Guides
How to migrate from Google Contacts to Contact Book
Five-minute migration. The Google CSV format works directly; we'll show you exactly which fields land where.
Key takeaways
Export from Google Contacts
Open contacts.google.com, click Export in the left sidebar, choose Google CSV format. The file downloads as contacts.csv.
Open Contact Book's import dialog
On the Contacts dashboard, click Import CSV at the top right. Drop the file into the dialog. We'll preview the first ten rows so you can confirm the field mapping.
Confirm the mapping
We auto-detect Google's column headers (Name, E-mail 1 - Value, Phone 1 - Value, etc.). If a column wasn't recognised, you can map it manually before continuing. Optional Google fields (e.g. Relation 1) map cleanly to relationship entries.
Run the import
Click Import all. We process the file row by row in a single transaction. Around 1,000 rows take roughly 5-10 seconds. Progress is live; you can close the dialog and the import keeps running.
Set cadences
After the import, walk the contact list and assign a stay-in-touch cadence to your inner circle. Don't try to do everyone - the inner 15 + the closest 50 is enough. The rest can stay on "never" until you decide otherwise.
What gets carried over
Every standard Google field has a target in our schema. Names + nicknames map to data.name. Email goes to data.email. Multiple phone numbers all land - we keep them all, with the first marked primary. Postal addresses, birthdays, anniversaries, organization + title, notes, and tags ("labels") all import cleanly.
What doesn't carry over (and how we handle it)
Photos don't import - Google CSV exports as a base64-encoded blob that's lossy at scale, and most users have unflattering bursts from years past. Re-add the ones that matter manually. Custom Google labels become tags. Contact groups become tags too - we deliberately don't ship a separate "groups" concept; tags do the same job with less mental overhead.
After the import: a clean-up checklist
Most Google contact lists have accumulated junk over the years - one-off email signatures, support contacts that auto-saved, dead numbers. The first thirty minutes inside Contact Book are well spent on a sweep. Use the search field to surface obvious culprits ("@noreply", "support", "do-not-reply") and delete in bulk.
FAQ
Frequently asked
Try Contact Book
Free plan, no credit card. We host in Germany. You can export and delete everything self-serve.
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