Operelio

Pipedrive import templates

Import people into Pipedrive
from a spreadsheet

Pipedrive decides who is a duplicate by name first, and one row can become a person, an organization and a deal. Here’s what each step of its import does with your file.

IntoPipedrive
Get the template →

Each template page checks your export first, in your browser, for what Pipedrive would skip. Nothing is uploaded.

Building the file yourself? Pipedrive’s columns as a blank CSV

FreeNo accountPeople and organizations in one file

By Operelio teamUpdated October 31, 2026

Pipedrive checks the name
before it checks the email

Nothing in this summary looks wrong. The trouble is in what Pipedrive counted as a duplicate, and in what it made from each row.

SUMMARY OF YOUR LAST IMPORTpartner-list.xlsx812 rows, imported by Sam
1,606Items added
0Items updated
38Items merged
9Rows skipped

Inside those four numbers

61people were added a second time. Their email was already in Pipedrive, but under a different form of their name, and Pipedrive only calls people duplicates when the name matches.

412of the items added are deals, one for every row with a deal value. Deals are never checked for duplicates, so importing this file again adds 412 more.

0records updated. Pipedrive updates a record in place when the row carries its Pipedrive System ID, and a partner’s list has none.

An invented file. Each line follows a rule from Pipedrive’s help pages on duplicates, deals and updates.

Pipedrive’s import screens,
and the choice on each

Four of its five steps, leaving out the upload itself, then the Import history page you check afterward.

Tools and apps / Import dataSearch Pipedrive+S
File info›Upload file›Map›Preview›Finish
Select what you’d like to import
ⓘ Need help? ▾
Select all that apply
●
People✓People are the individual contacts you communicate with.
▦
Organizations✓Companies or a collective of people.
◎
LeadsProspects you haven’t qualified yet.
$
Deals✓The revenue connected to a company.
Import guideDownload template file (.xlsx)

These fields are mandatory for your selected data import

$ Any deal field *
Person - Name *
Organization - Name *
Person - Email (suggested)
Person - Phone (suggested)

1 of 4

Drawn after Pipedrive’s own import screens, not a screenshot. The points come from its help pages and its import screens.

One row in, three
records out

With People, Organizations and Deals checked, this row from the partner list makes a person, an organization and a deal, and links them.

Full nameEmailMobileCompanyDeal valueKate Millskate@northwindhq.io07700 900456Northwind Ltd1200
Person
Kate Mills
Email
kate@northwindhq.io (Work)
Phone
07700 900456 (Work)
Organization
Northwind Ltd
Organization
Northwind Ltd
Address
none in the file
People
Kate Mills
Deal
Title made from the name
Value
1,200
Person
Kate Mills
Organization
Northwind Ltd
Person
The mobile is filed as Work. A mapped phone column is labeled Work. Switch this one to Mobile with the pencil on the Map step.
Organization
No address. Two organizations with the same name stay separate only when their addresses differ. Without one, this Northwind Ltd can merge with another. Add the address when the export has one.
Deal
One per row, every time. The file had no deal title, so Pipedrive wrote one from the contact or organization name. Deals aren’t checked for duplicates, so the same row imported twice is two deals.

When Pipedrive calls it a duplicate

A person is a duplicate when the name matches and so does one more thing: a phone, an email or the organization. The other person can be in Pipedrive or on another row of the same file. Here are three rows against one person already in Pipedrive.

In Pipedrive: Kate Mills · kate@northwindhq.io · Northwind Ltd

Row in the fileResultWhy
Katherine Mills
kate@northwindhq.io		New personSame email, but the name is different, so Pipedrive never gets as far as the email.
Kate Mills
k.mills@mail.example · Northwind Ltd		MergedDifferent email, but the name and organization match, which is enough.
Kate Mills
no email · Acme Corp		New personOnly the name matches. A second Kate Mills is created, which is right if she’s someone else.

Before you import, make names match the way they’re written in Pipedrive. Merge duplicates won’t pair Kate with Katherine afterward, because it needs the names to match too.

A row Pipedrive
imports cleanly

Pipedrive maps a column on the Map step when its header names a Pipedrive field. Naming each one Person - Name, Organization - Name and so on, close to how Pipedrive’s own template names them, saves dragging.

Xpipedrive-import.xlsx
ABCDEF1Person - NamePerson - EmailPerson - PhoneOrganization - NameDeal - ValueDeal - Currency of value2Kate Mills1kate@northwindhq.io2+4477009004563Northwind Ltd412005GBP6

Headers close to the ones in Pipedrive’s own import template. Leave out the Deal columns for a people-only list.

1
A name on every person

One Name column, or First name and Last name. A row without one is skipped, and the skip file says “Name must be given”.

2
The email they’re known by

An email only counts once the name matches, so a misspelled name does more harm than a missing email.

