Home Contacts Import contacts with consent

Import contacts with consent

Last updated on Oct 14, 2026

Add contacts one by one or import an Excel/CSV list in three steps. Without consent a contact is saved and can message you, but never enters a campaign. Only numbers with a country code are imported.

Who it's for: any panel user with write permission (the Collaborator and Developer roles can only view). Screen: https://micuenta.whatsmarketing.es/contactos/nuevo?modo=importar

Before you start

  • Your file in Excel (.xlsx) or CSV, up to 10 MB and 50,000 rows, with one header row and one row per contact.
  • Phone numbers with the country code (+34, +52, +54…). Without the prefix, the row is left out.
  • Columns the panel recognizes by name alone: phone, name, email, company, country, labels and consent (Yes/No). If in doubt, click "Download sample template" («Descargar plantilla de ejemplo») and fill it in.
  • Real consent: Meta can restrict your number if it receives blocks or reports. Importing without consent hurts your quality rating.

Steps

  1. Go to Serve → Contacts («Atender → Contactos») and click "+ New contact" («+ Nuevo contacto»). At the top you'll see two tabs: "One by one" («Uno a uno») and "Import from Excel" («Importar desde Excel»).
  2. For a single contact, in "One by one" fill in at least the "Phone" («Teléfono») (choose the country prefix and type the number) or the "Email"; tick "This contact agreed to receive messages from {your company} on WhatsApp" («Este contacto aceptó recibir mensajes de {tu empresa} por WhatsApp»), state "When it was given" («Cuándo lo dio») and "How" («Cómo») (by phone, web form, a "Yes" on WhatsApp, contract or order) and click "Save contact" («Guardar contacto») or "Save and create another" («Guardar y crear otro»).
  3. For a list, in "Import from Excel" drag the file onto "Drag your Excel or CSV here" («Arrastra aquí tu Excel o CSV») or pick it from your computer (step "1 · Upload the file" («1 · Subir el archivo»)).
  4. In "2 · Match columns" («2 · Emparejar columnas»), check that each column in the file points to the right field (Phone, Full name, Email, Company, Country, Labels, Consent) or to "Ignore" («Ignorar»). Phone is required.
  5. Under "For everyone imported" («Para todos los importados»), choose whether you want a Stage, an Owner and an "Extra label" («Etiqueta extra») (for example september-import) so you can send them a campaign later. If your file has no consent column, state whether they all gave it and how, or "Not given yet" («Todavía no lo dieron»). Click "Next: review →" («Siguiente: revisar →»).
  6. In "3 · Review and import" («3 · Revisar e importar») read "Here's what's going to happen" («Esto es lo que va a pasar»): how many "Will be created" («Se crearán»), "Will be updated" («Se actualizarán») (they already existed by number), "Left out" («Se quedan fuera») (no prefix or invalid phone) and "Duplicates in the file" («Repetidos en el archivo»). Nothing is imported until you confirm.
  7. Tick "I confirm these people agreed to receive messages from my company" («Confirmo que estas personas aceptaron recibir mensajes de mi empresa») and click "Import N contacts" («Importar N contactos»).

What you see when you're done

  • The "Import finished" («Importación terminada») screen: "{n} new contacts, {n} updated" («{n} contactos nuevos, {n} actualizados») and, if any, those left out, with the link "Download the N not imported" («Descargar los N no importados») so you can fix and re-upload them.
  • The buttons "View contacts" («Ver los contactos») (filtered by the label you set) and "Send them a campaign" («Enviarles una campaña»).
  • "Undo import" («Deshacer importación») available for 24 hours: it removes only the contacts this import created that still have no conversations or campaigns; those that already existed keep their updated data.
  • On each contact's card, the badge "✓ Consent" («✓ Consentimiento») (green, with date and source) or "No consent" («Sin consentimiento») (red). In the list, the "No consent" tab groups them.
  • With the label in place, in Campaigns you pick the "One label" («Una etiqueta») audience and send them the campaign.
  • From the list you can select contacts and use "Change stage" («Cambiar etapa»), "Label" («Etiquetar»), "Assign owner" («Asignar propietario»), "Send campaign" («Enviar campaña») or "Export" («Exportar»).

If something goes wrong

  • "We need at least the phone or the email." («Necesitamos al menos el teléfono o el email.»): in one-by-one entry, one of the two is missing.
  • Duplicate phone when creating one by one: the panel offers "Open {name}'s card" («Abrir la ficha de {nombre}»); that contact already exists.
  • "The file is larger than 10 MB. Remove columns you don't need or split it into parts." («El archivo pesa más de 10 MB. Quita columnas que no necesites o divídelo en partes.»)
  • "Upload an Excel (.xlsx) or a CSV." («Sube un Excel (.xlsx) o un CSV.»): the format isn't valid (for example an old .xls or .numbers). Save it as .xlsx or .csv.
  • "The file has no header row with the column names." («El archivo no tiene una fila de cabecera con los nombres de las columnas.») or "The file has no contacts below the header." («El archivo no tiene contactos debajo de la cabecera.»): the first row must contain the column names, with the contacts below it.
  • "At most 50,000 contacts per file. Split the file and upload it in parts." («Como mucho 50.000 contactos por archivo. Divide el archivo y súbelo en partes.»)
  • "The phone is missing. Choose which column has it: without it we can't import." («Falta el teléfono. Elige qué columna lo tiene: sin él no podemos importar.»): in step 2, assign the phone column.
  • Many contacts under "Left out" because of "No country code" («Sin prefijo de país») or "Invalid phone" («Teléfono no válido»): in the Excel, add the international prefix to those numbers (+34…, +52…, +54…) and re-upload only those using "Download the N left out" («Descargar los N que quedan fuera»).
  • "To import, you have to confirm these people gave you their consent." («Para importar tienes que confirmar que estas personas te dieron su consentimiento.»): tick the confirmation box in step 3.
  • "More than 24 hours have passed: this import can no longer be undone." («Han pasado más de 24 horas: la importación ya no se puede deshacer.») or "This import can't be undone." («Esta importación no se puede deshacer.»): once the window has passed, delete the contacts from their card or in bulk.
  • "Delete {name}? … If they have conversations, campaigns or sales they can't be deleted." («¿Eliminar a {nombre}? … Si tiene conversaciones, campañas o ventas no se puede eliminar.»): a contact with history isn't deleted; you can switch off their consent so they don't receive campaigns.

When to ask 24/7 Support for help

If the file meets the requirements and the import fails without a message, if contacts with phone numbers that do have a prefix were left out, if you need to import more than 50,000 contacts at once, or if you have to migrate contacts from another provider along with their history. 24/7 Support: https://whatsappmarketing.zendesk.com/hc/es