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Import Contacts to Mailchimp

by Intuit•16• Updated 2 days ago

Our import tool helps you add or update email contacts in Mailchimp. Import from a connected app, upload a comma-separated value file (CSV), copy and paste email contacts from a spreadsheet like Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets, or enter info directly into the import table. You can also auto-update multiple existing email contacts at once.

In this article, you'll learn how to use our import tool to add and update email contacts in Mailchimp.

Before you start

Here are some things to know before you begin this process.

  • This article covers how to import email contacts to your Mailchimp audience. To learn how to import SMS contacts to your Mailchimp audience, check out Import SMS Marketing Contacts to Mailchimp.
  • Free plans include up to 500 contacts and 1,000 email sends per month, with a daily email send limit of 500. To learn more, check out our pricing page.
  • If your import brings your total contact count above the limit of your marketing plan tier, you'll be subject to additional charges.
  • Some European spreadsheet programs use semicolons to separate data fields in CSV or TXT files. If your import file uses semicolons, replace them with commas and try your import again. To learn more, check out Troubleshooting Contact Imports.
  • In Mailchimp, you can categorize your email contacts based on their email marketing status, such as subscribed or unsubscribed. You can only import 1 status at a time.

Import email contacts from another service

To save time and effort, Mailchimp lets you connect 6 of the most commonly used integrations and will import email contacts for you. Here’s the list of currently supported apps:

  • Zapier
  • Salesforce
  • WooCommerce
  • QuickBooks Online
  • Squarespace Commerce
  • Shopify

To connect another app and import email contacts to Mailchimp, follow these steps.

  1. Click Audience, then click Audience dashboard.
  2. If you have more than 1 audience, click the Current audience drop-down and choose the one you want to work with.
  3. Click the Manage Audience drop-down and choose Import contacts.
  4. Click Import from another service.
  5. Click Continue.
  6. Click Add on the integration tile you want to work with. Previously connected integrations will have a checkmark.
  7. After you’ve connected the app, click Done.

That’s it! You’ve now connected your app and Mailchimp will import email contacts.

Import email contacts from a file


The file import process has 2 parts. First, prepare your spreadsheet of email contacts outside Mailchimp, then save it as a CSV or TXT file. Next, use our import tool to upload your file and add your email contacts to your Mailchimp audience. If you import subscribed email contacts, be sure that you have permission to send them email marketing content.

Prepare for import

To prepare your file for import, follow these steps.

  1. In a spreadsheet program like Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets, open your blank worksheet.
  2. Create and label a column for Email Address. This field is required to import email contacts.
  3. Create and label additional columns for First Name, Last Name, and any other information you want to import to Mailchimp.

    To learn how to format phone numbers, birthdays, mailing addresses, and other types of data, check out Format Guidelines for Your Import File.
  4. Add your contacts' information into the relevant fields in the spreadsheet.
  5. Save the file in a CSV or TXT format. These options can usually be accessed from the File menu in your spreadsheet program, labeled as "Export as .CSV,” “Export as .TXT,” “Download as .CSV,” or “Download as .TXT.” Spreadsheet programs may vary.

Nice job! Now that you've prepared your import file, you're ready to import.

Need help saving your spreadsheet file before you import? Check out these CSV tips from Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets. Or, download our sample CSV import file and replace the sample emails with your own data.

Import your file to Mailchimp

To import your email contacts to Mailchimp, follow these steps.

  1. Click Audience, then click Audience dashboard.
  2. If you have more than 1 audience, click the Current audience drop-down and choose the one you want to work with.
  3. Click the Manage Audience drop-down and choose Import contacts.
  4. Click Upload a file.
  5. Click Continue.
  6. Click Browse to choose the import file from your computer, or drag and drop your import file into the Drag and drop a file section.
  7. Click Continue to organize.
  8. Use the Current audience drop-down to confirm the audience you want to import to.
  9. If your audience has groups, you can import your email contacts directly into the group of your choice. In the Add to groups section, check the box next to each group you want to add your email contacts to. You'll only see this option if you have groups in your audience.
  10. If you want to update email contacts that are already in your audience, check the box next to Update any existing contacts.
  11. Click Continue to tag.
  12. If you want to assign tags to all of the email contacts in your import file, click the drop-down, then choose or create tags as needed. You can also choose from popular tags.
  13. When you're ready, click Continue to match.
  14. Match the columns in your import file to the fields in your Mailchimp audience. We'll automatically match some columns for you. For example, the column that contains email addresses will match the Email Address field.
  15. Click the column header to choose a different field type for the column or to create a new field. Repeat for all unmatched columns that you want to import. Any unmatched columns won't be imported.
  16. Click Continue to subscribe.

