Import Contacts into a Contact List by Pasting Data

Learn how to import multiple contacts into an existing contact list in HelloSMS by pasting data from a spreadsheet such as Excel or Google Sheets.

Pasting data is a fast way to add or update many contacts at once while keeping control over which fields are imported into the contact list.

Paste Contacts into a Contact List

Follow these steps to import contacts into an existing contact list by pasting data:

  1. Go to Contact Lists.
  2. Select the contact list you want to add contacts to.
  3. Click Import a list of numbers.
  4. Choose Option 2 – Paste contacts directly from Excel or another program, and click Paste data. This opens the Import from text window.
  5. In your spreadsheet (for example, Excel or Google Sheets), copy the relevant columns and rows containing your contact data.

  6. In the Paste your data here field, paste the copied content.

    Data can be separated by tabs, commas, or semicolons, with one contact per row.

    Pasted data is recognized automatically as tab-separated. This method supports up to approximately 50,000 rows, depending on your browser.

  7. Review the First row contains column headers option and adjust it to match your data.

  8. Review the Add 0 as a prefix for phone numbers starting with 7 option. This setting is enabled by default.

    This option helps prevent spreadsheet tools from removing leading zeros (for example, 07 ), which could otherwise be interpreted as the international country code +7  instead of +07 .

  9. Click Import to continue to the column mapping step.

Match Columns and Complete the Import

After pasting your data, the column mapping process starts. Here you review how each column should be imported into the contact list.

  1. Match each column from your pasted data to a contact list field (for example, Phone Number, First Name, or a custom field). You can choose to import only the columns you need.

    • The available fields depend on how your contact lists are configured. See Create Custom Data Fields to learn more.
    • Columns with similar names may be matched automatically (for example, phone_number  to Phone Number). Always review all mappings carefully.
    • If a phone number already exists in the contact list, the import updates the existing contact instead of creating a duplicate.  
  2. Select Confirm import to complete the process.
  3. Select View updated list to return to the contact list.

The imported contacts are now available in the selected contact list and can be used for messaging, personalization, and reporting.

Learn More

See the following articles to learn more: