Bring Your Existing Leads into Brixi
You already have leads — in a spreadsheet, an export from your old CRM, a Vcard off someone's phone — and retyping them one by one is a non-starter. Import brings the whole file into Brixi in a single pass so your team can start working those leads today.
Entry pointCRM → Contacts
Brixi accepts four file types:
| Format | Extension | When to use |
|---|---|---|
| CSV | .csv | Plain-text spreadsheets exported from Google Sheets, Excel, or another CRM. The most common format. |
| Excel XLSX | .xlsx | Modern Excel workbooks. Used by Excel 2007 and later, Google Sheets exports, Numbers. |
| Excel XLS | .xls | Older Excel workbooks (pre-2007). Same flow as XLSX in Brixi — pick the Excel option and choose your .xls file. |
| Vcard | .vcf / .vcard | Contact files exported from a phone's Contacts app, Apple Contacts, Google Contacts, or Outlook. |
Whichever format you pick, the flow is the same: open Import, choose the format, upload the file, review the contacts in a preview, and click Import to add them to your CRM.
Who Can Do This
Sales managers and admins can import contacts. Sales users may also import if their role allows it. If you can't see the Import button on the Contacts page, ask your admin to check your access.
Before You Start
- Make sure each contact has at least a name and a phone number. Other columns (email, source, status) are optional.
- Decide where the contacts should land: source, default status, and owner. Brixi uses the values from your file when present.
- Keep the file under a few thousand rows for the first try — large imports can take longer to process.
Open Import
-
Go to CRM → Contacts.
-
Click Import in the top-right of the Contacts page. The Select File Type dialog opens.
The same dialog handles all four file types. You'll choose the format on this screen, then upload your file.
1. Import from CSV (.csv)
Use this when your contacts are in a .csv file from Google Sheets, Excel,
or another CRM's export.
What your file should look like
The first row is a header. Brixi reads these column names from the file:
| Column | What goes in it |
|---|---|
name | The contact's full name (required) |
phone number | Phone, with or without + and country code (required) |
email | Email address (optional) |
source | Where the lead came from (e.g. Facebook, Website) |
status | Lead status (e.g. New, Qualified) |
A short example:
name,phone number,email,source,status
Demo1,919999999999,demo1@brixi.com,Facebook,New
Demo2,919899999999,demo2@brixi.com,Facebook,New
Steps
- On the Select File Type dialog, choose CSV (Comma Separated Values) and click Continue.
- Click the dashed Click to select file area (or drag your
.csvonto it) and pick your file. The dialog now shows the filename and size. - Click Upload File.
- The Import Contacts — contacts ready to import page opens, showing a preview of every row in your file — name, phone, email, source, status. Scroll the list to check the data looks right.
- Click Import at the bottom-right to add all contacts to your CRM. (Use Cancel to back out without saving anything.)

2. Import from Excel XLSX (.xlsx)
Use this for modern Excel workbooks. The expected columns are the same as
CSV — name, phone number, email, source, status — read from the
first sheet, with the first row as the header.
Steps
- On the Select File Type dialog, choose Excel (XLSX) and click Continue.
- Click the upload area and pick your
.xlsxfile. The dialog confirms the filename and size. - Click Upload File. Brixi opens the same Import Contacts preview shown for CSV.
- Review the rows, then click Import.

The Excel option in the dialog accepts both .xlsx and .xls files — see the next section for older XLS workbooks.
3. Import from Excel XLS (.xls)
.xls is the older Excel format (Excel 97–2003). Brixi handles it with the
same Excel (XLSX) option as .xlsx — you don't need to convert the
file first.
Steps
- On the Select File Type dialog, choose Excel (XLSX) and click
Continue. (The option name says XLSX but the file picker accepts
both
.xlsxand.xls.) - Click the upload area and pick your
.xlsfile. The dialog shows the filename and size. - Click Upload File, review the preview, and click Import.
If a very old .xls file fails to upload, open it in Excel or Google Sheets
once and save it as .xlsx or .csv — that fixes most parsing
problems with legacy spreadsheets.
4. Import from Vcard (.vcf / .vcard)
Use Vcard when you've exported contacts from a phone (iPhone, Android), Apple Contacts, Google Contacts, or Outlook. A Vcard file can hold one contact or many.
What your file should look like
Each contact is a BEGIN:VCARD … END:VCARD block. A minimal entry:
BEGIN:VCARD
VERSION:3.0
FN:Demo1
TEL;TYPE=CELL:+919999999999
EMAIL:demo1@brixi.com
END:VCARD
Brixi reads the name (FN), phone (TEL), and email (EMAIL) from each
block. Multiple blocks in one file import as multiple contacts.
Steps
- On the Select File Type dialog, choose Vcard and click Continue.
- Click the upload area and pick your
.vcfor.vcardfile. - Click Upload File. The preview opens showing the contacts Brixi parsed from the file — name, email, phone.
- Review the rows and click Import.

After Importing
- New contacts appear immediately in CRM → Contacts. Use the New filter or sort by created time to find them.
- Brixi uses the source and status values from your file when present. If a row doesn't have them, the contact lands with default values.
- If you imported with no owner, assign them from the contact detail page or with a bulk action.
Common Issues
| Issue | What to check |
|---|---|
| File picker rejects your file | Confirm the extension matches the format you chose: CSV → .csv, Excel → .xlsx or .xls, Vcard → .vcf / .vcard. |
| Some rows show empty fields in the preview | Open the source file and check the column headers match the expected names (name, phone number, email, source, status). |
| Phone numbers look wrong after import | Add the country code in the file (e.g. +91…) so Brixi keeps the number intact. |
Old .xls file won't upload | Re-save the file as .xlsx or .csv from Excel or Google Sheets, then import again. |
| Vcard imports only some contacts | Make sure each contact has a full BEGIN:VCARD / END:VCARD block. |
| Duplicates created | Brixi imports every row you confirm. Remove duplicates from the file before uploading, or clean them up afterwards from the Contacts page. |
Contact support if the Upload File step closes the dialog without opening a preview, or if the preview opens but the columns are blank. Share the file you tried to upload (or a small sample) so support can reproduce the issue.