  17. Use the Select email marketing status and Select SMS marketing status drop-downs to choose the marketing subscription statuses of the email contacts you're about to import. If you only have email consent from your email contacts, choose Subscribed from the Select email marketing status drop-down, then choose Non-subscribed from the Select SMS marketing status drop-down.

    The available subscription statuses for email contacts are:

    • Subscribed
    • Unsubscribed
    • Non-subscribed
    • Cleaned

  18. Click Finalize import to review your import settings. To go back to a step, click the corresponding header. If you want to cancel your import, click Exit.

  19. Review your import summary, then click Complete Import.

That's it! After the import is finished, we'll send a notification to the email address associated with your Mailchimp account.

Copy and paste email contacts

Directly paste new email contacts from a spreadsheet or list.

To copy and paste your email contacts, follow these steps.

  1. Click Audience, then click Audience dashboard.
  2. If you have more than 1 audience, click the Current audience drop-down and choose the one you want to work with.
  3. Click the Manage Audience drop-down, then choose Import contacts.
  4. Click Copy and paste.
  5. Click Continue.
  6. Paste your contact information in the field.
  7. Click Continue to Organize.
  8. Use the Current audience drop-down to confirm the audience you want to import to.
  9. If your audience has groups, you can import your email contacts directly into the group of your choice. In the Add to groups section, check the box next to each group you want to add your email contacts to. You'll only see this option if you have groups in your audience.
  10. If you want to update email contacts that are already in your audience, check the box next to Update any existing contacts.
  11. Click Continue to tag.
  12. If you want to assign tags to all of the email contacts in your import file, click the drop-down, then choose or create tags as needed. You can also choose from popular tags.
  13. When you're ready, click Continue to match.
  14. Match the columns in your import file to the fields in your Mailchimp audience. We'll automatically match some columns for you. For example, the column that contains email addresses will match the Email Address field.
  15. Click the column header to choose a different field type for the column or to create a new field. Repeat for all unmatched columns that you want to import. Any unmatched columns won't be imported.
  16. Click Continue to subscribe.

  17. Use the Select email marketing status and Select SMS marketing status drop-downs to choose the marketing subscription statuses of the email contacts you're about to import. If you only have email consent from your email contacts, choose Subscribed from the Select email marketing status drop-down, then choose Non-subscribed from the Select SMS marketing status drop-down.

    The available subscription statuses for email contacts are:

    • Subscribed
    • Unsubscribed
    • Non-subscribed
    • Cleaned

  18. Click Finalize import to review your import settings. If you need to go back to a step, click the corresponding header. If you want to cancel your import, click Exit.

  19. Review your import summary, then click Complete Import.

That's it! After the import is finished, we'll send a notification to the email address associated with your Mailchimp account.

  • Subscribed email contacts being imported into Mailchimp don't go through the signup process. You’ll need to verify that you have permission to market to them.
  • When you import email contacts to an existing audience, we won’t include any duplicate, bounced, or unsubscribed addresses that are already stored in the audience.
  • Because all audiences in Mailchimp are independent of each other, we can't detect duplicates, bounces, or unsubscribes across multiple audiences. If you have duplicate email contacts in different audiences, you may find it helpful to combine your audiences into a primary audience that uses groups or tags.

Update existing email contacts

You may need to update your email contacts’ data if they’ve been in your audience for a while. Use our import tool to quickly update multiple contacts at once.

This option replaces existing audience field information with new information from your import file. You’ll follow the same process to import new email contacts, but there are a few extra things to consider.

  • When you prepare your spreadsheet, verify that the column names in your import file match the fields in your Mailchimp audience, and that no columns are left blank. Blank fields overwrite and erase existing email contact data.
  • You can only update subscribed or non-subscribed email contacts with this method.
  • Imports won’t update the marketing status of email contacts already in your Mailchimp account.

After your import file is prepared with updated contact information, follow the same steps to import email contacts from a file. On the Organize step, check the box next to Update any existing contacts.

That's it! When you import, we'll handle the rest by scanning your email contacts and updating their information.

Troubleshooting

Need some help with contact imports?
Troubleshooting Contact Imports

Want to reverse a contact import?
Undo a Contact Import

Don't need an audience anymore?
Delete an Audience

Next steps

Now that you know how to import contacts, here are some other things you can do to manage and grow your audience.

Mailchimp

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