Cloodot Documentation

Need to bring in contacts from another tool or a spreadsheet? The contact import wizard walks you through uploading a CSV, mapping your columns to the right fields, and choosing how to handle duplicates — all in four simple steps.

Before you start

Prepare your contacts as a CSV file (.csv format)
Maximum file size: 10 MB
Maximum rows: 10,000 contacts per import
Make sure your CSV has a header row with column names

The import process

Navigate to Contacts and click Import Contacts.

1. Upload your file

Drag and drop your CSV file into the upload area, or click to browse and select it. The importer reads your file and shows you a preview of the data it found.

2. Map your fields

Match your CSV columns to Cloodot contact fields.

Required:

Name — Every contact needs a name

Optional standard fields:

Email
Phone

Custom fields: Any custom fields you've created in your organization will also appear as mapping options, showing their field type (text, number, date, etc.).

The importer auto-detects common column names — if your CSV uses headers like full_name, email_address, phone_number, or similar variations, they'll be matched automatically.

You'll see a preview of the first few rows of data for each mapped field so you can verify everything looks right.

3. Choose duplicate handling

Pick how you want to handle contacts that already exist in Cloodot:

Skip duplicates (default)

Only creates new contacts
Existing contacts with a matching phone number or email are skipped
If a contact has no phone or email, matching is done by name

Update existing

Updates existing contacts with the new data from your CSV
Creates new contacts that don't already exist
Matches by phone or email first, then by name

4. Review and import

Review your settings and click Import to start. You'll see real-time progress showing:

Processed — Total rows handled so far
Imported — New contacts created
Updated — Existing contacts updated (if you chose "Update existing")
Skipped — Duplicates that were skipped
Errors — Rows that couldn't be imported (with details)

Data validation

During import, the system validates each row:

Name is required — rows without a name are skipped
Phone numbers are automatically normalized to a consistent format
Email addresses are validated for correct format
Custom field values are checked against their field type (numbers, dates, booleans, etc.)

If a row has an issue, it's skipped and counted as an error — the import continues with the remaining rows. You can review the first 100 errors after the import completes.

Tips for a smooth import

Clean your data first — Remove blank rows, fix formatting issues, and make sure phone numbers include country codes
Use clear column headers — Headers like name, email, and phone are auto-detected, saving you time on field mapping
Start with a small test — Import a handful of contacts first to make sure your mapping is correct
Choose the right duplicate strategy — Use "Skip" if you just want to add new contacts; use "Update" if your CSV has fresher data than what's already in Cloodot

All Contacts — View and manage your imported contacts
Custom Fields — Create custom fields before importing so they're available for mapping
Segments — Organize imported contacts into segments for campaigns

Import Contacts

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