploads or posts.** You upload the file yourself. The tool asks for no Pinterest password and does not automate your account. - **It does not judge a pin.** It checks that a row is well formed, not whether the pin will earn saves, clicks or impressions. - **It cannot always tell a broken image from a blocked one.** A host that blocks other websites can fail here and still work for Pinterest, so open the link yourself. ## Questions, answered **What is a Pinterest CSV checker?** A Pinterest CSV checker reads the file you plan to bulk upload and lists every row that would fail or publish wrongly, such as a title that is too long, a share page where a picture link should be, or a date a spreadsheet has rewritten. This one also fixes what can be fixed mechanically and downloads a cleaned file. **Is my CSV uploaded anywhere?** No. The file is read and checked in your browser tab and is not sent to us or anyone else. The one exception is the optional image check, which you start with a button: it makes your browser load each image link in the file, so the sites hosting those images see the requests. **What does Pinterest require in a bulk upload CSV?** According to Pinterest's help page, up to 200 pins per file, a title of up to 100 characters, a description of up to 500, a board, a direct link to a public image or video file, and publish dates written as yyyy-mm-dd or yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss in UTC. Videos need a thumbnail. The checker tests each of these. **Is there a Pinterest CSV template?** Yes. Pinterest links a sample spreadsheet from its bulk upload help page, and this page has a template with the eight column names from that help page and three example pins. Replace the example rows with your own, export the sheet as a .csv file, then check it here before you upload. **What date format does a Pinterest CSV use?** Pinterest's help page gives yyyy-mm-dd for a day and yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss for a day and time, for example 2023-12-17T08:00:00. The time is UTC. A date with no time publishes at the time of day you upload the file, and an empty cell publishes straight away. **How many pins can I bulk upload to Pinterest?** You can upload multiple pins to Pinterest at once with a CSV: up to 200 images or videos per file, according to Pinterest's help page. For more, split the pins over several files. In our test on one business account, three files uploaded one after another were all accepted and their pins were scheduled together. **Why is my Pinterest bulk upload not working?** The usual causes are in the file: a column name that differs from Pinterest's sample, semicolons in place of commas, a media link that opens a share page and not the image itself, a title over 100 characters, or a publish date a spreadsheet has rewritten. The checker reports each of these by row. **What does "Duplicate Pin link" mean on Pinterest?** It is the error Pinterest's bulk upload email gives a row whose Link was already used by an earlier row in the same CSV file. In our tests in October 2026, Pinterest refused the repeat on the same day and on a later day, and scheduled the first row. The same link with a ?utm\_ tag added, or used again in a later upload, was accepted. The checker flags every repeat, and the fixed file moves the repeats into a second file. **Why does Pinterest say "there was an issue creating Video Pins from your .csv file"?** That is the headline of Pinterest's email when any row in a bulk upload fails, even in a file of image pins. In our tests the same email said 0 rows were uploaded while the other rows were scheduled. The table under the headline names each refused pin and the reason, such as Duplicate Pin link, so read that and check Scheduled Pins on your profile to see what went through. **Why did my upload say success but my pins did not appear?** The success message only means the file was accepted for processing. In our test Pinterest took about two hours to create the pins and said problems are reported by email. Check Scheduled Pins on your profile and your inbox, including spam, before you upload again. **Can I make the CSV in Excel or Google Sheets?** Yes, either works. Set the Publish date column to text first, or the app rewrites your dates in its own style. Export as a comma-separated .csv file, not .xlsx. Some regional Excel versions save with semicolons, which the checker detects and the fixed file corrects. **How does the checker handle dates and time zones?** It reads publish dates as UTC, which is what Pinterest expects. For a date that is not in that form it converts using the time zone you choose, including daylight saving changes. A date like 3/4/2026 could be 3 April or 4 March, so it asks which order your file uses instead of guessing. **Can this tool upload or schedule my pins?** No. It never logs in to Pinterest and never posts. It checks and cleans the file, and you upload it yourself with Pinterest's bulk upload. ## More free Pinterest tools File fixed? Here is how to pick [a free Pinterest scheduler](https://insightpins.com/blog/best-pinterest-scheduling-tools.html) for the rest of the month. [Real Pinterest data ### Free Pinterest Keyword Tool Check how many people search a keyword on Pinterest before you schedule a week of pins on it. ](https://insightpins.com/free-pinterest-keyword-tool.html)[Real Pinterest data ### Pinterest Board Name Generator Turn a topic into board names people search for, with search volumes for the top names. ](https://insightpins.com/tools/pinterest-board-name-generator.html)[All tools ### All free Pinterest tools The full list of free Pinterest tools from InsightPins, and how they work together. ](https://insightpins.com/tools/) Built by [Ruslan Saifullin](https://x.com/ruslan_dev_ai) Pinterest analytics developer and founder of Pin Stats. Ruslan has spent the last two years building Pinterest analytics and keyword research tools used by 10,000+ creators, and writes about Pinterest SEO on the [InsightPins blog](https://insightpins.com/blog/). Page last updated: October 4, 2026 ## Check what ranks before you schedule the batch See saves on every pin while you browse Pinterest, and research keywords right inside it with Keyword Explorer. [Install Pin Stats free](https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/pinterest-pin-stats-sort/mcmkeopcpbfgjlakblglpcccpodbjkel?utm_source=insightpins&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=free_tools&utm_content=csv_checker_final) Free Chrome extension. Pin stats on every pin, and a Quick scan of about 85 keywords for any topic.