One of the first things you need to do when setting up your edrone account is import your existing contact database.
You probably already have a contact database somewhere: on your eCommerce platform, in a marketing tool you used before, or even in a simple spreadsheet.
edrone also collects data on every visitor automatically, building a Customer Profile that keeps updating over time.
Keep reading to learn everything about importing your database, or jump to the section you need:
Download the database you already have
This step depends entirely on you, since every eCommerce platform and marketing tool has its own way of storing and exporting contacts. What matters is that you end up with a spreadsheet with, at minimum, a column with email addresses.
There's no limit to how many contacts your database can have.
Formatting the file
Now format your spreadsheet so edrone can process it correctly. Once it's ready, save it as CSV, XLS, or XLSX.
CSV files
If you save the file as CSV, make sure values are separated by commas or semicolons, and use UTF-8 encoding (without BOM) — if a different encoding is detected, the import automatically fails. Don't use special characters, including periods, in the file name.
Note: avoid characters like ' (apostrophe) and " (quotation marks) — they can cause problems during import.
Mandatory and optional fields for your CSV file:
Field | How to fill it | Optional / Mandatory |
Current email address | Mandatory | |
Name | Text | Optional |
Last name | Text | Optional |
Phone number | Digits only (spaces and country/area codes are fine) | Optional |
Gender | M for male, F for female, REFUSED if declined, UNKNOWN, OTHER | Optional |
Birth date | YYYY-MM-DD | Optional |
City | Text | Optional |
Country | Text | Optional |
State | Text | Optional |
Language | ISO 639-1 code (2 letters, e.g. EN) | Optional |
Email subscription status | 1, yes, subscribe, active, toggle on, or true for the "Subscribers" status Negative values, like 0 or no, get the "Customers" status Explicit unsubscribe values, like unsubscribed, opt-out, or wypisany, get the "Unsubscribed" status An empty field gets the status you choose in the "Import Settings" panel | Mandatory |
SMS subscription status | 1 = "Subscribers", 0 or no = "Customers", unsubscribed or opt-out = "Unsubscribed", empty = the status you choose in the "Import Settings" panel | Optional |
Email subscription request date | YYYY-MM-DD | Optional |
Email subscription confirmation date | YYYY-MM-DD | Optional |
Tags | Text (separate multiple tags with a comma) | Optional |
Important: only import contacts who gave valid marketing consent (GDPR-compliant opt-in). Importing people who never agreed to be contacted puts your sender reputation and deliverability at risk. The subscription status columns are exactly how you tell edrone who consented.
XLS and XLSX files
If you save the file as XLS or XLSX, remember that no column and no row can be left empty. If any column or row is blank, you'll see an error and the import will fail.
Good formatting practices
Put first and last names in separate columns, so you can personalize messages with just the first name ("Hi, Mary!") instead of the full name ("Hi, Mary Ann Smith!").
Remove any columns you don't want imported into your CRM (like address or ID numbers).
Remove unnecessary duplicates if you can. In the import settings step you decide whether edrone should ignore duplicate emails or overwrite existing contacts with them — removing duplicates from the file isn't required, but it keeps the file lighter.
All good? Great, now let's upload the file to edrone!
Uploading your file to the edrone workspace
Go to CRM > Import and click "Import contacts". The "Import Wizard" opens and asks "What do you want to do with the contacts from your file?", with two options:
"Import contacts" – add new contacts and update the ones already in your base. The steps below cover this option.
"Archive contacts (free of charge)" – all contacts from the file go to the archive. See Archiving contacts from a file.
If you choose "Import contacts", you'll go through 2 steps: upload your file, then confirm the column mapping, tags, and import settings on one screen.
Step 1: Upload your file
In the "Upload a file with contacts" block, click "Select file to upload". File limits:
CSV files must be under 60 MB
XLS files must have fewer than 65,000 rows and be under 60 MB
XLSX files must have fewer than 1,000,000 rows and be under 60 MB
For XLS and XLSX, only the first sheet is read
Maximum 1,024 characters per row
Important: if your file isn't formatted correctly, the import will fail. Check the formatting section above before uploading.
Once you select the file, edrone analyzes a sample and helps you map the columns before the import starts.
