Undo a lead import in HubSpot

If a batch of leads went in with the wrong owner, the wrong pipeline or from the wrong file, you need to undo a lead import in HubSpot, and there is no single button for it. The by-hand way is to find the leads and delete them. LeadCascade keeps a record of every lead it creates and can undo a whole run for 30 days. A deleted lead goes to HubSpot’s recycling bin, so it can be restored.

Last checked 5 Nov 2026 against HubSpot’s published documentation.

What a lead import changes

A LeadCascade run can create three kinds of records in your HubSpot account: companies, contacts and leads. A lead is the record the run exists for; the company and the contact are what the lead has to be linked to. Existing contacts and companies are reused and never overwritten, so the only thing that can go wrong in them is that the run created a new one you did not want.

The by-hand way

To remove leads by hand, find them in the Leads workspace, for example by sorting on the create date or filtering on the source you set in the file, select them and delete them. That works when you know which leads came from the file. It gets harder when the same people already had leads, or when other users created leads the same day. You also have to check that you did not select a lead that someone had already started to work on.

What LeadCascade Undo does

LeadCascade stores the HubSpot ID of every lead it creates. For 30 days after a run, Undo goes through those leads. For each one, it reads the lead back from HubSpot and then:

• deletes it if it is untouched since the import;
• leaves it and lists it if it was edited more than 10 minutes after it was created, or has a deal associated with it;
• counts it as gone if it no longer exists.

HubSpot keeps deleted records in its recycling bin, so even a deleted lead can be restored there. Undo covers the whole run, not single rows. It is free and does not count against your plan.

What Undo never touches

Contacts and companies that a run created are never deleted by Undo. A contact may have been used since the import, and a company may be shared by many contacts. The result CSV has the columns that say whether the contact and the company were created by the run, with links into HubSpot, so you can review and remove them yourself.

A worked example

Suppose a run created 800 leads, and an hour later you notice that every lead has the wrong owner because the owner column was matched to the wrong header. Open the run and choose Undo. LeadCascade reads each of the 800 leads back. Say seven of them were already edited by a rep, more than 10 minutes after they were created, and two have a deal, so nine are left in place and listed with the reason; the other 791 are deleted and sit in the recycling bin. You fix the mapping, check the file again and run it again. The contacts and companies from the first run are reused by the second one, because they now exist in HubSpot; the result CSV of the first run tells you which of them that run had created, in case you want to review them.

Undo or fix forward

Undo fits when the whole run is wrong: the wrong file, the wrong mapping or the wrong account. If only a few leads are wrong, it is usually quicker to correct them in HubSpot, because Undo covers the whole run and not single rows. If you are unsure, download the result CSV first. It lists every row with its lead ID and links, so you can see exactly what Undo would act on.

Doing it with LeadCascade

1. Open the run. In LeadCascade, open the finished run on its result screen or from the history.
2. Choose Undo. You confirm it first. It is free and does not count against your plan.
3. Let it run. Each lead is read back from HubSpot first, then deleted. You can close the page; it keeps going.
4. Read the result. Leads left in place are listed with the reason, so you can deal with them in HubSpot yourself.
5. Review the contacts and companies. The result CSV marks which contacts and companies the run created, with links, because Undo never deletes them.

Before you disconnect

Undo needs the HubSpot account to be connected. Disconnecting deletes the run details, and with them the ability to undo. If you want a record of what was created, download the result CSV first. It lists every row with its outcome and the HubSpot IDs.

If something still looks wrong

If leads were created that should not have been and Undo is no longer possible, or it left some in place, email support@atesensoftware.com with the name of the HubSpot account and the date and time of the run. For the steps before a run, read how to import leads into HubSpot from a CSV. The preview and the typed confirmation exist so that most mistakes are caught before anything is written: nothing is created until you type IMPORT and the number of leads. Prices are in pricing, excl. VAT/sales tax.

Questions

Related guides

• How to import leads into HubSpot from a CSV
  Why HubSpot’s own import does not list Leads, the file layout, and importing leads with LeadCascade.
• Import leads with their companies and contacts from one file
  How one row becomes a company, a contact and a lead linked to both, and what is reused.
• Pricing
  Free file checks, a $29 pass or $49 a month, excl. VAT/sales tax.
• LeadCascade overview
  What LeadCascade does with your file, the rules for each row, and how undo works.

Atesen Software makes LeadCascade. HubSpot is a trademark of its owner; LeadCascade is independent software.