Personal CRM for Google Contacts
Turn 800 Google contacts into the 50 who actually matter
A Google account collects contacts the way a drawer collects cables: every email address you've ever written to, every number from the old Android phone, three variants of the same person. As storage, that works surprisingly well — as a tool for tending relationships, not at all. The path to something better is short: at contacts.google.com you export everything as CSV or vCard, import the file into Endearist, and merge the duplicates as part of the import. Then begins the actual work Google Contacts was never built for: pruning, sorting people into circles, giving the important ones a rhythm, and recording what happens between you. Your data stays local on your device throughout — no account access, no mandatory cloud, no vendor reading along.
Using Endearist with Google Contacts
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Export at contacts.google.com
Open contacts.google.com, tick the box next to one contact, and choose "Selection actions → All" in the top left. Click "Export" and pick either Google CSV or vCard — the vCard carries photos and notes along, the CSV is handier for very large sets. Endearist imports both formats.
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Let the import find the duplicates
On import, Endearist compares names, numbers, and addresses and proposes merges — the person who exists once with a Gmail address, once with a work email, and once as a bare number becomes a single human again. This happens entirely locally; the export file is never uploaded.
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Prune, then sort into circles
Now the liberating part: the hotel reception from 2019 and that one contractor can go to the archive. What remains, you sort into circles — inner circle, active relationships, wide periphery. A list of 800 entries becomes a network of maybe 50 people you genuinely want to keep in view.
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Give the important people a rhythm
For each person in your closer circles you set a cadence, and the warmth score shows you where radio silence is creeping in. Add the journal on top: after a conversation, share the message or a photo into Endearist via the share sheet, and next time you pick up the thread instantly.
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Optional: calendar overlay and Drive sync
Your Google Calendar can be shown as a read-only overlay, so events sit next to the people they involve. And if you use several devices, your own Google Drive serves as the sync backend — end-to-end encrypted, so nothing but ciphertext is ever stored there.
What works — honestly
| Capability | Status | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Import as Google CSV or vCard | Works | Both export formats from contacts.google.com are read in full — no converting or reshaping needed beforehand. |
| Duplicate merging on import | Works | Multiple entries for the same person are detected and proposed for merging — entirely locally, with no upload. |
| Google Calendar as a read-only overlay | Works | Events appear alongside your contacts; Endearist has read access only and never modifies your calendar. |
| Carrying labels and groups over into circles | Manual | Your Google labels don't replace triage — you assign circles once, deliberately, by hand. It's work, but exactly the work that turns a list into a network. |
| Bringing over Google's "Interactions" history | Not supported | The interaction history Google shows internally is not included in any export format — it never leaves Google. Your relationship journal in Endearist starts fresh, but it's genuinely yours. |
| Live sync or write-back via the Google API | Not supported | Endearist requests no access to your Google account — the import is deliberately a one-way street via file. No background sync also means no silent merges that could damage your address book. |
| Automatic enrichment from your Google account | Not supported | No background lookups at Google or anywhere else. A profile contains what you imported or wrote yourself — nothing more. |
Frequently asked questions
- How do I export Google Contacts as CSV or vCard?
- At contacts.google.com, tick one contact, choose "Selection actions → All" in the top left, then click "Export" and pick Google CSV or vCard. The file lands in your downloads folder and imports straight into Endearist.
- Does Endearist continuously sync with Google Contacts?
- No. Endearist doesn't connect to your Google account and deliberately doesn't use the People API — reconciliation runs through export files you trigger yourself. That costs five minutes every few months and spares you standing account permissions and silent background merges.
- What happens to duplicate contacts on import?
- Endearist detects them by name, number, and address and proposes merges — you confirm them one by one or in bulk. Later re-imports also update existing people instead of creating fresh copies; journal entries and cadences are preserved.
- Can I get my data back out of Endearist later?
- Anytime: the export gives you your contacts as CSV and your journals as plain Markdown — open formats any other tool can read. Lock-in would be the opposite of what a local-first tool stands for.
Last updated: 2026-06-10
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