Here, we will explain how to get your contacts into Sansan by importing data from a CSV file.
In order to transfer contacts from other systems such as Excel, you need clean up and prepare the CSV file by following a specified format before you can begin.
Things to note
- You must be an administrator to import contacts.
- Contacts added via import are not charged or counted as cards digitized.
- As the import can take considerable time, once it is completed you will be notified by email.
- Maximum number of contacts you can import at a time is 10,000, i.e. 10,000 rows in a CSV file.
- Card images cannot be imported.
- Read about aggregating cards belonging to one person and errors related to importing.
Step by step
1. Click your name which appears at the top right of the Web App. Click Admin Settings then Import Card Data.
2. Click Download Format to download a Sansan-specific CSV file.
3. Input the relevant contact data. Do not edit the fields in Row 1. Learn about how to prepare a CSV file.
4. On Import Card Data page, click Choose File to specify the CSV file you created.
5. Click Check to start an error check. If errors are identified, download the file with errors highlighted and revise accordingly. Repeat Step 4 and Step 5 until no more errors are identified.
Error message and download button:
6. Click Import. The status will be displayed.
Estimated time to import 1,000 contacts is 30 minutes.
Import statuses
After import is confirmed, status will change according to the processed stage.
Details of each status are given below:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Waiting for Process to Start | Waiting for import to start running. Depending on the volume of your CSV file and server traffic, you may experience this status for a sustained period of time. |
| Importing | Import is in progress. Time taken depends on the volume of your CSV file and other users' import status. |
| Import Complete | Import has been completed successfully. You will receive an email about this. |
| There are Errors. | Import has finished but errors in data resulted in unsuccessful import of some contacts. You will receive an email about this. |
Rules on preparing CSV file for import
| Items | Mandatory | Usable Character Types | Maximum Characters | Supplementary Information |
| Card Holder User ID | ○ | Alphabets, numbers, symbols | - | User importing the data needs to be appointed. |
| Exchanged Date | Numbers, forward slash (/), en dash (-) | - | Date when cards were exchanged. Please use either of the following date formats; 2010/01/01 or 2010-01-01. |
|
| Tags | All |
50 |
To attach multiple tags, separate tag names by semicolons. | |
| Company Name | ○ | All | 250 | If company name is in English on the card, enter in this field. |
| Company Name (English) | Alphabets, numbers, symbols | 250 | Use when the company name can be read in English. | |
| Company Name (Kana) | Any character can be used except for Chinese characters, Japanese hiragana, and full-width alphanumerics | 250 | Entry is recommended with company names in Japanese, to make it easier to search in list view. | |
| Department Name | All | 250 | - | |
| Title | All | 250 | - | |
| Name [Last] | ○ | All | 250 | If Name [Last] is left blank, it will be displayed as (None). |
| Name [First] | All | 250 | - | |
| Name (Kana) [Last] | Any character can be used except for Chinese characters, Japanese hiragana, and full-width alphanumerics | 250 | Entry is recommended with surnames in Japanese, to make it easier to search in list view. | |
| Name (Kana) [First] | Any character can be used except for Chinese characters, Japanese hiragana, and full-width alphanumerics | 250 | Entry is recommended with first names in Japanese, to make it easier to search in list view. | |
| Zip Code(1) | Numbers, en dash (-),spaces | 10 excluding hyphens and spaces | Zip Codes are imported without hyphens and spaces. | |
| Address(1) [All] | All | 1,000 | Address lines are not separated automatically. | |
| TEL-1(1) | Numbers, plus (+), en dash (-), open parenthesis ((), close parenthesis ()), period (.) | 30 | Open parenthesis ((), close parenthesis ()) and period (.) are automatically converted and saved as hyphens. e.g. 0120.1111.2222 will become 0120-1111-2222 * Phone line titles such as "Main" and "Extension" will not be imported. * Hyphens (-) and periods (.) at the beginning or the end will not be imported. * Parentheses are only registered if they are used in pairs. * Pluses (+) are only imported if they appear at the beginning of text. |
|
| TEL-2(1) | Numbers, plus (+), en dash (-), open parenthesis ((), close parenthesis ()), period (.) | 30 | Same as "TEL-1(1)". | |
| FAX(1) | Numbers, plus (+), en dash (-), open parenthesis ((), close parenthesis ()), period (.) | Max. 30 characters | Same as "TEL-1(1)". | |
| Mobile(1) | Numbers, plus (+), en dash (-), open parenthesis ((), close parenthesis ()), period (.) | 30 | Same as "TEL-1(1)". | |
| Email(1) | Alphabets, numbers, symbols | 250 | Use correct email address format. | |
| URL(1) | Alphabets, numbers, symbols | 250 | Only website addresses starting with http://, https:// or ftp:// are registered. | |
| Zip Code(2) | Numbers, en dash (-),spaces | 10 excluding hyphens and spaces | Zip Codes are imported without hyphens and spaces. | |
| Address(2) [All] | All | 1000 | Address lines are not separated automatically. | |
| TEL-1(2) | Numbers, plus (+), en dash (-), open parenthesis ((), close parenthesis ()), period (.) | 30 | Same as "TEL-1(1)". | |
| TEL-2(2) | Numbers, plus (+), en dash (-), open parenthesis ((), close parenthesis ()), period (.) | 30 | Same as "TEL-1(1)". | |
| FAX(2) | Numbers, plus (+), en dash (-), open parenthesis ((), close parenthesis ()), period (.) | 30 | Same as "TEL-1(1)". | |
| Mobile(2) | Numbers, plus (+), en dash (-), open parenthesis ((), close parenthesis ()), period (.) | 30 | Same as "TEL-1(1)". | |
| Email(2) | Alphabets, numbers, symbols | 250 | Use correct email address format. | |
| URL(2) | Alphabets, numbers, symbols | 250 | Only website addresses starting with http://, https:// or ftp:// are registered. | |
| Memo | All | 2,000 | - |