How do I make a contact list in Google Sheets?

Download the CSV, then choose File → Import → Upload in a blank Google Sheet. Select comma and turn off conversion of text to numbers, dates, and formulas before importing. Check the phone’s plus sign and all eight columns. Use the empty row next; you can remove the fictional example row.

What columns should a contact list have?

At minimum: name, email, phone, company or role, how you met, last contact date, next planned touch, and a notes field. The two date columns are what turn an address book into a list you actually stay in touch with — without them you're just collecting data.

Is it OK to keep personal contacts in a spreadsheet?

For purely personal use, yes — keeping a list of friends and acquaintances for your own relationship upkeep is normal and fine. It gets sensitive once you share the file or use it professionally: limit who has access, leave out health or financial notes, and don't park the file in an open team folder.

When should I switch from a spreadsheet to a personal CRM?

Three signs: you only open the sheet out of guilt, the date columns are chronically stale, or you want to be reminded instead of checking manually. A spreadsheet is passive — it never taps you on the shoulder. A personal CRM flips that and nudges you when someone hasn't heard from you in too long.

Does the contact list sync automatically with my phone?

No. The CSV is a file with no automatic sync or app connection. Copy the details you want by hand. The Contact Deduplicator can check a separate contact file, but does not hand data to this template. Direct import of this CSV into Endearist is not available here.

Free template

Contact list template

A contact list can keep the details you want to remember together: a name, a shared occasion and an optional plan to get in touch. This free CSV has eight columns, one fictional worked example and an empty row for your own contact. You can download it without an account. Import every column as text before editing so phone numbers and leading zeros stay intact. A birthday without a known year belongs in Notes; there is no dedicated birthday column or age formula. The file does not send reminders, sync contacts or import into the Endearist app. Use it for the people whose details you want to keep, and leave Next touch empty whenever another message is not appropriate.

Download CSV

A CSV file with no sign-up. Import the columns as text using the instructions below. Downloading alone does not import anything.

UTF-8 with BOM · comma delimiter · header, fictional example row and one empty row. This CSV contains no formulas or automatic reminders.

See all templates →

What the CSV columns mean

Column	How to use it	Example
Name	Full name, the way you actually address the person — nickname in brackets if that's what you use.	Naomi Carter
Email	The address that actually reaches them — personal beats work, because work addresses vanish with the job.	naomi.carter@example.test
Phone	Phone number as text with a country code. Import this column as text to keep plus signs and zeros unchanged; the example number is fictional.	+1 415 555 0134
Company / role	Company and role in one field — enough to place the person without maintaining a second LinkedIn.	Example studio, product design
How we met	Place, occasion, or the person who connected you. This is the column you'll thank yourself for in a year — fill it the moment you add the row.	Sarah's book club, March 2025
Last contact	Date in YYYY-MM-DD format so sorting and filtering work cleanly. Only real exchanges count, not a like.	2025-03-22
Next touch	An optional planned date in YYYY-MM-DD format. Leave empty for “not now” or “do not contact”; a date does not create an obligation to reach out.	2026-11-05
Notes	Shared occasions, details offered freely, or a contact boundary. Keep a yearless birthday here as day and month; do not invent a year.	Birthday 5 November (year unknown); book club conversation about cargo bikes; no reply expected

Import the CSV as text

Excel: Data → From Text/CSV. Choose UTF-8 and comma, then Transform Data. Disable automatic type detection or remove the Changed Type step. Select every column and set its data type to Text before loading.
Google Sheets: File → Import → Upload. Choose comma and turn off “Convert text to numbers, dates, and formulas” before importing. If that option is missing, use an importer with text-column controls. This uploads the file to Google; you can use Excel for a local file.

From a birthday to a message: a fictional example

You entered Naomi Carter and 5 November in the birthday calendar; you do not know the birth year. The download’s example row belongs to this fictional person. Copy real details manually: the tools have no automatic connection.
The template has eight columns and no dedicated birthday column. Put the day and month, without inventing a year, in Notes. How we met records Sarah’s book club in March 2025; the cargo-bike conversation gives you a concrete opening. Last contact is your actual exchange, not a birthday.
Not now: leave Next touch empty when you do not want to write yet. A date is your own plan, not an obligation.
If you want to write, open the reconnect generator and choose the relationship, time gap, occasion and tone yourself. It uses preset choices, not CSV imports. Adapt a variant outside the tool with your actual shared occasion.

