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Import Using Excel Template to Dataverse Table with Microsoft Entra ID Lookup Field Fails

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Posted on by JohnAlan92

I get "The lookup reference could not be resolved" when attempting to import a record that contains data that would go to a Lookup field that is linked to the ' Microsoft Entra ID' table. Can this be resolved?

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Microsoft Dataverse with Power Apps

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Jonathan Manrique 2,695 on at

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Verify that the Display Name in Entra ID matches exactly how you are writing it in the Excel file. If it is not exactly the same, it will fail, which is what the error message is telling you.

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11manish 1,196 on at

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This is a very common Dataverse import limitation, especially when dealing with lookups to Microsoft Entra ID (Users table).

Root cause (why your import fails)

The error:

“The lookup reference could not be resolved”

happens because during Excel import into Microsoft Dataverse:

Lookup fields do NOT reliably resolve by Display Name for Users (systemuser)

What you're doing:

Mapping lookup using Display Name = "John Fitch"

Why it fails:

Display Name is:

Not guaranteed unique

Not the primary lookup key used internally

Dataverse cannot match it during import

Correct ways to resolve User (Entra ID) lookup
Use Primary Email (recommended)

In your Excel file, replace:

John Fitch

with:

john.fitch@company.com

Then map lookup using:

Primary Email (internalemailaddress)

This is:

Unique

Supported in import

Most reliable

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