Importing contacts from CSV

Bulk import hundreds or thousands of contacts from a spreadsheet.

CSV format requirements

Your CSV file should have these columns:

Example CSV

phone_number,name,email,tags
+919876543210,John Doe,john@example.com,customer
+919876543211,Jane Smith,jane@example.com,"customer,vip"
+919876543212,Bob Wilson,,new-lead

How to import

1. Go to Contacts in the sidebar
2. Click the Import button (or use the menu → Import/Export)
3. Click "Choose File" and select your CSV
4. AIsoule will auto-detect columns and show a column mapping preview
5. Verify the mapping is correct (phone → phone_number, etc.)
6. Choose what to do with duplicates:
   • Skip — Don't update existing contacts
   • Update — Overwrite existing contact data with new values
7. Click "Import"

Handling duplicates

AIsoule detects duplicates by phone number. If a contact with the same phone number already exists:

• Skip mode — The existing contact is left unchanged
• Update mode — Name, email, tags, and custom fields are updated with the new values

Import limits

• Maximum 10,000 contacts per import
• File size limit: 5MB
• Supported formats: .csv, .xlsx

Tips

• Always include the country code in phone numbers (e.g., +91 for India)
• Remove any formatting from phone numbers (no spaces, dashes, or parentheses)
• Use UTF-8 encoding for special characters
• Test with a small file (10-20 contacts) first

After importing

Once imported, you can:

• View contacts in the Contacts list
• Create segments to group them
• Add them to broadcast campaigns
• Start conversations with template messages

Troubleshooting

"Invalid phone number on row X" — Check that the number includes a country code and has no special characters.

"File too large" — Split your file into multiple CSVs of 10,000 contacts each.

"Column not detected" — Make sure your CSV header row uses one of the recognized column names (phone_number, phone, mobile, name, email).