How to Import Contacts to Gmail From a CSV File

To import contacts into Gmail from a CSV file, go to contacts.google.com on a computer, click Import on the left, click Select file, choose your .csv file, and click Import. Gmail uses Google Contacts as its address book, so the imported people are there the next time you write an email.

The steps, template rules, and import limits below come from Google’s Import your contacts into Google Contacts help page, and the duplicate cleanup comes from Google’s Merge duplicate contacts page. This guide covers Google Contacts on a computer.

How to import a CSV file into Gmail contacts

1. On your computer, go to contacts.google.com and sign in with the Gmail account you want the contacts in. You can also open Contacts from the Google apps grid.
2. On the left, click Import. If you don’t see the menu, click Menu at the top left first.
3. Click Select file.
4. Choose your file. CSV files end in .csv; vCard files end in .vcf.
5. Click Import.

Result: Google says that when the import is done, Google Contacts opens your newly imported contacts so you can check them.

How to build a CSV file Google can read

If your list is in a spreadsheet, Google recommends starting from its contacts template so each detail lands in the right field:

1. Open the sample template from Google’s import help page and click Make a copy.
2. Don’t delete the header row. Google says the headings tell Google Contacts where each piece of information belongs.
3. Fill in one row per contact. Google creates a new contact for every row that has any data in it. You can delete columns you don’t use.
4. Click File > Download > Comma Separated Values (.csv) and save the file somewhere easy to find.
5. Import the file using the steps above.

Result: you have a .csv file whose column headings match Google’s fields.

A few template headings worth knowing, per Google:

• First Name, Last Name: the contact’s name.
• Email 1 – Value and Email 1 – Label: the address and a label like Home or Work. Add Email 2 columns for a second address.
• Phone 1 – Value: use a “+” for the country code, such as +1 234 567 8901.
• Birthday: YYYY-MM-DD, or –MM-DD with no year.
• Labels: put contacts in labels; separate several with “:::”, such as Work Friends ::: Family.

Fix common import problems

• More than 3,000 contacts: Google says to split them into several CSV files and import each one.
• 25,000-contact limit: Google lists this as the maximum for an account.
• Wrong format: Google only accepts CSV or vCard files. Try opening the file in Excel and saving it as CSV again if Google rejects it.
• Details missing: Google says to check the contact’s Notes section. Then compare your headings with the template’s and import again.

Clean up duplicates after importing

1. In Google Contacts, click Menu at the top left, then Merge & fix.
2. Click Merge on a suggestion, or Merge all to accept every suggestion.

Result: the duplicates are combined. Google says that if there’s no merge option, you don’t have contacts it can merge, and that you can’t merge contacts saved in different Google accounts.

Frequently asked questions

Can I import an Excel file directly?

Google’s import page lists only CSV and vCard files, so save or download the spreadsheet as a .csv first.

How do I move contacts from another Gmail account?

Google’s steps: in the old account, go to Google Contacts, click Export, choose Google CSV, and save the file. Then sign in to the other account and import that file with the steps above.

Related guides

• How to Automatically Create New Contacts in Gmail
• How to Merge CSV Files Into One File in Windows

After importing, see how to view your Google Contacts list to check that everything came through.

Use Outlook too? Here’s how to import an Excel list into Outlook contacts with the same kind of CSV file.