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When to use CSV import

Use CSV import when you already have a spreadsheet of contacts — exported from another tool, a sales list, an event sign-up sheet — and want to bring them all into ChatSyncs at once, instead of adding them one at a time or waiting for each person to message the bot first. It’s the fastest way to seed Subscriber Manager with an existing contact list.
Already have subscribers in ChatSyncs and want to go the other way? Export/Import → Export all as CSV on the Subscriber Manager list exports the current list as a CSV file — handy for editing offline before re-importing, or for a backup.
Only have a handful of contacts, or contacts already living in a Google Sheet or your Google account? See How Do I Add a Subscriber Manually?, How Do I Import Subscribers from Google Sheets?, or How to Import Contacts from Google Contacts instead.

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Import a CSV file

Import Subscribers modal with Select Label, Select Bot, Upload File (CSV), Import from Google Sheet, and Import from Google Contacts
1

Open Export/Import → Import from CSV

From the Subscriber Manager list, open Export/Import, then Import from CSV.
2

Select a Label and Bot

Select Label is optional — tag every imported subscriber with it right away (e.g. batch1). Select Bot is required — pick which bot the imported subscribers belong to.
3

Prepare your file to match the required format

At minimum, your CSV needs a phone number column and a name column — see the table below. A Sample CSV link in the modal shows the exact expected format.
4

Upload the file

Select your prepared CSV file to upload it.
5

Map each column

Match each column in your file to a ChatSyncs field — see “Map the columns” below.
6

Confirm the import

Click Confirm — the imported contacts appear in the Subscriber Manager list.

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The CSV format

A CSV needs at minimum a phone number and name column, e.g.: Example with extra columns: A gym exporting its members list adds city and membership_type columns alongside the required two: After import, every subscriber has city and membership_type filled in automatically as custom fields — no extra setup needed as long as those fields already exist (or ChatSyncs creates them from the column header the first time you map them).
Country code is mandatory, and the phone number must be plain digits — e.g. 919876543210, not +91 9876543210 or a locally-formatted number. A number missing its country code, or formatted with symbols and spaces, will fail to match the right subscriber.
Format the phone number column as plain numbers or text before exporting to CSV — Excel often displays long phone numbers in scientific notation (e.g. 8.8E+12 instead of 8801710000000), and a CSV exported in that state will import garbled or truncated numbers.
Excel spreadsheet with phone_number column showing scientific notation like 8.8E+12

A phone_number column displayed in scientific notation (8.8E+12) before formatting.

Fix it in Excel with right-click → Format Cells on the column, set it to Number with 0 decimal places (or Text), before saving as CSV:
Excel right-click context menu with Format Cells highlighted on the phone_number column

Right-clicking the phone_number column and selecting Format Cells to fix the display.

Excel spreadsheet with phone_number column showing correctly formatted full phone numbers

The phone_number column after formatting — full numbers like 8801710000000 instead of scientific notation.

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Map the columns

Sample Data of Uploaded CSV/Google-Sheet modal showing a preview of the file's rows, with File Header columns mapped to Data Fields (Subscriber Name, Phone Number) and a Map Data button to add more mappings
After uploading, map each column from your file to a ChatSyncs field:
  • Map phone_number → Phone Number.
  • Map name → Subscriber Name.
  • Verify every mapping carefully before confirming — a wrong mapping imports the wrong data into the wrong field for every row.
Any extra column beyond phone number and name is treated as a custom field automatically. If the subscriber already exists (matched by phone number), that custom field is updated on the existing record; if not, a new subscriber is created with it already filled in.
Expected result: Every row in your file becomes a subscriber in Subscriber Manager, with extra columns populated as custom fields — ready to label, message, or enroll in a sequence immediately.
Right after a large import, use Options → Assign Label on the newly-imported rows (sort by Subscribed at to find them) so the whole batch is tagged and easy to find again later — e.g. gym_members_jan2026.

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Troubleshooting

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Frequently asked

A phone_number column and a name column. Any other column is imported automatically as a custom field.
Yes — any column beyond phone_number and name is imported automatically as a custom field, matched by its column header.
Excel often displays long phone numbers in scientific notation (8.8E+12). Format the phone number column as Number (0 decimal places) or Text — right-click → Format Cells — before saving the file as CSV, or the import will bring in the garbled value.
The existing subscriber record is matched by phone number and updated — any new custom field columns are added or overwritten, rather than creating a duplicate.
Yes — the country code is mandatory and the number should be plain digits with no + or spaces, e.g. 919876543210.
Yes — the Import Subscribers modal has a Sample CSV link showing the exact expected column layout.
The file was likely saved in the wrong text encoding. Re-save the CSV as UTF-8 — most spreadsheet tools offer this as a save/export option — before uploading again.
Very large files may take longer to process, but there’s no need to split a normal business-sized contact list — if a single import seems to stall, try splitting it into a few smaller files as a workaround.
Yes — every row is matched by phone number. Re-importing the same file updates the existing subscribers (and any changed custom field values) instead of duplicating them.