Import your contacts into Google Contacts

You can use a template to make sure your contacts’ details are imported into the right fields in Google Contacts.

Step 1: Fill out the contacts template

Important: Do not delete the header row in the template. These headings help make sure your contacts’ info is saved to the right place in Google Contacts.

1. Open the sample template.
2. Click Make a copy.
   • If you want to download the template to another application, like Excel:
     1. Click File Download.
     2. Choose the application where you’d like it saved.
     3. Open the spreadsheet in that application.
        • If your cells are merged or formatted incorrectly in the opened file, check that application’s support channels.
   • If the option to make a copy doesn’t appear, click menu Make a copy.
     1. If “Make a copy” is not an option, select Share & export Make a copy.
3. Fill in the spreadsheet with the details for all contacts you want to import.
   • You can fill in the columns that you want to save to Google Contacts and delete the columns you don’t use.
   • A new contact is created for every row that has any entered data.
4. Click File Download Comma Separated Values (.csv).
5. Save your file.
   • Make sure to save it someplace you’ll remember, like your desktop.

Tip: If you’re not familiar with Google Sheets, learn more about how to use it.

Step 2: Upload your file to Google Contacts

1. Open Google Contacts.
2. On the left, click Import .
   • If you don’t find the menu on the left, at the top left click Menu .
3. Click Select file Select your new contacts file.
4. Click Import.
   • When the import is done, Google Contacts will open your newly imported contacts.

To make sure your contacts’ info imports exactly where you want it to, use the headers from the template. You can learn about the template’s headers and how contact fields are formatted.

Header name	Field description
Name Prefix	Prefix for your contact. For example: “Dr” or “Prof.”
First Name	First or given name for your contact.
Middle Name	Middle or additional name for your contact.
Last Name	Last or family name for your contact.
Name Suffix	Suffix for your contact. For example: “Sr” or “Jr.”
Phonetic First Name	Phonetic pronunciation for your contact’s first or given name.
Phonetic Middle Name	Phonetic pronunciation for your contact’s middle or additional name.
Phonetic Last Name	Phonetic pronunciation for your contact’s last or family name.
Nickname	Nickname for your contact.
File as	Name used to organize your contact.

Contact fields:

Header name	Field description
Email <number> - Label	Label of the email. For example: “Home” or “Work.”
Email <number> - Value	Email for your contact. For example: “[email protected].”
Phone <number> - Label	Label of the phone number. For example: “Home” or “Work.”
Phone <number> - Value	Phone number for your contact. Use a “+” to indicate a country code. For example: “+1 234 567 8901.” Spaces, dashes, and parenthesis are optional.

Address fields:

Header name	Field description
Address <number> - Label	Label of the address. For example: “Home” or “Work.”
Address <number> - Country	The country of the address.
Address <number> - Street	The street of the address.
Address <number> - Extended Address	The secondary street of the address if it has one.
Address <number> - City	The city of the address.
Address <number> - Region	The state, province, prefecture, and more of the address.
Address <number> - Postal Code	The postal code of the address.
Address <number> - PO Box	The post office box of the address.

Organization fields:

Header name	Field description
Organization Name	The name of the contact’s organization, like a company or school.
Organization Title	The contact’s title in their organization.
Organization Department	The contact’s department in their organization.

Event fields:

Header name	Field description
Birthday	Birthday for your contact. Can be formatted as either YYYY-MM-DD or --MM-DD if there’s no year.
Event <number> - Label	Label of the event. For example: “Anniversary.”
Event <number> - Value	Date for this contact’s event. Can be formatted as either YYYY-MM-DD or –MM-DD if there’s no year.

Other fields:

Header name	Field description
Relation <number> - Label	Label of the relation. For example: “Spouse” or “Cousin.”
Relation <number> - Value	Name of the relation. For example: “Alice Jones” or “Bob.”
Website <number> - Label	Label of the website. For example: “Profile” or “Blog.”
Website <number> - Value	Website address.
Custom Field <number> - Label	Label for the custom field. Useful if you’d like to save contact data that doesn’t fit in one of the default fields offered above.
Custom Field <number> - Value	Value for the custom field.
Notes	Notes on your contact. Any text can be entered here.
Labels	Names of the labels this contact is a part of. You can enter multiple values here separated by ":::". For example: "Work Friends ::: Family ::: Project11."

Tip: If you have contacts with multiple emails, phone numbers, and more, you can insert extra columns in the template to enter this data.

Step 1: Export existing Google contacts

1. On your computer, go to Google Contacts.
2. At the top right, click Export .
3. Select which contacts to export.
4. Click Google CSV Export.
5. Save the file someplace you’ll be able to find it easily.
6. At the top right, click your profile picture Sign out.

Step 2: Import the file

1. On your computer, go to Google Contacts.
2. Sign in with your other Gmail Account.
3. On the left, click Import Select File.
4. Choose your file.
5. Click Import.

You can have problems when:

• You import more than 3,000 contacts at a time. If you have more than 3,000 contacts, split them into multiple CSVs before you import them.
• You reach the limit of 25,000 contacts. Learn about contact size limits.
• The contacts aren't formatted to work with Google Contacts. Make sure to save your contacts as a vCard or CSV file.