When you bulk upload a recipient list, Parcel Tracker may flag some recipients as duplicates and skip them. This often happens when you delete your old recipient list before uploading the new one. Some of the recipients you deleted are also on the new list, and deleted recipients aren’t removed right away. They are held in Retained Data, so Parcel Tracker still treats them as existing and flags their entries in your new list as duplicates. For the complete guides, see How To Bulk Upload Recipients and Retained Data: How to View, Restore and Manage Deleted Records.
What to do next depends on whether those recipients are still in Retained Data or have been permanently deleted. To find out, go to Settings > Retained data on the web platform and open the Recipients tab. Only Owners, Admins and Normal users can access Retained Data.
If the recipients you deleted are listed there, see the first section.
If they aren’t, they may have been permanently deleted, so see the second section.
If the recipients are still in Retained Data
Deleted recipients stay in Retained Data until the retention period set for your account ends, so you can restore them any time before then. What to do depends on whether they had IDs. You can check in the ID column of the Recipients tab of Retained data on the web platform.
If all of the deleted recipients had IDs
On the web platform, go to the
Recipientstab ofRetained data, select all of the deleted recipients and clickRestore. You can choose to restore their related parcels as well, so include them if you want to keep their parcel records.Upload your new list with the ID column and
Perform Wipe After Uploadturned on. For the steps, see the last section.
Recipients on your new list are kept and updated, and recipients with an ID who aren’t on it are deleted again.
If only some of the deleted recipients had IDs
The wipe only affects recipients with an ID, so restoring everyone would bring back recipients without one, and they would stay on your list. Choose one of these instead:
Start with a clean list (recommended): on the web platform, select the deleted recipients in the
Recipientstab ofRetained dataand clickDelete forever. Permanently deleted data can take anywhere from a few hours to a day or two to be fully removed, so wait until then, then upload your new list with the ID column. Their parcel records are deleted with them.Restore only the recipients who have an ID and are on your new list: restore them from the same tab and choose to include their related parcels, so their parcel records are kept. Then upload your new list with the ID column. They are matched by their ID. Recipients without an ID aren’t flagged as duplicates, so they don’t need restoring, and recipients who aren’t on your new list can stay in Retained Data.
From now on, use IDs for every upload, so Parcel Tracker works out who to keep and who to delete. The last section explains how.
If the recipients were permanently deleted
Permanently deleted recipients can’t be restored, and their parcel records are deleted with them. This happens when you click
Delete foreverin Retained Data or when the retention period expires.You can add the recipients who are on your new list again by uploading it, but their earlier parcel records won’t come back.
Permanently deleted data can take anywhere from a few hours to a day or two to be fully removed. If you upload before then, the recipients on your new list may still be flagged as duplicates, so it’s best to wait.
If you need your list uploaded sooner, please contact our support team.
The easiest way to update your recipient list
The best way to avoid recipients being flagged is to let Parcel Tracker handle the deletions during the upload, instead of deleting recipients first, so recipients on your new list are never deleted by mistake. This works when your list includes an ID for each recipient.
What the ID is
A column in your upload file that holds a unique identifier for each recipient.
It is recommended to use a number you already have in your own records, such as a student number, an employee number or a resident ID.
Each recipient needs their own ID, and it must stay the same every time you upload an updated list.
IDs can only be added through a bulk upload, not when adding a recipient manually, so recipients added any other way have no ID.
How to update your list
Add the ID column to your list and fill in an ID for each recipient.
On the web platform, go to
Recipients>Import Listand upload your updated list.On the last screen, before you click
Upload, turn onPerform Wipe After Upload.
What the wipe does
Parcel Tracker compares the IDs in your file with the recipients currently on your list:
Recipients in your file who aren’t on your list yet are added.
Recipients on your list whose ID is in your file are kept and updated.
Recipients on your list who have an ID but aren’t in your file are deleted.
Recipients on your list without an ID aren’t affected.
Recipients deleted this way are moved to Retained Data along with their parcels, so you can restore them until they are permanently deleted. If any of them appear on a later list, they may be flagged as duplicates, so restore them from Retained Data before you upload that list.
Only turn on Perform Wipe After Upload if your file is the complete list you want to keep, because any recipient on your list with an ID who isn’t in your file is deleted.
Need more help?
If recipients are still flagged as duplicates after these steps, please reach out to our support team here for assistance!