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Time to complete: ~5 minutes  ·  Difficulty: Beginner  ·  Limits: 10 MB file, up to 50,000 rows

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Overview

Import lets you add many contacts at once from a .csv file (a spreadsheet saved as plain text; Excel and Google Sheets can export one). You upload the file, match its columns to contact fields, and optionally apply tags and add everyone to a segment. The import then runs in the background. Reach it from Contacts → Import CSV, or directly at /contacts/import.
Click Download Template on the import page to get a correctly formatted starter file with the standard columns.

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Before you start

Have these ready:
  • A .csv file saved as plain text (UTF-8), 10 MB max, up to 50,000 rows.
  • A heading row plus at least one row of contacts.
  • At minimum a Phone column and a First Name column.
  • Any custom fields you want to import, already created in Settings → Module Setup.

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Import your contacts

Upload CSV

On the New Import tab, drag in or browse to your .csv. Autocampaign AI reads the column headings and shows a preview of the first rows. Only .csv is accepted.

Map fields

Match each spreadsheet column to a contact field. Autocampaign AI recognizes common headings on its own (a green High match badge means it’s confident). You can map:
  • First Name (required), Last Name, Phone (required), Email
  • Street Address, Address Line 2, City, State / Province, Postal Code, Country
  • Any importable custom fields (shown with a “Custom” badge)
Each mapped field has an action for contacts you already have: Replace, Skip, or Overwrite if Empty. You can’t move on until First Name and Phone are mapped.

Tags & options

Apply one or more tags to every imported contact. Optionally add them all to a static segment (or create a new one).

Review & import

Check the summary, then click Start Import. The import runs in the background, and you can watch live progress.

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How duplicates are handled

Autocampaign AI spots duplicates by phone number. If a contact with the same phone already exists in your workspace, the imported row is skipped and your existing contact is left unchanged. The row is counted under Duplicates in the results.

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Watch progress and check results

While the import runs you’ll see a progress bar (“X of Y rows”) and three counters:
  • Success — new contacts created.
  • Failed — rows that couldn’t be imported (with the reason).
  • Duplicates — rows skipped because the phone already existed.
If any rows fail, an Import Errors panel lists them (for example, “Row 12: Phone — Invalid phone number format”).

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Import history

Switch to the Import History tab to see past imports with their file name, status, and Success / Failed / Duplicates counts. Search by file name to find a specific import.
You can run up to 3 imports at the same time per workspace. Wait for one to finish if you hit the limit.

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FAQ

Phone and First Name. Everything else is optional. Use Download Template for the recommended layout.
Not from a column. Tags are chosen in the Tags & options step and applied to every contact in the import. See Tags.
Yes. Create them first in Settings → Module Setup, then map your spreadsheet columns to them. (Lookup, user, and auto-number field types can’t be imported.)
They’re skipped and counted as duplicates; the existing contact isn’t changed.
No. Only static segments can be an import target. Dynamic segments fill themselves from rules. See Segments.

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Troubleshooting

The file isn’t a plain-text CSV. It may be an Excel .xlsx, or contain unsupported characters. Re-export it as CSV UTF-8 and try again.
Split large files into batches under 10 MB / 50,000 rows and import them separately.
Map both First Name and Phone to spreadsheet columns and make sure they’re turned on before continuing.
A column is mapped to a custom field that doesn’t exist. Create it in Settings → Module Setup first, then map the column again.
Phone values must be digits, spaces, hyphens, parentheses, or a leading +, up to 20 characters. Clean the column and import those rows again.

Next: organize with tags

Label imported contacts for easy targeting.