1. Apollo
  2. Search and Prospecting
  3. CSV Files

Import a CSV of Contacts

Article author
Apollo Team
Updated

Overview

If you have a list of contacts that you want to add to Apollo, import them directly from a CSV file into Apollo. During the import process, you can also use Apollo or third-party data sources to enrich imported contacts, ensuring sure you have the most actionable email and phone data before outreach.

 
Importing Accounts or Deals?

Check out Import a CSV of Accounts or Import a CSV of Deals for guidance on importing accounts or deals to Apollo.

Check out the following sections to upload a contacts CSV.

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Import a CSV of Contacts

Format Your CSV

To import contacts, your CSV file must have at least one of the following columns:

  • Company Name
  • Company Website
  • Contact LinkedIn URL
  • Contact Email

However, you should include as many columns as you can in your CSV. More data makes it easier for Apollo to recognize a contact. Enrichment may not work if Apollo doesn't have enough data to find your imported contacts.

It's highly recommended to include First Name, Last Name, Contact Email, Contact LinkedIn URL, Company Name, Company Website, and any other available contact data that you can map to Apollo fields.

 
Sample CSV

Download a sample CSV file to help you get started.

Next, ensure your computer is set to support one of the following delimiters:

  • Comma ,
  • Semicolon ;
  • Colon :
  • Pipe |
 
Delimiter Details

Learn how to set a delimiter on your computer.

Use the following formatting when you create your CSV:

  • If your CSV includes a column with multi-select options, each value in a cell should be separated by a semicolon (;).
  • If your CSV includes values that should be mapped to a checkbox in Apollo, enter True for checked and False for unchecked.
  • If you include an account website, enter the domain only, without www. or any prefixes.

Special CSV Column Circumstances

Avoid uploading CSV files with more than 10,000 rows. Instead, split large CSVs into separate, smaller files.

With your CSV formatted, you're ready to upload your CSV.

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Upload Your CSV

 
Permission Required

To upload your contacts CSV, you need permission to bulk import contacts via CSV. If you don't have permission, ask your team's Apollo admin to update your permission profile.

To upload a CSV of contacts:

  1. Launch Apollo and click People.
  2. Click Import > CSV.

The CSV import button is highlighted

  1. Click Select CSV File under Import contacts. Choose a CSV file to upload.

The Select CSV File button is highlighted

  1. Next, map your CSV column headers to the corresponding Apollo fields.
 
Account Mapping

Wondering which fields you can use to map? Check out the list of default Apollo fields. You can also create a custom contact field if you don't have an available field for mapping. You need to restart the upload after you create additional custom fields.

Map your CSV columns to their corresponding Apollo fields

  1. Scroll to the Settings tab to configure the following settings for your imported contacts:
Stage Select the contact stage that best represents the engagement status for all of the contacts in the CSV. The correct contact stage enables you to efficiently message people once they're in a sequence. Select Use stage from CSV to set the stage for each contact directly from your CSV file.
If contacts already exist When you import contacts via CSV, Apollo checks for existing records with the same first name, last name, company, email, or LinkedIn URL to identify duplicates. Use this setting to tell Apollo how to handle duplicates. Select Update the existing record to add CSV data to the existing record in Apollo and prevent duplicates.
If owner is missing If the owner value is missing in your CSV, select a user that should own the imported contacts in Apollo.
If existing contacts already have an owner Select what happens if contacts in your CSV already have an owner in Apollo. If you select Update Ownership, Apollo will assign the user that you selected in If owner is missing.
Add to a list Enter the name of a new list, or select an existing list.

The CSV upload settings are highlighted

  1. You can also enrich your contacts during import. Go to the Data enrichment tab, then use the checkboxes to select the type(s) of enrichment you want to run for your imported contacts:
    • Emails
    • Phone numbers

Data enrichment tab opened with checkboxes for selecting email and phone number enrichment

  1. You have the option to enrich imported contacts with Apollo data only or use waterfall enrichment to find data via multiple third-party data sources. To run waterfall enrichment, toggle on Enrich with Multi-source.

Email and phone number enrichment enabled for imports, with waterfall enrichment toggle enabled for emails

  1. Enriching contacts in Apollo costs credits. Apollo provides a credit estimate based on the number of records you're importing and the enrichment settings you've selected. When you're ready, click Import to begin importing.

Credit summary and import button highlighted

You've now imported contacts from a CSV.

To check the status of your import, go to Settings > Imports and exports > Contact Import.

 
Time to Launch

Wondering how long an import takes? Most uploads finish in a few minutes, but large CSVs can take a few hours.

Once your import is done, you can quickly filter for companies associated with your contacts.

You can also add your contacts to a list, to a sequence, or narrow your search for people on the CSV with the contact CSV import filter.

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Find Companies from Imported Contacts

Once you upload a file of contacts, use Apollo to find companies where the prospects work.

To find companies from imported contacts:

  1. Launch Apollo and click People.
  2. Click Filters > More Filters.
  3. Click Contact CSV Import, then select the file name of your CSV.
  4. Click Apply Filters.

CSV Files

  1. Check the people for whom you want to find companies, then, click ... > View Companies.

The find people button is highlighted with several companies checked

  1. Apollo shows companies associated with the selected contacts. Apply more search filters to narrow your search.

You've now found companies from imported contacts.

