Managing contacts one at a time works fine when you're starting out. But as your business grows, you'll want to bulk import contacts from spreadsheets or export your contact list for backups and reporting. dialnote makes both tasks straightforward with its CSV import wizard.

Importing Contacts from CSV#

The CSV import tool walks you through a 3-step process: upload your file, preview the data, then map your columns to dialnote fields.

To import contacts:

1. Go to Contacts in the left sidebar
2. Click the Upload button (or look for the upload icon)
3. Drag and drop your CSV file, or click to browse
4. Review the preview showing your first few rows
5. Map each CSV column to the matching dialnote field
6. Click Import Contacts to finish

Required and Optional Fields#

When importing contacts, only the phone number is truly required. But adding more details makes your contacts more useful.

Auto-Mapping#

The import wizard automatically suggests field mappings based on your CSV column names. If your spreadsheet has a column called "Phone" or "Mobile Number," it'll likely match it to the Phone Number field. You can always adjust these mappings manually before importing.

What Happens After Import#

Once you click Import, dialnote processes your contacts and shows you a summary:

• Successful imports: Contacts added to your account
• Duplicates skipped: Contacts that already exist (matched by phone number)
• Errors: Rows that couldn't be imported, usually due to invalid phone numbers

Exporting Contacts#

You can export your contacts in two ways: export all contacts, or export just your selected contacts.

To export all contacts:

1. Go to Contacts
2. Click the Download button in the toolbar
3. Your contacts download as a CSV file automatically

To export selected contacts:

1. Select contacts using the checkboxes
2. The bulk actions bar appears at the top
3. Click Export Selected
4. Your selected contacts download as a CSV file

The exported CSV includes six core fields: first name, last name, phone number, email, company, and job title. The file is formatted with Excel-compatible encoding, so you can open it directly in spreadsheet apps without character issues. Each export file includes a timestamp in its name, making it easy to track when you last backed up your list.

File Format Requirements#

When preparing your CSV file for import, keep these guidelines in mind:

• File type: CSV files only (comma-separated values)
• Max file size: 10MB
• Encoding: UTF-8 recommended for international characters
• Headers: First row should contain column names
• Phone numbers: Can be local format (555-1234) or international (+1-555-555-1234)

Troubleshooting Common Issues#

Import showing many errors? Check that your phone numbers are valid. The most common issue is formatting—remove any extra spaces or special characters beyond plus signs, dashes, and parentheses. The import summary shows row-by-row error details, so you can pinpoint exactly which rows failed and why.

Contacts not appearing after import? Refresh the page. If contacts still don't appear, check the import summary for duplicate counts. Your contacts may already exist in the system.

Wrong field mappings? During the mapping step, you can change any auto-suggested mapping using the dropdown menu. Just match each CSV column to the correct dialnote field before confirming the import.

Bulk Delete#

Need to clean up contacts? You can delete multiple contacts at once:

1. Select the contacts you want to remove using the checkboxes
2. Click Delete in the bulk actions bar
3. Confirm the deletion