Import contacts from CSV, with correct field descriptors

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Level 1

12 points

Import contacts from CSV, with correct field descriptors

I need to import some contacts from an Excel (CSV) file. I'm testing with a simple file looking roughly like this.

FirstName	LastName	Phone	Email
Dan	Levine	(555) 555-5555	danlevine@gmail.com
Jim	Jarvis	(666) 666-6666	jimjarvis@gmail.com

The import works fine, except that the Phone and Email fields are labeled with "other".

Is there any way to specify the field descriptors (such as mobile/iPhone/home/work/main/Custom for the Phone, and home/work/Custom for the Email field) when importing from a CSV file?

Thanks.

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015), macOS Sierra (10.12.3)

Posted on Mar 26, 2017 6:59 AM

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Answer 1

omccreary Author

Level 1

12 points

Mar 26, 2017 9:21 AM in response to omccreary

Thanks for the suggestion.

I see how to do it now. The Import function brings up a screen, which makes a guess as to what each field represents. But each field has a pull-down list, which allows selecting the correct field. That pulldown list includes the descriptors, such as: Email (home), Email (work), Email (other).

That solves my problem. Thanks for the suggestion.

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Answer 2

RJG1999

Level 4

2,951 points

Mar 26, 2017 7:02 AM in response to omccreary

Hi - have you tried to change the header row in your CSV file to match what the Contacts app is expecting? For example, there is no "Phone" field. Instead it's expecting something like "mobile" or "iPhone". Same with the email field. It's expecting "work" or "home".

Give that a try.

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Answer 3

RJG1999

Level 4

2,951 points

Mar 26, 2017 9:52 AM in response to omccreary

You're welcome. 🙂

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