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Import and Export Your Data

Bring your Clients in from Excel, and take your data out whenever you want.

What this covers

If your Clients are already in a spreadsheet, you do not need to retype them. The Excel upload brings the whole list in at once. And whenever you want your data back out — for a backup, for your Accountant, or because you are leaving — you can export it.

This guide covers both directions, what to check before you import, and how to fix it if the first attempt is not right.

Step by step: importing

1. Open Import / Export

Go to Database Management › Import / Export.

2. Start from the template

Download the template rather than uploading your own layout blind. It shows the columns the system expects and the order it wants them in, which saves the most common round of errors.

3. Move your data into it

Copy your columns into the matching template columns. Name and email are the ones that matter. Anything you do not have can stay empty.

Two things to check while you are in there:

4. Test with a handful first

Import ten rows before you import a thousand. You will see immediately whether the columns landed where you expected, and fixing ten records is trivial.

5. Import the rest

Once the sample looks right, run the full file.

6. Set the types

Imported records arrive without your Client Types, Client Rating Types or Web Types unless you included them. Set them now while you are thinking about it — those fields are what reports and Campaigns filter on.

Step by step: exporting

From the same page, choose what to export and download it as a spreadsheet. Use it for a backup you keep yourself, for handing a list to your Accountant, or simply because it is your data and you should be able to take it.

Exports are a sensible habit before any big change — a bulk edit, a mass conversion, or a tidy-up.

Tips and best practices

Do not clean the spreadsheet first. People delay importing for months because they want the data perfect. Bring it in as it is and tidy inside the system, where you can search and filter.

Check for duplicates before you upload. If you have already added twenty Clients by hand, remove those rows from the file or you will end up with two of each.

Import the people you are working with now. Historic contacts from a decade ago can stay in the spreadsheet.

Export before big changes. Five seconds of insurance.

Ask for help with the first one. Onboarding assistance is free and column mapping is exactly what it is for.

What this connects to

Import is usually the difference between trying Internoodle and actually using it. An empty system is hard to judge; a system with your real Clients in it shows you immediately whether it fits.

Export is the other half of the same idea. Your data is yours, you can take it whenever you want, and knowing that is what makes committing to a system reasonable rather than risky.

Troubleshooting

Some rows did not import. Usually a malformed email or a missing required field. Fix those rows in the spreadsheet and re-upload just them.

Everything landed in the wrong columns. The file did not match the template order. Start again from a fresh template rather than trying to correct it in place.

I imported the same file twice. Mark the duplicates inactive rather than deleting them, so nothing linked to a record disappears.

Names came in as one field. Split first and last in the spreadsheet and re-import the affected rows.

My accents or special characters look wrong. Save the file as UTF-8 from Excel before uploading.

The import is taking a long time. Large files take a while. Let it finish rather than uploading again, which would duplicate everything.

Common questions

What format does the upload need?

An Excel spreadsheet matching the template. Download the template first — it saves the most common problems.

How many records can I import at once?

Normal business lists are fine. If yours runs to many thousands, split it into batches so you can see any problems on a smaller scale.

Can I import Prospects and Contacts too?

Yes. Import into whichever record type they belong in rather than importing everyone as Clients and sorting it out later.

Will importing overwrite what I already have?

Imports add records. They do not merge with existing ones, so remove people you have already entered from the file.

Can I export everything?

Yes. Your Client data can be exported to a spreadsheet whenever you want.

Can someone help me with this?

Yes, free. Ask through Submit Request — helping with the first import is one of the most common onboarding requests.

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