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Import contacts

Import lets you add hundreds or thousands of contacts at once from a spreadsheet, instead of typing them one by one. Contacts that are already in your list get updated.

A CSV file is a simple spreadsheet file. In Excel or Google Sheets, use Save as or Download, and pick CSV.

Step 1: Get the template and fill it in

  1. Open Import

    Click Contacts in the left sidebar, then click Import at the top right. The Import Contacts box opens.

    The Import Contacts box with three steps, the column names and a drop area for the CSV file
    The Import Contacts box

  2. Download the template

    Click Get the CSV template. It downloads a file called contacts_template.csv with the right column names, including your custom attributes.

  3. Fill it in

    Open the template in Excel or Google Sheets. Put one contact on each row, with the phone number and its country code. Save it as CSV.

The columns

The first row must hold the column names. The app matches columns by these names, so there is no separate screen to match columns. Capital letters do not matter.

Example file:

csv
whatsappId,displayName,email,tags,City
919876501234,Priya Sharma,[email protected],"vip,kolkata",Kolkata
919876502345,Rahul Verma,[email protected],lead,Mumbai
919876503456,Neha Gupta,,customer,Delhi

Excel can break phone numbers

Excel shows long numbers like 919876501234 as 9.19877E+11, and saves the file that way. The real number is then lost. Before you type the numbers, select the phone column and set its format to Text. If a row still breaks, the import tells you which row to fix.

Step 2: Upload the file

  1. Pick your file

    Drag your CSV file onto the box, or click browse and pick it. The file name shows with ready to import. Picked the wrong file? Click Choose another file.

    The Import Contacts box with diwali-customers.csv ready to import and the Import contacts button
    Your file is ready

  2. Click Import contacts

    Click Import contacts and wait while it says Processing contacts.... Keep the box open.

  3. Check the result

    You will see Import Completed with four numbers:

    • Created: new contacts added
    • Updated: contacts that were already in your list (same phone number) and got the new details
    • Skipped/Invalid: rows with no phone number, or a repeated number
    • Failed: rows with a phone number that cannot be used. The Errors box says which row and why.
    Import Completed with 231 created, 12 updated, 3 skipped and 2 failed, and the errors for rows 57 and 132
    The result, with the rows to fix

  4. Fix and upload again (if needed)

    Fix the rows listed under Errors in your spreadsheet and import the file again. Rows that already worked are simply updated, not added twice. Click Done to close.

Good to know

  • Country code: always include it. 9876501234 alone is read as a different number from 919876501234.
  • Phone length: a number must have 7 to 15 digits, including the country code.
  • New columns: a column name you have not set up yet becomes a new Text attribute.
  • Special characters: save the file as CSV UTF-8 so names in Hindi, Bengali or other languages come through.
  • Large files: keep each file under 50,000 rows. Split bigger lists into several files.
  • Deleted contacts that appear in the file again are brought back.

To download your contacts as a CSV, click Export on the Contacts page.