Data can be gathered through various sources, such as purchasing a record database, collecting from trade shows and campaigns, etc. Importing records from such external sources to Zoho CRM is one of the most important lead creation activities in any business. For that reason, importing should be easy and should help you maintain clean data without duplicates.

Zoho CRM provides you two option:

Importing data to individual modules in Zoho CRM: Individual files can be imported, one at a time, to a specific module.

Migrating data from other accounts to Zoho CRM: The migration wizard can be used while migrating from another CRM and transferring huge amount of data to Zoho CRM. See Also Migrate Data

Availability

Import Checklist

Before importing the data, please go through the following checklist:

1. Permission
   Make sure you have the access and privilege to Import data. If you do not have the privilege, the Import link will be hidden in your User interface.
2. File Format
   The supported formats are Excel (XLS, XLSX), Comma Separated Value (CSV) and Business Card or vCard Format (VCF). All file attachments should be separated from the data.
   Unexpected errors may occur if the XLS/XLSX files contain any special controls such as combo filters or images embedded in it.
3. Characters not allowed
   Any data for the file to be imported should not contain the following characters:
   • Double quotation marks(") - use only as a field delimiter
   • Vertical bar (|)
   • Angle brackets (<>)
4. Mandatory Fields
   The required (mandatory) fields must contain a value. Make sure you do not leave the mandatory fields blank, in the import file. For instance, when you are importing account information, each account record must include an Account Name. Please note that you cannot proceed to the next step without mapping the mandatory fields.
5. Check box Data
   Make sure that the data you plan to import from Boolean or check box fields contain values that will properly convert during the import process.
   Imported data from Boolean and check box fields are converted as follows:
   • If check box is selected - True or 1
   • If check box is not selected - False or 0
6. Drop-down List
   All data values displayed in the drop-down lists must exist in the corresponding Zoho CRM fields.
   For instance, if you plan to import account information that contains a value for the industry type drop-down list, before you import the account information, make sure all the industry values in the source file already appear in the drop-down list. If the values do not exist, you must either change the values in the source file to match the existing values in Zoho CRM, or have your administrator add the new values.
   If values are not added in the drop-down list, data can still be imported. After importing, in case you change the value for the field, you cannot change it back to the old one as it will not be available in the list.
7. Field Names
   Make sure the first row of data (records) in the source file contains the column headings or field names rather than the actual data values. These heading field name values help identify the data when you map the new data to the existing fields in Zoho CRM.
8. Blank rows in the import file
   More than 10 blank rows in the file might indicate the end of the file. Data after the blank rows will be ignored during import. Make sure not to leave blank rows in between.
9. File Size
   Make sure the file size does not exceed the limit:
   CSV files - Enterprise - 25 MB, Professional and Standard - 10 MB, Free - 5 MB.
   VCF files - 5 MB for all editions.

The modules along with their Zoho-defined mandatory fields are mentioned in the table below. Please make sure to map these fields when you import. There maybe other mandatory fields too in each module, but you can always customize and mark the fields as non mandatory, if required.

Modules	Mandatory Fields	Modules	Mandatory Fields
Leads	Last Name	Cases	Case Origin Subject Status
Accounts	Account Name	Solutions	Solution Title
Contacts	Last Name	Price Books	Price Book Name
Deals	Deal Name Stage Closing Date	Products	Product Name
Campaigns	Campaign Name	Vendors	Vendor Name

Import Limits

If the import file is in XLS, XLSX or VCF format, you can import a maximum of 5000 records/batch. Records more than 5000 can be imported in CSV format. Check the Feature Availability table for Import Limits.

Import Data to a Module

Import all the records that are owned by (assigned to) the users in your organization, including the records owned by you.

To import data

1. Click the [Module] tab.
   Module refers to the tabs like Leads, Contacts, Accounts, etc.
2. In the [Module] Home page, click Import [Records].
   
3. Click Browse or Drag and drop, to upload a file.
   The character encoding will be automatically detected.
   
4. Change the character encoding from the drop-down list, if required and click Next.
   
5. Select the Layout to which you want to import the records. See Also, Page Layouts
   If you do not have a layout created, the records will be imported to the standard layout and the option to choose layout will not be available.
6. Select one the following options.
   • Add as new [Records] - Choose this option to import all the records in the import file to Zoho CRM.
     Select RecordID or Email/RecordName from the drop-down list. You have this additional option to skip records from the file that match the existing records in Zoho CRM. This is to avoid duplication of data. These can be filtered based on record's ID, name or email address, as per the module.
     
