How to Add Contacts to Gmail Using a CSV File

It can be tedious work trying to add contacts to your Gmail or any other email account. Adding them one at a time can take a long time, but Gmail has a feature that allows you to import your contacts in .csv format. CSV, or comma-separated value, is supported by a number of different spreadsheet software programs. As long as your file is formatted as a table with headers, it can be a quick and easy way to add contacts to your Gmail account.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Gmail account
• Spreadsheet software

1. Open your spreadsheet software and create a new table. Make sure first row is used to define field names. For example, Box A1 might be title "email address," Box B1 called "Last Name" and Box C1 labeled "First Name." It would look something like this:Email Address Last Name First Name

2. Create as many fields as necessary to contain all the information you want to put in about your contacts. Gmail will support all the information, in any order as long as it has a field for email address.

3. Enter all your contact information once you set up your table. Give the file a name and save it, using .csv as your chosen file format.

4. Sign in to your Gmail account and click the "Contacts" link on the side of the page. Make sure to click this link and not the "Add Contact" link.

5. Click "Import" when your contact page loads. It's likely that you will already have a list of contacts that appear in this window. Don't worry about deleting duplicates until your file has been imported.

6. Hit "Browse" and locate the .csv file on your hard disk. Highlight and select the file, then click "Import."

7. Wait while Gmail imports and then displays your contact list.

Tips & Warnings

• Sometimes some of your contacts won't import correctly (or not at all). In that case, Gmail will tell you why they weren't imported and you may need to make some edits to your .csv file.