How to Import Contact to Xero (2026 Guide)

Log in to your Xero account and click Contacts in the top navigation menu. Select All Contacts from the dropdown to view your full contact list including customers and suppliers.

On the All Contacts page, click the three-dot overflow menu icon near the top right of the page. Select Import from the dropdown options. This opens the contact import wizard where you can upload your CSV file.

Click Download Template to get the official Xero contacts CSV template. This template includes all supported columns such as Name, EmailAddress, postal and street address fields, phone numbers, and business details. Only the Name field is required for each contact.

Tip: If you are importing contacts that are both customers and suppliers, you only need one entry per contact. You can assign the customer/supplier classification later in Xero.

Open the template in Excel or Google Sheets and paste your contact data into the matching columns. The Name column must be unique for each contact. If a contact name already exists in Xero, the import will update that existing contact with the new data from your file rather than creating a duplicate.

Warning: Contact names are case-sensitive during matching. 'John Smith' and 'john smith' would be treated as different contacts.

After entering all your contact data, save the file in CSV format. In Excel, choose File > Save As and select CSV (Comma delimited) from the format dropdown. In Google Sheets, use File > Download > Comma-separated values (.csv). Make sure there are no extra blank rows at the end of your file.

Back in the Xero import wizard, click Import File under the Upload Contacts section. Browse to select your saved CSV file and click Next. Xero will process the file and display a preview of the data it found.

Xero shows a summary of how many contacts will be created or updated. Review the preview to confirm that names, addresses, and phone numbers have been mapped correctly. If everything looks good, click Complete Import to finalize the process.

After the import completes, navigate back to Contacts > All Contacts and review the newly imported entries. Spot-check a few contacts to confirm that addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers transferred correctly. You can edit any contact individually if corrections are needed.

Tip: Use the search bar on the Contacts page to quickly find and verify specific imported contacts.