Step 2: Confirm the import
You'll land on the "Confirm Import" screen, with your file name at the top. A blue banner shows how many valid rows were found in the sample edrone analyzed — remember, this describes the sample, not the whole file.
In the "Match the columns to the corresponding fields" section, check the file preview and assign a unique customer field to each column:
Use the "Skip first line" checkbox if your file has a header row.
Use the "Separator" dropdown to set how your columns are split (for example, comma).
For each column, use the dropdown at the top of the preview table to map it — for example, Ignore, Email, City, or State.
Tip: you can now also map a State column directly — this field wasn't available for import before. If your file has state or province data, map it too.
You must map at least the email or the phone number column, or you won't be able to continue.
On the right side of the screen, you'll see two panels:
Tags: choose tags for the imported contacts. Decide whether to add them to existing tags or replace existing tags — replacing removes any tags already on a contact's profile if you don't select one for them.
Import Settings: shows how many contacts from your file already exist in your database, so you can choose "Overwrite existing contacts" or "Ignore duplicates". In "Subscription status for contacts with empty cells", set which status contacts with an empty cell get for Email, SMS, and WhatsApp: "Customers", "Subscribers", or "Unsubscribed".
If you overwrite existing contacts with "Unsubscribed", the wizard suggests archiving them instead: "Want these contacts to stop receiving messages? Archive them instead". Archived contacts get no messages but keep their consent – see Archiving contacts from a file.
When everything looks right, click "Confirm Import" to start.
The import can take from a few seconds to a few hours, depending on file size. You can follow its progress in the import history, and you'll get an email once it's done.
Archiving contacts from a file (free of charge)
Want to keep contacts in edrone without sending them messages? In the "Import Wizard", choose "Archive contacts (free of charge)", then in the "Upload a file with contacts to archive" block click "Select file to archive".
All contacts from the file go to the archive. Contacts already in your database are archived without changing their data, and new contacts are created directly in the archive.
Before archiving starts, you'll see a summary of how many contacts will be archived, including how many are already in your database. Click "Confirm archiving" to start.
There's no subscription status setting in the "Archive settings" panel: new contacts with an empty cell get the "Customers" status, and existing contacts keep their status.
Archived contacts don't receive messages and don't count toward your billed database until they show activity again (like a store visit, an email open, or an order). They keep their consent.
What happens after import
You decide what happens with duplicates. In the Import Settings step, you choose whether edrone should overwrite existing contacts' data or ignore duplicates and import only new contacts (though a clean file is always lighter).
Your contacts show up in CRM > Contacts, each with a Customer Profile that edrone keeps updated.
Contacts and tags show up within a few minutes. Segments can take up to 24 hours to reflect the new contacts, so keep that in mind when planning campaigns and automations (like Abandoned Cart or Post-Purchase).
Quick Win: import your database with the correct consent status from day one — your welcome messages and automations start working right away for thousands of known contacts, with no extra effort.
Import history
Every import is logged in the "Import history" table on the CRM > Import page. The table shows the file name, status, number of contacts, uploaded columns, tags, status changes, and import date (the location shown, e.g. Europe/Warsaw, indicates the time zone).
Open an import's details to see what data was imported, how many existing contacts were updated, and how many contacts were archived. You can also download the uploaded file there for 7 days.
Troubleshooting
You used the wrong separator in your CSV file — Our system accepts files separated by commas, semicolons, spaces, or tabs. Either re-export the file from the source using one of these separators, or open it in a spreadsheet editor and save it again with the right separator and encoding (UTF-8).
A field contains invalid values — For example, in the Email subscription status field, use only the values listed in the formatting table above (like "1" or "yes" for Subscribers, "0" or "no" for Customers, and "unsubscribed" or "opt-out" for Unsubscribed). If you see an error, fix the values according to the table.
The file is larger than 60 MB — Split it into smaller files and try again.
The file name has special characters, like periods — Remove them and try again.
The file wasn't saved with UTF-8 encoding — Save it again with the correct encoding (Unicode UTF-8) and try again.
That's it! Now it's time to start engaging with your contacts :)
Need more help?
If you have any further questions about importing contacts into edrone, please do not hesitate to contact us at hello@edrone.me