   • Update existing [Records] only - Choose this option to make changes to the existing records only.
     Select RecordID or Email/RecordName from the drop-down list to find existing records that match those in the import file. This option helps you filter existing records that needs to be updated. Additionally, you can choose to skip updating empty values in the records. For example: Say your CRM record has a value, Hospitality, for the field Industry and the import file does not have any value for the same field. When you import the data from the file and choose the Skip updating empty values, then the empty value will not be overwritten and the Industry field value will be left unchanged. This will avoid the chance of any data loss.
     
   • Both - Choose this option to add new record as well as update the changes in the existing records.
     Select RecordID or Email/RecordName from the drop-down list to find existing records that match those in the import file. You have this option to filter existing records that needs to be updated. You can also choose to skip updating empty values from your import file to the records in Zoho CRM.
7. Click Next.
8. Map fields from the import file to those in Zoho CRM.
   
   The data from the first three columns in the import file will be available. Based on this data, formats for certain field will be added. This format can be edited, if required.
   • Click Create New Fields, if you are in need of custom fields that are not already available in your CRM account.
   • Click Mapped and Unmapped to view the columns that are mapped and not mapped respectively with the fields in Zoho CRM.
   • Click the Reset Field Mapping link to start mapping from scratch.
     All the mapping you had done so far will be removed and you can do it again.
   • Click the Apply Auto Mapping link to let CRM map the import columns with matching fields.
     System will identify columns that match the CRM fields and map them automatically.
     
9. Click Next.
10. Choose one of the following to Assign Lead Source:
    This option is available for the Leads module and only if you have mapped the LeadSource field. If the field is not mapped, you will get to choose one Zoho CRM lead source value from the drop-down list.
    • From options - Values from the LeadSource picklist field are listed. You can select one and it will be applied to all the records that are imported.
    • From mapping - Your import file may have a column that mentions the lead source. You can map that column with the CRM field and choose this option to use the values from the import file as the source.
      
11. Choose one of the following to Assign Owner:
    • User - Choose a user from the drop-down list to assign a single owner for all the records that you import.
    • Assignment Rules - Choose an assignment rule from the drop-down list to assign users based on the rule or create one. See Also Assignment Rules
    • File mapping - This option will be available only when the [Record] Owner field is mapped to a column from the file. You can either map using Record ID or Email. The import file should have a column that contains the exact email address of the users to whom you want to assign each record. Only then will the records automatically get assigned to the respective users while importing.
12. Choose a task from the drop-down list or create a workflow task to Assign Tasks.
    The existing workflow tasks will be available in the list.
13. Add relevant Tags, if applicable, from the list of existing tags for the module. 
    The chosen tag will be added to all of the records that are imported. 
14. Select the checkbox to Enable Manual Lead Approval.
    The records will be manually approved by the admin before being assigned to specific users. This option is available only for leads, contacts, cases and custom modules. See Also Approve Records
15. Click Finish.
    The import action will be initiated.

Import Notes

Many a time, you may face the need to write down notes for a lot of records at the same time. Sometimes the same note may need to be associated with multiple records. Instead of adding notes one at a time to each record, you can import them and get them associated to the relevant contacts.

You can overcome this hassle by using the Import Notes feature offered by Zoho CRM. Simply export your existing records to a spreadsheet, add your notes in new columns and import the notes.

To import notes

1. Prepare your spreadsheet (either exported from CRM or a new sheet) with your notes for each record. Make sure you have the Note Title and Note Content columns in your sheet. Apart from these two columns, the spreadsheet must have a column for one of the unique fields for the chosen module - Email, Record ID or any other unique field.
2. In your Zoho CRM account, click the required module.
3. Click the [Module] tab.
   Module refers to the tabs like Leads, Contacts, Accounts, etc.
   ​
4. In the [Module] Home page, click Import Notes.
5. Browse the import file and upload it.
6. When the file is uploaded, click Next.
   
7. Map fields from the import file to those in Zoho CRM.
   The data from the first three columns in the import file will be available. Based on this data, formats for certain field will be added. This format can be edited, if required.
   • Click Mapped and Unmapped to view the columns that are mapped and not mapped respectively with the fields in Zoho CRM.
   • Select the Reset mapped fields checkbox to start mapping from scratch.
   • Click the Apply Auto Mapping link to let CRM map the import columns with matching fields.
8. Click Import.
   The import action will be initiated. Notes can be seen in the respective record's details page.