Import contacts

You can import a list as a CSV file, which every email tool and spreadsheet app can export. SendDuo checks the file and shows you what will happen before anything is saved.

Prepare your file

• The file must be a CSV, up to 10 MB or 25,000 rows. For a bigger list, split it into parts and import each one.
• The first row must hold column names, like Email, First name and Last name.
• One column must hold email addresses. Every other column is optional: first name, last name, tags, a subscribed or unsubscribed status, and any other details you keep.
• Commas, semicolons and tabs between columns all work. SendDuo detects which one your file uses.

Upload the file

1. Open Contacts and click Import CSV.
2. Choose your file under CSV file.
3. Under Where did these contacts come from?, pick the option that fits.
4. Tick the box to confirm that these people asked to hear from you.
5. Click Upload and continue.

Map your columns

Next, SendDuo shows each column in your file with a few sample values. Under Import as, tell it what each column holds. It fills in its best guess first, so usually you only check it.

• Email: the email address. This one is required.
• First name and Last name.
• Birthday (month and day): dates like 1990-05-14, 05/14 or May 14. Only the month and day are kept, never the year. A value that cannot be read is left out.
• Tags: one or more tags per person, separated by commas, semicolons or |.
• Status (subscribed / unsubscribed): values like unsubscribed, no, opted out, cleaned or bounced import the person as unsubscribed. Anything else counts as subscribed.
• Custom field: keeps the column as an extra detail on the contact.
• Ignore: leaves the column out.

Click Continue to review.

Review before importing

Nothing is saved yet. SendDuo shows how many contacts will be imported and runs a list check:

• Not a valid email: these rows are skipped.
• Role addresses like info@ or sales@: counted so you can see how many there are.
• Duplicates within the file: merged into one contact.
• Already in your contacts: updated, not added twice.
• On your unsubscribe list: kept unsubscribed.

When everything looks right, click Import (the button shows how many contacts). The import runs in the background and you see how many were added, updated and skipped.

When a list is held for review

If the check finds a problem, the review page says the list will be held for review before it can be emailed. This happens when:

• More than 10% of addresses are not valid emails.
• More than 20% are role addresses like info@ or sales@.
• You did not tick the box confirming these people asked to hear from you.

You can still import the list, but those contacts show as Held for review and cannot be emailed yet. Contact support to have them reviewed and released.

What happens to people already in SendDuo

• An existing contact is updated: names are taken from the file when it has them, and new tags and custom fields are added to the ones they already have.
• Anyone who unsubscribed, bounced or marked your email as spam stays that way. An import can never make them subscribed again.
• Anyone marked unsubscribed in your file is added to your unsubscribe list, even if they were subscribed before.

Limits

• Each file can be up to 10 MB or 25,000 rows.
• You can upload up to 10 files an hour.
• If your plan has a contact limit and the import would go over it, the review page says by how many. Upgrade on the Billing page, or import fewer contacts.

Add one contact by hand

1. Open Contacts and click Add contact.
2. Enter the Email, and if you like the First name, Last name and Tags (separated by commas, for example newsletter, vip).
3. Click Add contact.

If the address is already a contact, its details are updated instead. If the address is on your unsubscribe list, it is added as unsubscribed.