How to Import Contacts via CSV

Learn how to bulk import contacts or upload contacts into MessageDesk using the built-in CSV / spreadsheet import tool.

Josh avatar
Written by Josh
Updated over a week ago

Learn how to create and update contacts in bulk with the MessageDesk CSV upload feature.

If you're having trouble uploading, feel free to email us at support@messagedesk.com and we can help you troubleshoot the problem!

Step by Step:

1. Navigate to Settings on the left-hand side of your screen and select "Import and Export Contacts"

2. After selecting "Import Contacts" you should see the page below. We recommend downloading our CSV template to avoid any complications. If you don't decide to do so, you must have a phone number for every contact you are uploading. You have the option of using either Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets. Our recommendation is to use Google Sheets just to keep everything streamlined.

3. My excel document looked like this when done. Again, you must have a phone number for each contact you are uploading. It is recommended to include as much information as possible such as name, email, etc. to get as much value as possible out of each contact.

**This is a good example of how your CSV would be formatted, but mine will fail since I have duplicate phone numbers ๐Ÿค• **

4. With Google Sheets this is what the contact sheet will look like (Pro-tip: Within Google Sheets you don't need to assign a number to a contact name, they can exist individually so you can manually input numbers later when convenient for you) :

5. After you are done with your CSV, select "Import Data" and choose the document

you would like to upload. If you don't know how to convert your Excel file to a CSV, click here.

6. Now it's time to match! Computers are only so smart so sometime we have to tell them what means what. In my example, the computer could not find the word "Phone Number" in my heading so it does not know where to get that data. To remedy this, I select the dropdown menu and click on "Default Phone" to tell the computer: Default Phone = Phone Number.

7. Once you confirm the field matching, select "Upload Contacts" and start messaging!! ๐Ÿ”ฅ

If you're having trouble uploading, feel free to email us at support@messagedesk.com and we can help you troubleshoot the problem!

Happy Messaging!

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