Add and import contacts

You add contacts in bulk by uploading a CSV file, or one at a time with Add Contact. Each becomes a contact you can filter and broadcast to.

Most import problems come from the file, not the upload. Get the file right and the import takes a minute.

Before you import

Two things have to exist in WhatsApp Marketing before the file goes in. If they do not, those values are not added to anyone.

• Every tag in your file. Create them under Manage → Tags, spelled exactly as in the file. Tags are case-sensitive, so VIP in the file does not match a tag called vip. See Tags and attributes.
• Every custom attribute column, such as city or email. Create them under User Attributes first.

The CSV file

The file must be a .csv. If your list is in Excel or Google Sheets, download it as CSV.

Columns you leave out stay empty. Status, State, Last Active and Created At fill themselves in, so do not include them.

Phone number format

A file that imports cleanly

Name,Mobile Number,Tags,Source,city,email
Priya Sharma,9876543210,diwali_2026_signup,Website popup,Pune,[email protected]
Rahul Mehta,+919812345678,diwali_2026_signup,Website popup,Delhi,[email protected]
Anna Clarke,+447911123456,diwali_2026_signup,Instagram,London,

Anna has no email, so hers stays empty.

Import the file

1. Go to the Contacts page.
2. Click Import in the top right, next to Export.

3. Click Upload File and pick your .csv file.

4. Map each column. Your file's column headings are on the left. Contact fields are on the right. Match each heading to its field, such as Name to the user's name and Mobile Number to the phone number.

5. Click Import at the bottom right.

Mapping a column to the wrong field can make the whole import fail. Take a second look at the phone number mapping in particular.

Check what happened

Click View History on the Contacts page to see each import.

Always look at the failures. A few bad numbers in a big list is normal. Many failures usually mean a formatting problem in one column, and fixing the file and uploading it again is quicker than fixing contacts one by one.

Updating contacts with a new import

Importing a number that already exists updates that contact with the values in your file. Nothing is duplicated, and their chats are kept.

To tag many existing contacts at once, filtering and using Actions → Manage Tags is simpler. See Tags and attributes.

Add one contact

For a single customer, a CSV is more work than it is worth.

1. On the Contacts page, click Add Contact.
2. Fill in their details.
3. Click Add Contact.

Only add someone who agreed to hear from you.

Edit one contact

Select the contact on the Contacts page, click Edit Contact, and change the details.

Export contacts

On the Contacts page, open the Actions dropdown next to Import and click Export. Every contact on the page is downloaded as a CSV file.

To export only some contacts, filter first. The export follows the filter, so filtering for a tag and exporting gives you just those people. See Filter contacts.

Good habits

Tag every import. Give each upload a tag naming where the people came from and when. It is the only way to reach that group again later.

Clean the file first. Remove duplicates, blank rows and numbers you know are landlines. Every failed number is a wasted send.

Keep the source honest. If the list came from a giveaway on Instagram, put Instagram giveaway in the Source column. When one group blocks you far more than others, the Source column tells you which list to stop using.