Import contacts from a CSV file
Bring your contacts — and their companies, notes, tasks or deals — into CRM from a CSV file. How the AI maps the columns, how existing contacts are handled, the preview and how to undo an import.
You can import contacts from a CSV file — for example exported from Excel, Google Sheets or another CRM. CRM reads the columns, proposes where each one goes, shows you a preview and only then imports. For 7 days you can undo the whole import.
Importing needs CRM access Editor or Admin.
Prepare the file
- A .csv, .tsv or .txt file, up to 10 MB. Every file is checked for viruses.
- The first row holds the column names: First Name, Email, Company… Names in Bulgarian work too.
- One person per row. A column may hold more than one value, such as two phones.
- Save in UTF-8, so that Cyrillic stays readable.
Import
- Open Sales → Contacts and click Import CSV. To put the people straight into a list, open the list and click Import Contacts instead: Contact lists.
- Choose the file and click Analyze with AI.
- The AI reads the column names and a few sample rows and proposes where each column goes. E-mails, phones, web addresses and long numbers in the sample are hidden from the AI.
- Check the plan, then click Preview first 10 rows.
- Check the preview, then click Commit import.
When it is done you see Import Complete! with what was created and updated, and Undo this import.
Check the plan
The plan says Found N rows across M columns. The columns are in two groups: Needs review — the ones the AI was unsure about — and Confidently mapped. Each column shows sample values, why it was mapped so, and where it goes. Change any of them:
| Where a column can go | For example |
|---|---|
| Contact fields | first and last name, e-mail, phone, title, address |
| Customer Company | the company's name, VAT number, ЕИК — CRM finds the company by VAT number, then by name, or adds it |
| Lead | a lead card for the person |
| Side entities | Create Note, Create Task (with due date), Log Activity (call / email / meeting), Schedule Reminder, Create Deal (with value), Create Project |
| Labels | Attach Tag(s) |
| Custom field (store in JSON) | a value that has no field of its own |
| Don't import (skip) | a column you do not need |
A column with several values in one cell can be Split into multiple (AI-defined). The groups Invoice (draft), Invoice items / Products and Issuing Firm (your company) turn rows of an old invoicing export into draft invoices — check them in the preview before you commit.
If the AI is not available, you see AI analysis unavailable — using dictionary-based mapping. Please review each column. The columns are then matched by their names; check each one.
Contacts already in CRM
Contacts already in CRM decides what happens to a row whose person is already a contact:
- Match by — Email, Phone or Don't match.
- When a row matches a contact — Skip the row or Update the contact with the file's values.
Two contacts cannot share an e-mail, so a row whose e-mail is already in CRM is never added a second time. Update the contact changes only contacts you may change — your own and those with no owner; a row that matches a colleague's contact is skipped. A deleted contact that matches is brought back.
The preview
Preview first 10 rows runs the import on the first 10 rows without saving anything. It shows how many contacts would be created, Updated and Skipped, the companies, notes and Warnings, and for each row what it would create or why it is skipped. Back to mapping returns to the plan.
Undo an import
Undo this import removes everything the import created and puts back what it changed — for 7 days after the import. It asks Undo the entire import? Everything created by this batch will be removed. and then says Import #N undone.
If something doesn't work
Only .csv/.txt/.tsv files are accepted.
Save the file as CSV: in Excel, File → Save As → CSV UTF-8.
The file was blocked: the virus check found a threat.
The virus check found something in the file. Do not import it; export it again from the original program.
The file cannot be checked for threats right now. Try again later.
The virus check is not available for a moment. Try again in a few minutes.
A contact with this e-mail is already in CRM — skipped.
With Don't match, a row whose e-mail belongs to an existing contact is skipped. Choose Match by Email and Update the contact to update such contacts instead.
Duplicate by email — the contact is a colleague's, so it is not updated
The row matches a contact owned by a colleague. Ask them or a manager to update it.
Plan validation failed
A column points at something that is not in this workspace, such as a pipeline or a user. Change that column, or set it to Don't import (skip).