The case importer lets you bulk upload cases into the platform using a CSV or Excel file. This is useful when migrating historical cases from another system or source. You can also attach files and documents to your imported cases alongside the case data itself.

Here is a quick overview of the full import process:

If you are migrating cases from a previous system, that system may use fields that do not currently exist in your Whistleblower Software reporting channel. Before starting your import, create a custom field for each one so you have somewhere to map that data into during the column matching step.

Custom fields are only visible to case handlers and are never shown to the whistleblower.

See Creating custom fields for instructions on how to set these up.

Go to Cases, click Options in the top right corner, and select Import Cases.

Choose the reporting channel you want to import cases into from the Select Reporting Channel dropdown. Imported cases will be created under this channel.

You can attach evidence or supporting documents to your imported cases. This step is optional and separate from the case data itself, which is uploaded as your CSV or Excel sheet.

To add files, drag and drop a folder or individual files into the attachment zone, or use Select files folder or select files.

Files are matched to your sheet using the Files column. You can reference a file by its file name, or by its full path if multiple files share the same name in different folders. For example, if both file-5.png and some-folder/file-5.png exist, use the full path to pick the one inside the folder.

After adding your files, you will see a summary showing how many files were matched, how many are missing, and how many were not referenced in your sheet:

Upload your CSV or Excel file. If your file contains multiple sheets, select one or more sheets to import. If you select multiple sheets, each sheet must contain a key column so they can be joined together.

Select the row in your sheet that contains the column headers. This tells the importer which row to use to identify each column.

The importer will attempt to automatically match your sheet's columns to the corresponding fields in Whistleblower Software. Review each match and adjust manually if a column was not matched correctly or needs to be mapped to a different field.

Each case you import must have an External ID, a unique reference that comes from the system you're migrating from, for example the case number used in your old tool.

The importer uses it to recognise cases it has seen before. If you import a row whose External ID already exists, the importer replaces that existing case instead of creating a new one. This means you can safely run the same import more than once, whether to fix a typo, add a missing conversation, without ever ending up with duplicate cases. Import the same file twice and nothing is duplicated, the cases simply end up in their final, corrected state.

Before completing the import, review all entries in the Review Entries table. You can:

Rows with missing required information, such as a department, or with file matching issues will be flagged so you can correct them before importing.

Once your entries are reviewed and corrected, confirm the import. You will see a summary showing how many cases were created and how many failed, along with a downloadable CSV containing details on any failures.

You will also be able to Download created cases keys. Keep this file safe. These keys cannot be retrieved again once you navigate away from or reload the page.

Files are automatically linked to their corresponding case using the case's external ID found in the file name or folder path. This means you do not need to manually assign each file to a case, as long as your file names or folder structure reference the correct external ID.

Before you confirm the import, the importer will flag any conflicts so you can resolve them in advance, including:

All files are encrypted end-to-end on your device using the specific encryption key tied to that case row, in line with the platform's overall security standards.