Hi Naomi, happy birthday. I still remember our book club conversation about cargo bikes. Hope you have a good day — no reply expected.

Optional: prepare a message →

The link passes no names, birthdays or notes and opens the tool without supplied settings. Reloading can reset unsaved inputs; Back is not guaranteed storage. You need no account or launch list for these steps.

How to use this template

Import the CSV and freeze the header row
Use the text-import steps above and check all eight columns and the phone number’s plus sign first. Double-clicking or dragging into Excel can trigger automatic conversion. After importing, freeze the header row so the field names remain visible while scrolling.
Enforce real dates with data validation
Keep known dates as YYYY-MM-DD text initially; they can already be sorted. If you need date functions, deliberately convert only those two columns to actual date values. Leave unknown dates empty; a birthday without a year belongs in Notes.
Sort by next touch once a week
Sort the whole table by Next touch when you want to review your own plans. An older date is a prompt to think, not an instruction to send. Check contact boundaries and whether you currently have time and want to write.
Choose what to do next
Use the fictional birthday example to prepare your own concrete opening. Not now, no reply expected and do not contact are useful outcomes too. The file sends nothing; you decide whether to send a message outside the tool.

Mistakes to avoid

Importing all 800 phone contacts
Dump your entire contacts app into the sheet and you'll stop maintaining it within two weeks — 90 percent of the rows are noise. Start with the 30 to 50 people you'd genuinely hate to lose touch with. You can always add more later.
Notes that say "nice guy"
"Seemed nice, follow up sometime" helps you exactly zero in six months. A useful note contains something concrete: a project in flight, a question left open, a name from their world. Write every note so your future self could open a conversation with it.
Letting the last-contact column rot
A contact list whose dates are eight months stale is worse than none — it fakes an overview you don't actually have. Update the date right after the conversation, not "later". If updating feels like a chore, the list is too long.
Private details in a shared sheet
Health issues, relationship trouble, or salary details don't belong in a Google Sheet your coworkers or a whole team can open. Check the sharing settings before you write anything personal — or keep the file strictly local.
One row per interaction instead of per person
Add a new row every time you call or meet someone, and after a year you'll have fifty rows for ten people and no overview at all. One row is one person; "Last contact" and "Notes" get overwritten on each new conversation, not appended. If you want to keep a history of individual conversations, that belongs in a personal CRM, not this spreadsheet.

Frequently asked questions

How do I make a contact list in Google Sheets?: Download the CSV, then choose File → Import → Upload in a blank Google Sheet. Select comma and turn off conversion of text to numbers, dates, and formulas before importing. Check the phone’s plus sign and all eight columns. Use the empty row next; you can remove the fictional example row.
What columns should a contact list have?: At minimum: name, email, phone, company or role, how you met, last contact date, next planned touch, and a notes field. The two date columns are what turn an address book into a list you actually stay in touch with — without them you're just collecting data.
Is it OK to keep personal contacts in a spreadsheet?: For purely personal use, yes — keeping a list of friends and acquaintances for your own relationship upkeep is normal and fine. It gets sensitive once you share the file or use it professionally: limit who has access, leave out health or financial notes, and don't park the file in an open team folder.
When should I switch from a spreadsheet to a personal CRM?: Three signs: you only open the sheet out of guilt, the date columns are chronically stale, or you want to be reminded instead of checking manually. A spreadsheet is passive — it never taps you on the shoulder. A personal CRM flips that and nudges you when someone hasn't heard from you in too long.
Does the contact list sync automatically with my phone?: No. The CSV is a file with no automatic sync or app connection. Copy the details you want by hand. The Contact Deduplicator can check a separate contact file, but does not hand data to this template. Direct import of this CSV into Endearist is not available here.

Last updated: 2026-09-30

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