How to Import CSV to MariaDB (4 Methods)

MariaDB shares most of MySQL's CSV import syntax, but there are a few MariaDB-specific details worth knowing. Here are four ways to get CSV data into MariaDB.

Method 1: LOAD DATA INFILE (Server-Side)

The fastest option when the CSV file is on the MariaDB server's filesystem.

Create the target table:

CREATE TABLE customers (
  id INT AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
  name VARCHAR(255),
  email VARCHAR(255),
  signup_date DATE,
  plan VARCHAR(50)
);

Load the file:

LOAD DATA INFILE '/var/lib/mysql/customers.csv'
INTO TABLE customers
FIELDS TERMINATED BY ','
ENCLOSED BY '"'
LINES TERMINATED BY '\n'
IGNORE 1 ROWS
(name, email, signup_date, plan);

Key points:

• IGNORE 1 ROWS skips the header
• The column list at the end maps CSV columns to table columns, excluding id so it auto-increments
• FIELDS TERMINATED BY ',' and ENCLOSED BY '"' handle standard CSV formatting

The secure_file_priv restriction. Like MySQL, MariaDB can restrict file imports to a specific directory:

SHOW VARIABLES LIKE 'secure_file_priv';

If this is set, your CSV must be in that directory. If it's empty (empty string, not NULL), any path is allowed. If NULL, file imports are disabled entirely.

Method 2: LOAD DATA LOCAL INFILE (Client-Side)

When the file is on your local machine rather than the server:

LOAD DATA LOCAL INFILE '/home/user/customers.csv'
INTO TABLE customers
FIELDS TERMINATED BY ','
ENCLOSED BY '"'
LINES TERMINATED BY '\n'
IGNORE 1 ROWS
(name, email, signup_date, plan);

This requires local_infile to be enabled. Check and enable it:

-- Check
SHOW GLOBAL VARIABLES LIKE 'local_infile';
 
-- Enable (requires SUPER privilege)
SET GLOBAL local_infile = 1;

The MariaDB CLI client also needs the --local-infile flag:

mariadb --local-infile -u root -p mydb

MariaDB 10.6+ enables local_infile by default on the server side, but older versions may have it disabled.

Method 3: mariadb-import CLI

MariaDB provides mariadb-import (the equivalent of MySQL's mysqlimport) for command-line bulk loading:

mariadb-import --local \
  --fields-terminated-by=',' \
  --fields-enclosed-by='"' \
  --lines-terminated-by='\n' \
  --ignore-lines=1 \
  -u root -p mydb customers.csv

The tool infers the table name from the filename -- customers.csv loads into the customers table. The table must already exist.

Add --replace to overwrite rows with duplicate keys, or --ignore to skip them.

Method 4: Mako (GUI)

Mako connects to MariaDB and lets you import CSV files through a visual interface. Drag and drop your file, map columns, and preview the data before committing. Useful when you want to inspect the data or adjust column mappings without writing SQL.

Common Gotchas

Encoding. If your CSV contains accented characters or emoji, specify the character set:

LOAD DATA INFILE '/path/customers.csv'
INTO TABLE customers
CHARACTER SET utf8mb4
FIELDS TERMINATED BY ',';

NULL handling. MariaDB treats \N in CSV as NULL by default. If your file uses empty strings for missing values, convert them explicitly:

LOAD DATA INFILE '/path/file.csv'
INTO TABLE customers
FIELDS TERMINATED BY ','
(name, @email, signup_date, plan)
SET email = NULLIF(@email, '');

Date formats. MariaDB expects YYYY-MM-DD. For other formats, load into a variable and convert:

LOAD DATA INFILE '/path/file.csv'
INTO TABLE customers
FIELDS TERMINATED BY ','
(name, email, @date_str, plan)
SET signup_date = STR_TO_DATE(@date_str, '%m/%d/%Y');

Duplicate keys. Add REPLACE or IGNORE after the filename:

• LOAD DATA INFILE ... REPLACE -- overwrites rows with matching keys
• LOAD DATA INFILE ... IGNORE -- skips rows with duplicate keys

Line endings. Windows-generated CSVs use \r\n. If you see garbled data, switch to LINES TERMINATED BY '\r\n'.

Mako connects to MariaDB, MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, BigQuery, Snowflake, and ClickHouse with AI-powered autocomplete. Try it free at mako.ai.