Mastodon Import Follows CSV Skips Some Accounts: Fix

When you export your Mastodon follows to a CSV file and then import that file into a new account, some accounts are silently skipped. You might notice that your follower count on the new profile is lower than expected. This usually happens because the CSV import process is strict about account format and instance reachability. This article explains why certain accounts fail during import and provides a reliable method to fix the issue.

Why the Mastodon CSV Import Skips Certain Accounts

Mastodon’s import feature reads a CSV file and attempts to follow each account listed. The import process checks two things for every row: the account address format and whether the remote instance is reachable. If either check fails, Mastodon silently skips that account without showing an error message.

The most common root cause is an incomplete account address. Each row in the CSV must contain the full account address in the format @username@instance.com. If you exported the list from a third-party tool or manually edited the file, the address might be missing the instance part or contain extra whitespace. Mastodon’s parser is strict and will reject malformed addresses.

Another cause is instance unavailability. Mastodon tries to resolve each account’s home instance during import. If the remote instance is temporarily down, blocked by your current instance, or has defederated, the account is skipped. The import process does not retry failed accounts.

Steps to Fix Skipped Accounts During CSV Import

1. Export a fresh CSV from your old account
   Log in to your original Mastodon account. Go to Preferences > Import and export > Export. Click the Export button next to Follows list. This downloads a CSV file with correct account addresses.
2. Open the CSV file in a text editor
   Use Notepad or any plain text editor. Do not use Excel or a spreadsheet app because they may alter the formatting. The file should have one header row Account address and one account per line.
3. Verify each account address format
   Check that every address starts with @ and includes the full domain. For example, @user@mastodon.social is correct. If you see only @user or user@mastodon.social without the leading at sign, that row will fail.
4. Remove duplicate lines
   Scroll through the file and delete any duplicate account addresses. Duplicates cause the import to attempt the same account twice, but Mastodon only counts the first attempt.
5. Save the CSV as UTF-8 without BOM
   In Notepad, click File > Save As. Set the encoding dropdown to UTF-8 and save the file. A BOM byte order mark can confuse Mastodon’s parser.
6. Log in to your new account and start the import
   Go to Preferences > Import and export > Import. Under What do you want to import, select Follows list. Choose the CSV file you edited and click Upload.
7. Wait for the import to complete
   Mastodon processes the import in the background. You will see a status message: Your import is being processed. This can take several minutes for large files. Do not close the browser tab.
8. Check which accounts were skipped
   After the import finishes, go to your profile and open the Following list. Compare it to the CSV file. Any account missing from the list was skipped.
9. Manually follow skipped accounts
   For each skipped account, search for the full address @username@instance.com in Mastodon’s search box. Click the Follow button on the account profile. This bypasses the CSV import restrictions.

If Mastodon Still Has Issues After the Main Fix

Imported accounts appear but do not show in the following list

This happens when the import succeeded but the remote instance has not yet sent back the follow confirmation. Mastodon uses ActivityPub to send follow requests. Some instances process these requests slowly. Wait 24 to 48 hours. If the accounts still do not appear, check whether the remote instance is defederated from yours. Go to Preferences > Administration > Federation and search for the domain. If it is listed as Limited or Suspended, you cannot follow accounts on that instance.

CSV file upload fails with a generic error

The CSV file might be too large or contain invalid characters. Mastodon limits CSV imports to 10,000 rows. If your file exceeds this limit, split it into multiple files of 5,000 rows each. Remove any non-ASCII characters like emojis from the account addresses. Also ensure the file extension is .csv and not .txt.

Accounts from the same instance are all skipped

Your new instance might be blocking the entire remote instance. Check the federation settings as described above. If the remote instance is not blocked, the issue might be a temporary network outage. Try importing again after 24 hours.

Item	CSV Import (Batch)	Manual Follow (Individual)
Speed	Fast for large lists	Slow for many accounts
Error visibility	Silent skip on failure	Shows error if account not found
Format requirements	Strict CSV format	Accepts any valid address
Retry on failure	No automatic retry	You can retry immediately
Best for	Clean lists from the same instance	Cross-instance or problematic accounts

After applying the steps above, you should be able to import your full follows list without skipped accounts. The most reliable approach is to use the export CSV directly without manual edits. For any accounts that still fail, use the manual follow method as a fallback. You can also use Mastodon’s Move to a different account feature in Preferences > Account to migrate your entire profile including follows in a single operation, which avoids CSV issues entirely.