Importing Data with CSV

You can import Contacts and Companies from a CSV file using the step-by-step Import wizard. The import runs in the background and you receive a notification when it completes.

Where to Start

1. Go to CRM (from the main menu).
2. Click "Import CSV" in the top-right of the CRM dashboard.
3. Or go directly to CRM → Import (if your workspace shows the Import step).

Step-by-Step Wizard

Step 1: Choose Module

• Select Contacts or Companies.
• This determines which fields you can map and how rows are created.

Step 2: Upload CSV

• Upload a CSV file (max size and encoding options are shown on the page).
• First row of your file should be column headers (e.g. "First Name", "Email", "Company").
• Choose Delimiter (comma, semicolon, or tab) and Encoding (UTF-8 or ISO-8859-1) if your file uses something other than comma and UTF-8.

Tips:

• Use a spreadsheet app (Excel, Google Sheets) to prepare the CSV: one row of headers, then one row per contact or company.
• Save as CSV (Comma delimited) or CSV UTF-8 for best compatibility.

Step 3: Map Columns

• For each CSV column (from your header row), choose the field it maps to.
• Contacts fields include: First Name, Last Name, Email, Phone, Notes, and Company (by name). If you map a column to "Company (by name)", the system will find an existing company by that name or create a new one and link the contact.
• Companies fields include: Company Name, Email, Phone, Website, Address, Notes.
• You can leave a column as "— Skip —" if you don’t want to import it.
• Required fields (e.g. First Name, Last Name, Email for Contacts) must be mapped for rows to import successfully.

Step 4: Review and Run

• Review the module, row count, and a preview of the first few rows.
• When to run: Choose Run now (immediate, in background) or Schedule for and pick a date and time. Scheduled imports run at that time; you’ll be notified when they finish.
• When a row matches an existing record: Choose how to handle duplicates (matched by email for Contacts, by name for Companies):
• Always create new – Every row creates a new record.
• Skip row – Rows that match an existing record are skipped.
• Update existing record – Matching rows update the existing record instead of creating a new one.
• Click "Start import" to run (or schedule) the import. You can leave the page; the job runs in the background.

After the Import

• You receive an in-app and/or email notification when the import finishes.
• The message shows how many rows were imported and how many failed (if any).
• New Contacts or Companies appear in your CRM list and can be edited as usual.

Import History and Error Reports

• Go to CRM → Import history (or Import → Import history) to see your recent imports, their status (completed, failed, queued, running), and result counts (created, updated, skipped, failed).
• For scheduled imports, the status shows Scheduled with the run time until the job runs.
• If any rows failed, an error report CSV is generated. In Import history, click Download error report for that import to get a file listing failed rows and reasons. Use it to fix your CSV and re-import if needed.

Notification Preferences

• You can turn Import completed notifications on or off (email and in-app) in Settings → notification preferences for the CRM module. Look for Import Completed under CRM events.

Relationships (Contacts and Companies)

• When importing Contacts, mapping a column to "Company (by name)" links each contact to a company by name: if a company with that name exists, the contact is linked to it; otherwise a new company is created and the contact is linked.
• When importing Companies, only company fields are imported; contact linking is done when you import Contacts and use "Company (by name)".

Troubleshooting

"Import file not found"

The temporary file may have been removed. Upload the CSV again and complete the wizard without closing the browser until you click "Start import".

Rows failing or "required field" errors

Ensure all required fields (e.g. First Name, Last Name, Email for Contacts) are mapped and that your CSV has values in those columns for every row you want to import.

Wrong data in a column

Go back to Step 3 and change the column mapping, then run the import again with the same or an updated file.

Encoding issues (weird characters)

Try Encoding: UTF-8 in Step 2. If the file was saved in another encoding (e.g. Windows-1252), re-save it as UTF-8 in your spreadsheet or text editor before uploading.

Large files

Imports run in the background and can handle many rows. If you hit size or time limits, split the CSV into smaller files and run multiple imports.

Related

• Managing Contacts – Creating and editing contacts manually
• Managing Companies – Creating and editing companies manually

Updated on: 13/03/2026