Importing contacts

Contacts are imported from a CSV file. Imports run in the background, one row at a time, so you can carry on using Clockwork CRM while one runs.

People and companies are imported separately, because their fields differ. Import companies first if your people file names the companies they work for: a person is linked to a company that already exists with the same name.

You can import contacts if you have access to Add Contact. See Teams and permissions.

Open in Clockwork CRMEnter your Clockwork CRM address at the top of the page to open this in your Clockwork CRM.

Preparing the file

The file must be a CSV file (.csv). Save a spreadsheet as CSV before you import it.
Separate values with commas.
The first row must be a header row. Each header becomes a column you map to a field.
Save the file as UTF-8 so that accented characters come through.
Blank lines are skipped.
Each row after the header creates one new person or company.

Starting an import

Go to Contacts → Import Contacts.
Select New Import, then Import People or Import Companies. Contacts → Add Contact offers the same two imports as Bulk Import people using a csv file. and Bulk Import companies using a csv file.
Select Choose a file. The file browser opens and lists only CSV files.
Select the file. To use a file from your computer, upload it with Upload first. See File browser.
Map the columns, as described below.
Set the options you need.
Select Begin Import.

The Import People step asking you to choose a CSV file

Clockwork CRM then opens the Contact Imports list, where you can follow the import.

Mapping your columns

Clockwork CRM reads the header row and lists each header under CSV Header. Beside it, CRM Field sets which field that column goes into.

The column mapping: each CSV header with the CRM field it goes into, and unmapped columns in red

A header that matches a field name, ignoring capitals, is mapped to that field automatically. For example, a column headed first_name or First Name is mapped to First Name. When two headers match the same field, only the first is mapped.
A column set to N/A is not imported. Unmapped columns are shown in red.
Each CRM field can be filled from one column only. Once a field is mapped, it is unavailable for the other columns, and shows "(mapped from column)" in their lists.
Begin Import stays disabled until at least one column is mapped.
Reset clears the mapping and goes back to choosing a file.

Fields for people

CRM Field	What it fills in
Title	The person's title, such as Mr or Dr
First Name	The person's first name. Required
Last Name	The person's surname. Required
Job Role	The person's job role
Email	The person's email address
Telephone	The person's telephone number
Mobile	The person's mobile number
Officer Id	The person's Companies House officer ID
Tags	Tags for the person, see Tags
Company: Name	The company the person works for, see Linking people to companies
Company: Email	The person's email address at that company
Company: Telephone	The person's telephone number at that company
Company: Mobile	The person's mobile number at that company
Company: Job Role	The person's job role at that company

Every person custom property is also listed, under its Property Name.

Fields for companies

CRM Field	What it fills in
Name	The company's name. Required
Address Line 1, Address Line 2 and Address Line 3	The company's address
City	The town or city
County	The county
Postcode	The postcode
Country	The country
Website	The company's website
Registration Number	The company's registration number
Telephone	The company's telephone number
Email	The company's email address
Business Type	The company's business type
Tags	Tags for the company, see Tags

Every company custom property is also listed, under its Property Name. To import into a custom property, create it first at Contacts → Properties. See Custom properties.

Import options

Option	What it does
Add missing companies	People imports only. When a row's Company: Name does not match an existing company, a company with that name is created and the person is linked to it. Off by default
Ignore custom property validation errors	When off, a row with a custom property value that is not valid fails and is not imported. When on, the value that is not valid is left empty and the rest of the row is imported. The row is then listed in Download errors, with the values that were left out. Off by default

Linking people to companies

When Company: Name is mapped and the row has a company name:

If a company with exactly that name exists, the person is linked to it.
If no company has that name and Add missing companies is on, a company is created with just that name, and the person is linked to it. Later rows with the same name link to the same company.
If no company has that name and Add missing companies is off, the person is imported without a company.

Company: Email, Company: Telephone, Company: Mobile and Company: Job Role are saved on the link, as the person's details at that company. They are only saved when the person is linked.

Existing contacts

An import always creates new records. It does not update contacts you already have.

A row fails, and is not imported, when:

a people row has an Email already used by another person
a companies row has a Name already used by another company
a companies row has an Email already used by another company

Email addresses are compared ignoring capitals, so Sam@example.com is already used when another person has sam@example.com.

Other existing contacts, such as a person with the same name but a different email address, are imported as new records. When an import completes, Clockwork CRM scans for duplicates. People imports with Add missing companies on scan companies too. If the scan finds any, you get a notification. See Finding and merging duplicates.

Imported contacts do not trigger automations or webhooks.

Custom property values

Each custom property value is checked against the property's type and settings.

Property type	What the CSV value must be
Text and Multi Line	Text within the property's minimum and maximum length
Number	A whole number within the property's minimum and maximum
Currency	An amount, such as `1200.50`, within the property's minimum and maximum
Date	A date. Year first (`2026-09-28`) always works. Day and month order follows the Date Locale in instance settings: US locales read `09/28/2026`, other locales read `28/09/2026`
Email	A valid email address
Phone	A valid phone number, including the international dialling code, such as `+44`
Url	A full web address, including `https://`
Checkbox	`Yes`, `No`, `True` or `False`. An empty cell is unticked
Radio and Select	One of the property's options. Capitals are ignored
Multiple Selection	One or more of the property's options, separated by commas
User	The user's username (their email address)
Company	The company's email address
Person	The person's email address

A required custom property must have a value in every row, even when no column is mapped to it. Otherwise the row fails, unless Ignore custom property validation errors is on.

Watching it run

Contacts → Import Contacts lists every import, newest first. The list updates while imports run. It also lists the imports started with Add all in Find UK companies, as a Company Import named after the area. See Finding UK companies.

The Contact Imports list, showing name, upload date, rows to import, state and progress

Column	What it shows
Name	Person Import or Company Import, and the file name
Upload Date	When the import was started, and who started it
Rows to Import	The number of rows in the file
State	The import's state, and when it last changed
Progress	A progress bar and Processed count while it runs. Download errors once it has finished, if any rows failed or were imported without some values

State	Meaning
Pending	Queued, not started yet
Running	Importing rows
Complete	Finished. Some rows may still have failed
Failed	The import stopped because of an error

An import that stops part way through is restarted automatically, and carries on from the last row it processed.

The menu at the end of each import's row has Delete, which removes the import from the list after you confirm. It is not available while the import is Pending or Running. Deleting an import does not delete the contacts it added.

Fixing the rows that failed

Download errors downloads a CSV file with one line for each row that failed. It has the row's original columns, plus an Import Error Message column with the reason. A row with more than one custom property value that is missing or not valid lists every one of them, separated by semicolons. Reasons include:

First name is a required field
Surname is a required field
This email address is already in use by another person
Company name is a required field
A company already exists with this name, company names must be unique
This email address is already in use by another company
a custom property value that is missing or not valid, named with the property

When Ignore custom property validation errors is on, the file also lists each row that was imported with values left out. Its Import Error Message starts "Imported without these values:" and names each value. These rows are already in Clockwork CRM.

To import the failed rows:

Open the downloaded file and correct each row. Remove any row that starts "Imported without these values:", as it has already been imported.
Import the file again, leaving Import Error Message set to N/A. Only these rows are added. The rows that were imported the first time are not affected.

People, person records
Companies, company records
Finding UK companies, adding companies from the UK register
Custom properties, properties you can import into
Finding and merging duplicates

Last updated 9 October 2026