Adding contacts one at a time works fine when you're starting out. But as your list grows, you'll want to bulk import from a spreadsheet or export your contacts for backups and reporting. dialnote handles both with a CSV import wizard and a one-click export.
Importing Contacts from CSV#
The import wizard walks you through four steps: upload your file, preview the data, map your columns to dialnote fields, then review the result.
To import contacts:
- Go to Contacts in the left sidebar
- Click Import
- In the "Import Contacts from CSV" window, drag and drop your CSV file or click to browse
- Check the preview of your first rows
- Map each CSV column to the matching dialnote field
- Start the import, then review the result summary
Download the sample template
Click Download sample CSV file on the upload step to get a pre-formatted CSV with the right column headers. Filling that in is the fastest way to avoid mapping mistakes.
Fields you can map#
Only the phone number is required. Everything else is optional, but more detail makes each contact more useful.
| Field | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Phone Number | Yes | E.164 (+1-555-555-1234) or local format |
| Country Code | No | Two-letter code like US, GB, or IN (auto-detected if blank) |
| First Name | No | Contact's first name |
| Last Name | No | Contact's last name |
| No | Contact's email address | |
| Company | No | Company or organization name |
| Job Title | No | Contact's role or position |
| Background | No | Free-text notes about the contact |
You can also map columns to any custom properties you've set up (like Lead Status, Source, or Tags). Custom property columns show up in the mapping list alongside the built-in fields, and values are checked against the property's type as they import. See Contact tags for how custom properties work.
Auto-mapping#
The wizard suggests mappings based on your column names. A column called "Phone" or "Mobile" usually lands on Phone Number on its own. You can change any suggestion from the dropdown before you import, and dialnote remembers your choices for next time.
What happens after import#
Smaller files import right away. Larger files (over 1,000 rows) run as a background job with a live progress bar that you can cancel mid-run. Either way, you can keep working while big imports finish.
The result step shows three counts:
- Imported — contacts added to your account
- Skipped — duplicates that already existed
- Failed — rows that couldn't import (usually a bad phone number)
You can expand the Failed and Skipped panels to see row-by-row reasons, and download an error CSV to fix and re-upload just the rows that didn't make it.
How duplicates are handled
dialnote matches duplicates by phone number. A row is skipped if the number already exists in your account (phone already exists) or appears twice in the same file (duplicate within file). Existing contacts are never overwritten by an import.
File format and limits#
| Rule | Value |
|---|---|
| File type | CSV only (.csv) |
| Max file size | 50 MB |
| Max rows | 10,000 per import |
| Headers | First row must hold column names |
| Encoding | UTF-8 recommended for accented characters |
Phone number formatting
If your numbers don't include a country code, add a Country Code column. Without it, contacts default to your account's primary country.
Exporting Contacts#
You can export everything in your current view, or just the contacts you've selected.
To export all contacts:
- Go to Contacts
- Click Export
- Your contacts download as a CSV file
Any search term or filters you have applied carry over, so you can export a filtered slice of your list instead of the whole thing.
To export selected contacts:
- Select contacts with the checkboxes
- In the bulk actions bar, click Export Selected
- The selected contacts download as a CSV
The export includes first name, last name, phone, email, company, job title, country code, background, the created date, and a column for each of your custom properties. Files use UTF-8 encoding with a byte-order mark, so they open cleanly in Excel and Google Sheets. The filename carries the date (for example contacts-export-2026-06-18.csv), which makes backups easy to track.
Export size limit
A single export covers up to 25,000 contacts. If your list is larger, apply a filter to narrow it down, then export each slice.
Bulk delete#
Cleaning house? You can remove several contacts at once.
- Select the contacts with the checkboxes
- Click Delete Selected in the bulk actions bar
- Confirm in the dialog
Deleting is permanent
Bulk delete can't be undone. If you're not sure, export the contacts first as a backup before you remove them.
Troubleshooting#
Lots of import errors? Check your phone numbers. The usual cause is formatting — drop any characters beyond plus signs, dashes, and parentheses. The result step lists each failed row and why, and the error CSV download gives you just those rows to fix.
Contacts not showing up after import? Refresh the page. If they're still missing, check the result summary — they may have been skipped as duplicates.
Wrong field mappings? On the mapping step, change any auto-suggested mapping from its dropdown before you start the import.
What's next#
- Add and manage contacts one at a time
- Contact tags and other custom properties
- Contacts overview for search, filters, and the detail panel