Operelio
CognismZoho

How to import Cognism into Zoho Leads or Contacts

16 of the 75 columns in a Cognism export, mapped into 12 Zoho Leads fields under Zoho's own names.

16 of the 75 columns in a Cognism export, mapped into 11 Zoho Contacts fields under Zoho's own names.

Import into Zoho as
Download the Excel templateUse this template free

Free · 19 KB · Excel 365 or Google Sheets

Download the Excel templateUse this template free

Free · 19 KB · Excel 365 or Google Sheets

Check your Cognism export first

Built on Cognism’s export columnsChecked against Zoho’s import rulesUpdated October 3, 2026

One Cognism row, through the templatecopied as it ischanged on the way1explained below
  • First Name to First NameSarah
  • Last Name to Last NamePentland
  • Job Title to TitleHead of Finance
  • Email to Emaillowercasedsarah.pentland@orbit.example.com
  • Mobile, Direct, Office, HQ to Phone1first with a value+44 7700 900456
  • Company Name to CompanyOrbit
  • Not in the export to Lead Source2set to CognismCognism
  • Not in the export to Lead Status2set to Not ContactedNot Contacted
  • City to CityBolton
  • State to StateGreater Manchester
  • Country to CountryUnited Kingdom
  • Personal Linkedin URL, List Name, Seniority, Department to Description3joined, with labelsLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sarah-pentland-example | Cognism list: UK RevOps Q4 | Seniority: Head | Department: Finance
Not imported: Profile ID, sId, Email Quality, Lead Source, Education, Diamond Record and 53 more. The template leaves these out; map any to a custom field in Operelio.
One Cognism row, through the templatecopied as it ischanged on the way1explained below
  • First Name to First NameSarah
  • Last Name to Last NamePentland
  • Job Title to TitleHead of Finance
  • Email to Emaillowercasedsarah.pentland@orbit.example.com
  • Mobile to Mobile+44 7700 900456
  • Direct, Office, HQ to Phone1first with a value+44 20 7946 0654
  • Company Name to Account NameOrbit
  • City to Mailing CityBolton
  • State to Mailing StateGreater Manchester
  • Country to Mailing CountryUnited Kingdom
  • Personal Linkedin URL, List Name, Seniority, Department to Description2joined, with labelsLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sarah-pentland-example | Cognism list: UK RevOps Q4 | Seniority: Head | Department: Finance
Not imported: Profile ID, sId, Email Quality, Lead Source, Education, Diamond Record and 53 more. The template leaves these out; map any to a custom field in Operelio.

Where Cognism and Zoho don’t line up

1

Four phone columns, one phone field

Cognism splits numbers across Mobile, Direct, Office and HQ.

The template Phone takes the first of Mobile, Direct, Office and HQ that has a value.

CognismMobile +44 7700 900456
Direct empty
Office +44 20 7946 0654
HQ +44 20 7946 0333
Zoho+44 7700 900456
2

No lead source or lead status in the export

Cognism's export has no lead source or lead status column.

The template sets Lead Source to Cognism and Lead Status to Not Contacted on every row. Change either, or drop them, before you import if your process differs.

CognismNo column
ZohoCognism · Not Contacted
3

Four columns kept in Description

This template gives Personal Linkedin URL, List Name, Seniority and Department no Zoho field of their own.

The template writes them into Description, each with its label, and leaves empty ones out.

CognismPersonal Linkedin URL linkedin.com/in/sarah-pentland-example
List Name UK RevOps Q4
Seniority Head
ZohoLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sarah-pentland-example | Cognism list: UK RevOps Q4 | Seniority: Head | Department: Finance
1

Four phone columns, two phone fields

Cognism splits numbers across Mobile, Direct, Office and HQ.

The template sends Mobile to Mobile. Phone takes the first of Direct, Office and HQ that has a value.

CognismDirect empty
Office +44 20 7946 0654
HQ +44 20 7946 0333
Zoho+44 20 7946 0654
2

Four columns kept in Description

This template gives Personal Linkedin URL, List Name, Seniority and Department no Zoho field of their own.

The template writes them into Description, each with its label, and leaves empty ones out.

CognismPersonal Linkedin URL linkedin.com/in/sarah-pentland-example
List Name UK RevOps Q4
Seniority Head
ZohoLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sarah-pentland-example | Cognism list: UK RevOps Q4 | Seniority: Head | Department: Finance

Check your Cognism export before you import it

Looks for the 16 columns this template reads, and what Zoho would skip.

Drop your Cognism CSV here

Runs in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, and results are counts only.

Looks for the 16 columns this template reads, and what Zoho would skip.

Drop your Cognism CSV here

Runs in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, and results are counts only.

