Contacts List

What is it?

Contacts is your organization's directory of everyone who has messaged you, across channels like WhatsApp, Telegram, Webchat, Instagram, Facebook, and any other channel you have opened. 

Use it to find a contact, review and update their data, import WhatsApp contacts in bulk, or export a filtered list — all in one place, so you're not managing data one live case at a time. The same contact data flows through Inbox, Case archive, Conversations, Campaigns, and your bots.

Who can use it

Contacts is available to organization admins. Managers and Agents don't have the Contacts section — they view and fill contact data inside a live case in Inbox.

Key concepts

• Contact — a person on a specific channel account. The same person can appear more than once if they write from different channels or accounts.
• Name and Channel ID — built-in identity fields. You can see them in the list and in Edit Contact, but you can't change them there.
• Contact data — values stored in your organization's Info Fields (for example email, VIP, or language). These are the fields you can add, edit, or remove on a contact.
• Channel — the messaging account the contact belongs to (for example a WhatsApp business number).

To create or change the fields themselves, see Contacts: Info Fields.

Open Contacts

1. In the sidebar, open Contacts.
2. Click List.

Browse and search contacts

The table shows four columns:

• Contact — name, phone, username, or ID.
• Channel — channel icon, account name, and phone. Test accounts appear as Test – {account name}.
• Contact data — up to five field badges (for example Email: jane@example.com). Click +N more to expand, or Show less to collapse.
• Actions — Edit and Delete.

Search

Use Search by name or ID and enter at least 3 characters. An empty search shows all contacts.

Filters

You can combine these filters:

• Channel Type — WhatsApp, Telegram, Webchat, and other types available in your organization.
• Channel — a specific account, grouped by channel type.
• Filter by contact field — match contacts by Info Field values.

Contact field filters use “is” for an exact match (for example City is Barcelona) and “exists” when the field has any value (shown as has Email). Several field filters apply together with AND logic — a contact must match all of them. Active filters appear as chips after Filtering contacts whose; click Clear filters to reset search and filters.

Edit a contact

1. Click Edit on a row.
2. The Edit Contact dialog opens with Name and Channel ID (read-only).
3. Under Contact Data, change existing values, or click Add Field to attach another Info Field.
4. Close the dialog to save — changes are saved automatically.

Supported value types are Text, Numeric, Date, and Boolean (Yes/No). Only Contact-scoped Info Fields appear here; conversation-scoped fields stay on the case in Inbox. If no custom data is set yet, you'll see No contact data fields added yet.

Delete a contact

1. Click Delete on a row.
2. Confirm in Delete Contact.
3. Click Delete, or Cancel to keep the contact.

Heads up:  Deleting a contact can't be undone. Only delete when you're sure.

Import contacts

Import creates or updates WhatsApp contacts in bulk, including Info Field values.

1. Click Import.
2. Optionally click “Download template”. This downloads contacts_import_template.csv with columns for Name, Phone number, Channel ID, and one contact_field.{field_name} column per active Info Field.
3. Select a WhatsApp account. 
4. Upload a CSV, XLS, or XLSX file (maximum 10 MB).
5. Click Import.

File columns

Each row is one contact:

• Name — required in every row.
• Phone number — required if Channel ID is missing.
• Channel ID — required if Phone number is missing.
• Contact field — optional; one column per existing field in your organization.

Import runs in the background, showing Importing contacts from {filename}... When it finishes you'll see Contacts imported; if it fails, Import failed. Please try again.

Note:  Import is WhatsApp only — you can't import Telegram, Instagram, Webchat, or other channels from this dialog. If a contact already exists, the import overwrites the matching record.

Export contacts

1. Apply any search or filters you want included.
2. Click Export.
3. The download is a CSV named contact_export_{timestamp}.csv.

The file includes the current filters and one contact_field. column per active Info Field.

Best practices

• Create the Info Fields you need before importing, so the template includes those columns.
• Use search (3+ characters) plus channel and field filters before exporting, so the file only contains the audience you need.
• Don't delete a contact unless you're sure — it can't be undone.
• Use Edit Contact for one-off updates, and Import when you need to update many WhatsApp contacts at once.

FAQ

Why does the same person appear more than once?

A contact is tied to a specific channel account. If someone writes from two channels or two accounts, they appear once per account.

Can I change a contact's Name or Channel ID?

No — those are built-in identity fields. You can view them in Edit Contact, but only Contact data (Info Field values) can be changed there.

Can I import contacts for channels other than WhatsApp?

Not from this dialog — import is WhatsApp only.

What happens if I import a contact that already exists?

The import overwrites the matching record with the values in your file.

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