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FAQs

Frequently asked questions
Which delimiters does Apollo support? Which fields can I import? How do I enrich data from a CSV?
How do I find the contacts I imported? When I import a list of contacts, does it match with the contacts I already have in Apollo? I made a mistake on my import. How do I delete the import and start over?
How long does an import take? Can I import a CSV via Apollo API?

Which delimiters does Apollo support?

Apollo supports the following delimiters:

  • Comma ,
  • Semicolon ;
  • Colon :
  • Pipe |

If you experience formatting issues when you upload your file, you may need to change your delimiter settings.

To update your delimiter settings:

Mac

  1. Close your CSV application and click the Apple system icon.
  2. Click System Settings > General > Language and Region.
  3. Scroll to number format and change the decimal separator to one of the supported delimiters.
  4. Re-attempt the CSV upload in Apollo.

PC

  1. Launch the Windows Start Menu and click Control Panel.
  2. Click Regional and Language Options > Regional Options > Customize / Additional settings.
  3. Change the delimiter in the list separator section to one of the Apollo-supported characters.
  4. Click OK twice to confirm the change.
  5. Restart your machine. Then, re-attempt the CSV upload in Apollo.

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Which fields can I import?

To ensure Apollo recognizes your contacts, your CSV must include fields for either company name, company website, LinkedIn URL, or contact email.

By default, you can map imported fields to the following Apollo fields:

  • Contact first name
  • Contact last name
  • Contact title
  • Contact email
  • Contact LinkedIn URL
  • Contact raw address
  • Contact place street
  • Contact place city
  • Contact place state
  • Contact place country
  • Contact place postal code
  • Contact stage
  • First phone
  • Work direct phone
  • Corporate phone
  • Home phone
  • Mobile phone
  • Other phone
  • Owner
  • Account website
  • Email sent
  • Email opened
  • Email auto responded
  • Email clicked
  • Email replied
  • Email unsubscribed

Additionally, you can import any other field as long as there's an existing custom contact field to match to it in Apollo.

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How do I enrich data from a CSV?

You can enrich CSV data during import to ensure your outreach data is fresh and up-to-date. Follow the steps above to configure your enrichment settings before importing your file. Based on the settings you choose, Apollo enriches email and/or phone data for your imported contacts during the import process.

If you didn't configure enrichment during import, you can also enrich CSV data after import. To do this:

  1. Launch Apollo and click People.
  2. Click Show filters and select the Contact CSV import filter.
  3. Select your CSV file to find the people you imported.
  4. Check each person you want to enrich, then click Enrich and select what you want to update:

People selected with enrich options highlighted

  1. Apollo enriches the people you selected.

You have now enriched your contact information.

 
The Riches of Enrichment

Want to enrich more fields? Head to Data enrichment > CSV to run CSV enrichment, a separate feature that allows you to enrich a CSV of contacts or accounts with Apollo data. With CSV enrichment, upload a CSV and choose which fields for Apollo to enrich. Then download the CSV with your updated information. To add them as contacts to Apollo, you then need to import the updated CSV. Learn more about enrichment on Apollo.

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How do I find the contacts I imported?

To find the contacts you imported:

    1. Launch Apollo and click People.
    2. Click Show Filters > More filters then select the contact CSV import filter. Select your CSV.
    3. Apollo displays the contacts you imported.
    4. Check one or more contacts then choose an action to take:
      5. Actions
      Email
      Add to a sequence
      Add to a list
      Export to a CSV
      Run AI prompt
      Push to CRM
      View companies
      Assign owner
      Assign account
      Merge duplicates
      Create a task
      Set stage
      Remove from list
      Set custom field
      Opt out of calls
      Delete

       

The CSV upload settings are highlighted

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When I import a list of contacts, does it match with the contacts I already have in Apollo?

When you import contacts, your import settings determine whether Apollo should update existing contacts if they already exist with information from your CSV. Alternatively, you can choose to skip updating existing contacts.

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I made a mistake on my import. How do I delete the import and start over?

If you made a mistake when importing, such as mapping data incorrectly, you can:

 

Unless you imported only a few records, we recommend you delete, fix, and re-import the CSV file rather than manually .

To delete and start over:

  1. Launch Apollo and click People.
  2. Use the contact CSV import filter to select your import.
  3. Check each contact you want to remove, then click ... > Delete.

With your records removed, you can retry the CSV import.

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How long does an import take?

Most imports finish in a few minutes, but larger CSV files can take a few hours to process.

To check the status of your import after you've initiated it, navigate to Settings > Imports and exports > Contact Import.

Apollo recommends that you avoid uploading CSV files with more than 10,000 rows. If you have a larger file, it's best to split the CSV into separate, smaller files for more efficient processing.

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Can I import a CSV via Apollo API?

While it isn't possible to import a CSV via Apollo API, you can use the API to create contacts or accounts. Learn more about using Apollo API.

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Next Steps

Here are a few helpful next steps you can take to keep building momentum with your contact imports:

Import a CSV of Accounts If your workflow includes account-level data, you can import a CSV of accounts to keep your team aligned on every company in your pipeline.
Import a CSV of Deals You can also streamline pipeline setup by importing a CSV of deals to quickly populate opportunities your team is already working.
Use CSV Enrichment Make your imported data instantly more actionable when you use CSV enrichment to fill in missing details and upgrade data quality.
Waterfall Enrichment Overview Get a sense of how Apollo helps you find more actionable data via multiple data sources with waterfall enrichment, including more info about waterfall credit usage.
Use Waterfall Enrichment Learn how to configure and run waterfall enrichment to quickly find actionable contact data throughout Apollo.