How import undo works

Every committed import can be reversed within 48 hours. This page explains how that works — what gets reversed, what doesn’t, and why the undo system is designed the way it is.

The 48-hour window

The reversal window starts the moment your import reaches completed status. The import history screen shows a countdown in the Undo available column so you can see exactly how much time is left.

After 48 hours the undo option is removed from the interface. At that point the data has been in your system long enough that members may have logged in, renewed their membership, or otherwise interacted with the platform. A longer reversal window would create too much uncertainty for members and admins alike.

How it works: the reversal

When you request an undo, MapleGather reads the batch manifest — a snapshot of the state of every record at the time of the import. It then works in reverse:

Records that were created by the import are removed from your organization.
Records that were updated are restored to their pre-import state using the manifest snapshot.
Items created inline during mapping (membership levels, custom fields, tags) are removed if and only if they are not referenced by any other member or import. If another import or a manually created member uses a level, that level stays.

No records disappear entirely from the system — removed records stay in the audit log for traceability, they just don’t appear in normal member views.

Members who have been active since the import

The hardest case for an undo is when an imported member has interacted with your organization since they were imported — they’ve logged in, paid dues, or registered for an event. Removing that member’s record would also remove their interaction history, which is usually not what you want.

MapleGather detects this and shows you a count before you confirm. You choose:

Keep those members, roll back the rest — The members who have been active stay in your system. The others are removed as normal. This is the default because it minimizes disruption.
Roll back everything — including active members — All imported records are removed, including those who have been active. This option is available but requires a second confirmation step.

What can’t be undone automatically

If members from the import have been merged with existing members outside of the import pipeline, or if payment records have settled in Stripe, those changes cannot be fully reversed by the automated undo. The undo job skips those specific records and tells you what it wasn’t able to reverse.

Why undo is time-limited

The 48-hour window is a deliberate design choice, not a technical constraint. It gives you a clear safety margin after committing while ensuring that data doesn’t stay in a “reversible” state indefinitely. After 48 hours, your imported members are full members of your organization — and treating them differently from other members would create operational inconsistency.

If you discover a problem after the 48-hour window closes, contact support. Manual reversals outside the window are possible but require review.