Skip to content
Small Business Chatbot Docs
Support Open the app

Import from a CSV

Bring contacts, companies, opportunities, notes and tasks in from a CSV file: map the columns, check the rows, import.

Open Contacts in the app Copy as Markdown

What this does

The importer in the Small Business Chatbot CRM reads a CSV file, lets you match each column to a field, checks every row, then imports the rows that pass. One row can hold a contact and their company, and the two are linked. Imports never send messages or start workflows. Triggers lists what does.

Note

The file must be a .csv saved as UTF-8, up to 30 MB. In Excel, use Save As and choose CSV UTF-8.

Import a file

  1. Open the importer

    In the app, open CRM › Contacts and click Import. The Companies, Tasks and Opportunities views have the same button. The page reads Import your contacts and companies.

  2. Upload the file

    Drop the file on Drop your CSV here, or click it to choose one. The app lists each column with up to three sample values.

    The CSV importer's heading, its three steps and the drop area for a CSV file up to 30 MB
    CRM › Contacts › Import, October 2026
  3. Map each column

    In the table, each row is a column from your file. Pick its Record type, then its Field. Columns named like a field, such as Email, Phone or Company name, are matched for you. Pick Skip column for anything you don't want.

    The import mapping table matching First name, Last name, Email, Phone and Company to contact and company fields, with Tags skipped
    CRM › Contacts › Import, October 2026
  4. Choose how each record type is saved

    Under the table, each record type you mapped has a mode: Create or update, Create only, Update only or Skip record type. Create or update is the default.

  5. Add tags if you want them

    Under Tags for every imported contact, type any tags to put on every contact in the file.

  6. Read the check

    Once a column is mapped, the app checks the file after each change. It shows N rows ready · M rows need attention and the reasons for up to ten rows. How your records will look shows the mapped values of up to three rows, record by record. For files over 50,000 rows, click Check file to run the check.

    The import options with Create or update for contacts and companies, a tags field, and 3 rows ready with 0 needing attention
    CRM › Contacts › Import, October 2026
  7. Import

    Click Import. When some rows need attention, the button reads Import N valid rows, and those rows are left out. The result line counts successful and failed rows and ends with No workflows or messages were triggered.

Import history lists each file with its row count and status. Cancel stops an import that is still running. Download results gives a CSV of what happened to each row.

Record types and their fields

Record type Fields Required
Contact (person) Contact ID, First name, Last name, Full name, Person’s email, Person’s phone, Person’s website, Person’s LinkedIn, Contact status At least one mapped value
Company Company ID, Company name, Company phone, Company email, Company website, Industry, Company description Company name
Opportunity Opportunity ID, Opportunity name, Contact ID, Company ID, Pipeline ID, Stage ID, Opportunity status, Value Opportunity name, Pipeline ID, Stage ID
Pipeline Pipeline ID, Pipeline name Pipeline name
Note Note ID, Note text, Contact ID, Company ID, Opportunity ID Note text
Task Task ID, Task title, Task description, Contact ID, Company ID, Opportunity ID, Task type, Due date, Priority, Task status Task title

Tags come from Tags for every imported contact.

How rows match existing records

  • A contact matches an existing contact by Contact ID, email or phone. With Create or update, a match is updated and anything else is created.
  • Rows with the same company name link to the same company.
  • To link each contact to their company, set your business-name column's Record type to Company and its Field to Company name.
  • To import opportunities, you need the IDs of an existing pipeline and stage. An export of Pipelines and stages lists them.

If something goes wrong

What you see Why What to do
CSV files must use UTF-8 encoding The file was saved in another encoding. Save it again as CSV UTF-8 and upload it.
Only .csv files are supported The file is an Excel or other file. Save it as a .csv file.
The CSV file is larger than the 30 MB import limit. The file is too large. Split it into smaller files.
More than one company has this name. Resolve the duplicate companies before importing. Two companies in your CRM share that name. Archive or rename one in Companies, then check the file again.
This contact already has a different company. Automatic company linking is on, and the row's business name doesn't match the contact's current company. Map Company name to change the link, or skip the company columns.
More than one contact matches this row. The row's ID, email and phone point to different contacts. Correct the ID, email or phone in that row.

Next steps

Export and duplicatesDownload your CRM records as CSV files, merge contacts saved twice, and decide whose conversation an unmatched chat is. ContactsFind, add and edit the people who chat with, call and text your business, set statuses and tags, start a sequence and read each timeline.