Import and export contacts

The Contacts module stores everyone you can message. Contacts drive WhatsApp conversations, broadcasts, automations, follow-ups, and audience segmentation.

You can import in bulk from a CSV, export for reporting or backup, update existing records, and organize everything with tags and custom attributes.

Before you start

• Prepare your file in CSV format.
• Confirm the mandatory fields are present.
• Check that mobile numbers are valid and consistently formatted.
• Remove obvious duplicates.
• Decide your tags and custom attributes up front — they are what make segmentation possible later.

CSV file format

Each row is one contact. Each column is one field.

Field type	Fields
Mandatory	Name, Mobile Number
Optional	Email, Tags, City, State, Company, Source, custom attributes

A minimal header row:

Name,Mobile Number,Email,Tags,City,State,Source
Rahul Sharma,+919876543210,rahul@example.com,Premium|VIP,Ahmedabad,Gujarat,Website
Priya Nair,+919812345678,priya@example.com,New Lead,Kochi,Kerala,Ad Campaign

Import contacts

1. Log in to the Voixt Dashboard and open WhatsApp → Contacts.
2. Click Import. The import window opens.
3. Click Upload File and select your CSV.
4. Map fields — match each CSV column to the correct Voixt field.
5. Review the preview. Check the mandatory fields and phone numbers.
6. Click Import. Voixt adds new contacts and updates existing ones.
7. Confirm the result in the Contacts list.

Field mapping

Field mapping tells Voixt where each column belongs.

CSV column	Voixt field
Name	Customer Name
Mobile Number	Phone Number
Email	Email
Tags	Tags
City	Custom Attribute
Source	Source

warning

Always check the mapping before importing. A mis-mapped column writes customer data into the wrong field, and undoing a large import is tedious.

Phone number format

Voixt matches contacts on the phone number, so format matters more than anything else in the file.

Number type	Accepted
Indian	9876543210, 919876543210, +919876543210
International	+14155552671, +447700900123

:::warning Always include the country code for international contacts Without it, imports fail or match the wrong customer. :::

Pick one format and use it consistently across the whole file. The same number written three different ways can confuse matching.

Tags and custom attributes

These are what turn a contact list into an audience you can target.

Tags

Group contacts by interest, status, or business need — Premium, VIP, New Lead, Follow-up Required, Returning Customer.

To apply multiple tags in a CSV, separate them with a pipe:

Premium|VIP|Returning Customer

Custom attributes

Store extra information that is specific to your business — City, Date of Birth, Company Name, Occupation, Product Purchased, Customer Type.

Both tags and custom attributes become filter conditions when you build a broadcast audience.

What happens to existing contacts

If a contact already exists, Voixt updates it with the new information from your CSV. It does not create a duplicate — provided the phone number matches.

tip

Consistent phone formatting is the whole game here. The same number written as 9876543210 in one import and +919876543210 in another may not match, producing two records for one person.

Export contacts

1. Open WhatsApp → Contacts.
2. Optionally apply filters to export a subset.
3. Click Export.
4. Voixt generates a CSV containing the current view.

Use exports for backups, reporting, or migrating data into another system.

Best practices

• Import a small test file first — five rows — and confirm the mapping before running thousands.
• Standardize phone numbers to +<country code><number> everywhere.
• Agree on a tag vocabulary before you import, not after. VIP and Vip and vip are three tags.
• Keep the list clean. Stale and invalid numbers hurt delivery and your quality rating.
• Export before every large import, so you have a rollback point.

Common import errors

Error	Cause	Fix
Missing mandatory field	No Name or Mobile Number in a row	Fill the field or delete the row
Invalid phone number	Letters, spaces, or a missing country code	Reformat to +<country code><number>
Unmapped column	A CSV column matched no Voixt field	Map it, or remove the column
Duplicate rows	The same number appears twice in the file	De-duplicate before importing
Encoding problems	Non-UTF-8 file mangles names	Re-save the CSV as UTF-8

FAQ

Which file formats can I import? CSV only.

Will importing overwrite my existing tags? Importing a Tags column for an existing contact updates that contact's tags. Export first if you want a backup.

Is there a row limit? Very large files are processed in batches. Split anything over a few tens of thousands of rows.

Can I import without a country code? Indian numbers resolve without one. Every international number needs it.

Next steps

• Filter your audience using the tags you just imported.
• Create a broadcast to that audience.