Import leads from a file

Import leads from a spreadsheet and add tags to them. Every row is checked first, and nothing reaches your leads until you select the final button.

Upload the file and choose the columns

1. Open Leads and select Import.
2. Drop your .xlsx or .csv on the page, or select Choose a file. A file can be up to 10 MB, with up to 10,000 rows and 50 columns. A bigger file is refused, not shortened.
3. Under Which column is what, check Header row. If the file has several sheets, the first is read until you pick another under Sheet.
4. For each column, choose what it is under Use as: Phone, First name, Last name, Email, Custom field or Don’t import. One column must be Phone.
5. Give each custom field a Field name in flows: lowercase letters, numbers and underscores, starting with a letter. You can import up to 30 custom fields at a time.
6. Select Continue.

If you imported a similar file before, your earlier settings are applied automatically. A message above the table says so. Check them before you continue.

Tag the list and set the rules

1. Under Tag these leads, pick at least one tag or create a new one.
2. Under When a phone number is already a lead, choose Fill in what’s missing, Update from the file or Only add the tag. An empty cell never clears anything.
3. Under Numbers without +, choose the country. With the United Kingdom chosen, a number written without +44 is read as a UK number.
4. Under Where is this list from?, say where the list came from. It is required, and it is kept with the import so anyone can see later why these people may be texted.
5. Select Continue.

Check the rows and import

1. Wait for the Check step to finish. It shows New leads, Already leads and Won’t be imported. Nothing is saved yet.
2. Review the rows that will not be imported. They have no phone number, a value that isn’t a phone number, a value over 200 characters, or a number already in an earlier row. When a number appears twice, the first row wins.
3. Select Import, shown with the number of leads, such as Import 250 leads.
4. Leave the page if you like. The import carries on, and the leads show up on the Leads page as it goes.
5. When it finishes, select See these leads, or Download rejected rows to fix them. The rejected rows are kept for 7 days.

If an import stops part-way, select Resume. It picks up where it left off and counts nothing twice. You can also resume it from Earlier imports, in the This import panel.