Cognism to Zoho in three steps

Step 1Export from Cognism
  1. Run a Contact Search in Cognism, or open Lists and pick All Contacts, My Contacts or one of your lists.
  2. Use the checkboxes to choose Select Page, Select All or Custom Selection.
  3. Click the option to export the contacts as a CSV file in the toolbar at the top of the page.

You can export up to 10,000 contacts at once from Search, and up to 1,000 per action from All Contacts or My Contacts.

Exporting reveals any contact not yet revealed in the current contract period, and credits are used only for newly revealed contacts.

Cognism: Manage search resultsCognism: Lists
Step 2Paste into the template
  1. Paste the export at A1 of Paste Cognism export here.
  2. Start here checks all 16 columns were found.
  3. Save Zoho Leads import as a CSV.

Works in Excel for Microsoft 365 and Google Sheets. Excel 2019 and older, Apple Numbers and LibreOffice can't run the formulas this file uses.

Just the 12 headers as a CSV

Step 3Import into Zoho
  1. Open the Leads tab, click the down arrow next to the Create button and choose Import.
  2. Drop in or browse to your CSV, XLS or XLSX file, set the character encoding if needed and click Next.
  3. Choose Add as new, Update existing only or Both, and the field that identifies an existing record.
  4. Map each column to a Zoho CRM field; for a lookup, choose the field that identifies the linked record.
  5. Set the assignment, approval and automation options, accept the anti-spam policy and submit.
Zoho CRM's importer, screen by screen

Operelio, with the same template

Fixes the capitals in names, formats phone numbers, removes duplicate and blank rows, which the Excel file leaves to you. On every plan. Email verification from Starter.

Use this template in Operelio
Step 1Export from Cognism
  1. Run a Contact Search in Cognism, or open Lists and pick All Contacts, My Contacts or one of your lists.
  2. Use the checkboxes to choose Select Page, Select All or Custom Selection.
  3. Click the option to export the contacts as a CSV file in the toolbar at the top of the page.

You can export up to 10,000 contacts at once from Search, and up to 1,000 per action from All Contacts or My Contacts.

Exporting reveals any contact not yet revealed in the current contract period, and credits are used only for newly revealed contacts.

Cognism: Manage search resultsCognism: Lists
Step 2Paste into the template
  1. Paste the export at A1 of Paste Cognism export here.
  2. Start here checks all 16 columns were found.
  3. Save Zoho Contacts import as a CSV.

Works in Excel for Microsoft 365 and Google Sheets. Excel 2019 and older, Apple Numbers and LibreOffice can't run the formulas this file uses.

Just the 11 headers as a CSV

Step 3Import into Zoho
  1. Open the Contacts tab, click the down arrow next to the Create button and choose Import.
  2. Drop in or browse to your CSV, XLS or XLSX file, set the character encoding if needed and click Next.
  3. Choose Add as new, Update existing only or Both, and the field that identifies an existing record.
  4. Map each column to a Zoho CRM field; for a lookup, choose the field that identifies the linked record.
  5. Set the assignment, approval and automation options, accept the anti-spam policy and submit.
Zoho CRM's importer, screen by screen

Operelio, with the same template

Fixes the capitals in names, formats phone numbers, standardizes countries, removes duplicate and blank rows, which the Excel file leaves to you. On every plan. Email verification from Starter.

Use this template in Operelio

Questions

Where does Cognism's export fill Last Name and Company, which Zoho requires?

Last Name comes from Cognism's Last Name column; Company comes from Cognism's Company Name column. The checker above counts the rows with Last Name or Company blank.

Where do Personal Linkedin URL, List Name and the other columns go?

Into Description on each lead, labeled like "LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sarah-pentland-example | Cognism list: UK RevOps Q4 | Seniority: Head | Department: Finance".

Should I use the Leads template or the Contacts template?

Use this Leads template for cold prospecting lists you want to work before they convert. Use the Cognism to Zoho Contacts template when you want the people to land directly as Contacts with an Account link. Zoho Leads and Contacts are different objects with different fields, so the two templates map the export differently.

Where does Cognism's export fill Last Name, which Zoho requires?

Last Name comes from Cognism's Last Name column. The checker above counts the rows with Last Name blank.

Where do Personal Linkedin URL, List Name and the other columns go?

Into Description on each contact, labeled like "LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sarah-pentland-example | Cognism list: UK RevOps Q4 | Seniority: Head | Department: Finance".

Does this template handle Cognism's Diamond Data mobile numbers?

Yes. Diamond-verified mobile numbers come through in the Mobile column and land on Zoho's Mobile field, so the verified mobile sits where your reps expect to find it.

Duplicates and undoing an import: Zoho CRM import questions.

Try this template free

Upload your Cognism export and download a file Zoho can import. No credit card needed.

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