Contacts

At a glance

Location	Sidebar → Contacts (Users icon)
Plan	All plans, including the free tier
Related features	2

View and manage all your WhatsApp contacts. Add custom fields, notes, and tags. Import/export contacts. The CSV import reads exports from Google Contacts, Outlook and iPhone as they come, with no column editing: it takes the name, every phone number and every email address the row carries, plus company, department, job title, birthday, address, website and notes, and keeps any column it does not recognise as an extra field on the contact (up to 30 of them per contact). The first phone and the first email become the contact's own; the rest are kept alongside the contact so nothing in the file is thrown away. Exporting produces the same picture in reverse: one CSV column per attribute (name, every phone and email you hold for the contact, WhatsApp name, WhatsApp status, language, status, company, job title, department, birthday, address, website, notes, labels, last message date and created date), plus one column per custom field name used anywhere in the organization, so a file you export and re-import elsewhere carries everything the contact record holds. Before you import, the preview shows company, job title and birthday next to the phone and name, a "+N more" chip that opens whatever else the row carries, and a note on any row holding more than one phone or email. A row with neither a phone nor an email is shown greyed with the reason rather than disappearing. Large files are uploaded in batches automatically. The import dialog carries step-by-step export instructions for each source. A contact does not need a phone number: one saved with an email address only is kept, listed and filtered like any other. The contact list shows a second line under each name with the company and job title, or the email address when there is neither, and the search box matches company and job title as well as names and numbers. Add Contact asks for a name plus a phone number or an email address (a name alone is refused, with the reason shown inline), and a More fields section takes company, job title, department and a note; if the address you enter already belongs to another contact you are told so, and the contact is still saved. The contact card carries the email channel itself, so you can write to that person from the card with the same picker, the same checks and the same information dialog the conversation uses, and ask for suggested tasks from an email thread, without there being a WhatsApp conversation at all. An address you enter on the card counts as the record of how you know them in the same way as one typed in the composer, so you are not asked to vouch for it a second time. Actions that need a WhatsApp number are simply not offered on a contact that has none. The same contact details are also shown in the side panel of a conversation, so you do not have to leave the chat to read or change them. That section lists the phone number and email address you hold for the person, marks an address they have actually replied from as verified, states that a WhatsApp conversation is linked, and lists any other numbers and addresses on record with a note of where each one came from. Below that are company, job title, department, birthday, website, address and a note about the person, plus any extra details you name yourself. A pencil turns the section into an editor and only the fields you actually changed are sent, so two people editing different fields do not overwrite each other. The editor covers the email address itself, so you can add one, correct it, or empty the box to take it off the contact, alongside the other details. If another contact already uses the address you enter, you are told so with a link to that contact instead of the save being refused. On a WhatsApp conversation that is not a saved contact yet, filling the section in and saving is what creates the contact.

How to use

1. Open Contacts from the sidebar.
2. Search or browse contacts; the list shows company and job title under each name, and the search box matches them too.
3. Click a contact to view details, edit fields, or add notes, or use Add Contact to create one by hand with a name plus a phone number or an email address, and company, job title, department and a note under More fields.
4. Use the import button to bulk-import from CSV; a large file is split into batches and uploaded automatically, so there is nothing to prepare.
5. Inside the import dialog open "Where do I get a CSV file?" for the export steps for Gmail/Android, Outlook or iPhone.
6. Check the preview before importing: it shows the phone, name, email, company, job title and birthday, a "+N more" chip for the rest of what the row carries, and greys out any row that has neither a phone nor an email.
7. Contacts you already have are matched by phone number, or by email address when the row has no phone, and updated with the new details rather than duplicated, and an existing saved name is kept.
8. When the import finishes, the summary reports how many contacts were created and updated, how many details were filled in, how many extra phones and emails were kept, and how many rows shared an email with an existing contact or matched more than one.
9. To add someone you can only email, create the contact with an address and leave the phone empty, then use the Email row on the contact card to write to them.
10. To read or change these details without leaving a conversation, open the side panel of the chat: the Contact details section is under the name and phone number.
11. Press the pencil on that section to edit, fill in the email address, company, job title, department, birthday, website, address or a note, and press Save; emptying the email box takes the address off the contact.
12. Add your own named details at the bottom under "Other details", and remove one with the bin icon beside it.
13. In a WhatsApp conversation that is not a saved contact yet, the section starts open for editing and the first Save creates the contact.

Related features

• Labels
• Campaigns / Broadcasts

FAQ

• How do I import contacts?
• Where can I see contact details?
• How to add notes to a contact?
• How do I import my Outlook contacts?
• How do I export contacts from Gmail or my iPhone?
• Will importing a CSV create duplicates of contacts I already have?
• Can I save a contact with only an email address?
• How do I email a contact who is not on WhatsApp?
• Where do I set a contact company, job title or birthday?
• Can I edit contact details without leaving the chat?
• How do I add or change a contact email address from the chat panel?
• How do I remove an email address from a contact?
• How do I add my own field to a contact?
• Why does it say another contact uses this email?
• What columns are in a contacts export?
• Does exporting my contacts include extra phone numbers and emails?
• Can I re-import a file I exported from Spun?
• Why can I not save a contact with only a name?