ppl resources · Moving your contacts

Turn a relationship spreadsheet into a careful ppl import

Prepare CSV columns, preserve phone numbers and longer notes, and review a small import before moving your contact spreadsheet into ppl.

Updated October 10, 2026 · ppl team

Start with a copy of the spreadsheet. That lets you prepare the contacts for import without changing the file you depend on. Keep the original, including any formulas, extra tabs and notes.

Give every person a row

Use one header row and one row per person. Split names into First Name and Last Name where you can. A company-only row or an empty-name row is not a useful personal contact; ppl’s CSV parser requires a first or last name before it can import the row.

The seven supported headings are First Name, Last Name, Email, Phone, Birthday, Organization and Notes. Download the ppl CSV template after signing in if you want a starting point. You can also map differently named columns in the preview.

Keep the file simple

Save a CSV, not an Excel workbook. Preserve phone numbers as text before exporting so leading zeros and plus signs survive. Check the exported file rather than relying on how the spreadsheet displayed the cells. Use a full YYYY-MM-DD birth date only when you know it; leave uncertain dates blank and add them carefully afterward.

Choose one email and one phone column to import. Additional columns do not become custom fields automatically. Keep a copy of any mailing addresses, extra contact methods, tags, last-contact dates or formulas that do not have an import mapping.

Watch the notes length

CSV notes are combined with organization and the import label in a description capped at 255 characters. If you have years of history in a Notes column, keep that text separately. Import a brief description, check the contact and then add the useful history as individual notes. Do not treat a truncated description as a complete archive.

Review a small batch

Copy five or ten familiar contacts into a test CSV. In Settings → Import contacts, upload it and review the first rows and column mapping. Confirm only after the fields line up correctly.

ppl skips contacts that have an email matching an existing record in your account; the skipped row does not update that record. Rows without email need extra duplicate review. After the import, check imported, skipped and error results, then inspect the records themselves.

Plan later batches within the current 1,000-contact hosted beta limit. Keep the original spreadsheet until you have verified the complete result. Consider whether a spreadsheet or ppl fits your routine better.

Before uploading, use the free contact CSV checker to review names, repeated email addresses and dates. The file stays in your browser.