How can I add hundreds of Contacts at once?

If you have hundreds of contact details saved on your local computer or other devices or if you have contact details saved in an Excel sheet etc., Vtiger CRM has a great feature called Import that will help you import and save these details.
With Vtiger CRM, you can import files in .csv, .vcf, and .ics formats.

Follow these steps to import files:

Step 1: Go to the Import screen

1. Go to Tools.
2. Click More.
3. Select Import.
4. Click +New Import.

Step 2: Select a file to import

1. Enter a title for the import process.
2. Select the module into which you want to import files.
3. Select the format of the file you want to import and the Header. Note: Headers are column names in your local file. They make mapping column values to CRM fields easy.
4. Choose a Character Encoding type. Note: Make sure the Character Encoding matches that selected in the local file.
5. Choose a delimiter. Note: Delimiter is the character that separates fields in your local file. CRM identifies different fields with the help of the delimiter.
6. Select a file to import by browsing through your computer. Note: Vtiger CRM supports .csv, .vcf, and .ics file types for importing.
   • .CSV (Comma-Separated Values) files are used to import records into any CRM module
   • .VCF (Virtual Contact File) files are used to import only contacts
   • .ICS (iCalendar File) files are used to import only calendar data such as events and tasks
7. Click Next.

Step 3: Set up field mapping
Use this step to map fields in your local file to the fields in Vtiger CRM. Fields that have the same names in the local file and CRM are mapped automatically.

1. Map Column Name in your local file to CRM Field in the CRM.
2. Provide a Default Value for fields. Note: Default values are used when the value of a field is empty. In such cases, Vtiger CRM picks up the field’s default value
3. Click Next.

Step 4: Set up Duplicate Handling
What will you do if a record that you are importing is already present in the CRM? Vtiger’s Duplicate Handling feature will sort it out for you. You can begin by checking if there are duplicate records.

• Check for Duplicates
  • Select Check Duplicates if you want to check for duplicate records while importing
  • Select the field name that will decide whether a record is a duplicate

1. Select Add New Records, if you want to create new or unique records in the CRM. If there are duplicate records in your local file, they will not be imported
2. Select Add New Records and Update Existing Records, if you want to create new or unique records in the CRM. If there are duplicate records in your local file, then CRM records will be updated with field values specified in the duplicate records

• Do not Check for Duplicates 

By selecting this option, you can create new records in the CRM without checking for duplicates

1. Click Next.
2. Review the field mapping by looking at the preview. (Preview displays a maximum of three records.)
3. Click Start Import.