3
A label for each phone

Work, Home, Mobile or Other, chosen on the Map step. Two columns, a mobile and a landline, can each have their own.

4
The organization’s name, as Pipedrive has it

The row links the person to it. Same-name organizations stay separate only when their addresses differ.

5
A deal value makes a deal

One deal field on a row creates a deal, as long as the row has a person or organization name. With no title column, the title comes from that name.

6
Currency as a code

GBP, USD, EUR. A symbol such as £ is skipped with “Please provide valid currency”. Keep symbols out of the value column too.

Other things Pipedrive checks

One tab
One sheet per import, with a header row
ID columns
Whole numbers only, or “ID must be an integer”
Updating
Each row needs its Pipedrive System ID, easiest taken from an export
Option fields
A multiple-option custom field must exist before you map to it
New fields
Add custom field, on the Map step, for anything Pipedrive has no field for
Unmapped columns
Left out of the import, as the Map step warns

The Pipedrive fields our templates fill

Six fields cover all 22 Pipedrive templates, the organization’s name among them, with the column names our CSV uses. For a custom field’s key: the account menu, Personal preferences, Data fields, then Copy API key on the field’s three-dot menu.

Download the blank CSV
email,name,notes,org_name,phone,job_title
Emailemail
Namename
Notesnotes
Organizationorg_name
Phonephone
Job Titlejob_title

Importing leads or deals instead of people

Pipedrive takes leads and deals from a spreadsheet too, and each one has to belong to a person or an organization. In its own words: “All leads added to Pipedrive must be linked to a contact in Pipedrive.”

  • LeadsImport them from the Leads Inbox: the arrow on + Lead, then Import data. Each row needs at least one lead field and a person or organization name.
  • DealsCheck Deals on the File info step. Each row needs at least one deal field and a person or organization name.
  • What ours fillPeople and organizations, and new deals from a file formatted for Pipedrive Deals. Operelio doesn’t create leads. A push matches people on email and organizations on website or name. A single lead from a trail can also make a deal, if you turn deals on.

From Pipedrive’s help: How can I import leads? and Importing: mandatory fields, both last updated September 3, 2026, read October 13, 2026.

Importing people from Excel

Pipedrive imports an Excel file as it is: its spreadsheet import takes XLS, XLSX and CSV files, as long as the first row holds the column names. The limits below apply to each file.

From Pipedrive’s help on importing with spreadsheets, last updated October 7, 2026, read October 15, 2026.

What one Pipedrive
import can hold

From Pipedrive’s spreadsheet import help page. Bigger lists go in as more than one file.

200,000rows per file
50 MBfile size
1tab per import
48 hto revert it
  • Reverting is for global adminsFrom Import history, within 48 hours of the upload.
  • Importing needs a permissionOnly users with the global permission to import data can run one.

See every CRM’s import limits side by side →

Ready-made Pipedrive
templates

22 exports mapped to Pipedrive’s person fields, with the company going to the organization. Each is a free Excel workbook that rewrites the export in Pipedrive’s columns.

Apollo.ioZoomInfoCognismLusha User DataLusha ProspectingLinkedIn Sales NavigatorLinkedIn ConnectionsMailchimpActiveCampaignConstant ContactGoogle ContactsOutlook / Microsoft 365ShopifyStripeWooCommerceEventbriteCalendlyTypeformIntercomHubSpotSalesforceZoho CRM

A partner list every month, a scraper export every week

Each import starts again at File info, with the deal box, the phone labels and the duplicate choice to set. These save you the repeat.

The Excel template5 to 10 minDrop the export into the workbook and its Pipedrive tab is ready for the Map step. Free, no account.→CRM FormatterUnder 5 minTurns any export into Pipedrive’s fields at no cost. On Starter and up it finds the people you already have by email, any of their emails, before anything is sent.→Trails0 minBuilt once, then each new export reaches Pipedrive cleaned and verified, with no import screens to click through.→

Guides for Pipedrive imports

For cleaning the file first, lists too big for one import, and how Pipedrive’s importer stacks up.

How to remove duplicates in ExcelCombining Apollo, ZoomInfo, Cognism and Lusha exportsHow to split a large file for a CRM importHow to clean up messy column headersOperelio vs Pipedrive’s importerComparison12 best CRM import tools in 2026Comparison

Pipedrive import questions

Why did my Pipedrive import create duplicate people?

Pipedrive only treats a person as a duplicate when the name matches and so does a phone, email or organization, whether that person is already in Pipedrive or on another row of the file. The same email under a different name, Kate and Katherine, becomes a second person. Choosing Create multiple records on the Finish step skips the check altogether. Pushing from Operelio instead matches on email before anything is written. A match updates the existing record and fills only its blank fields unless you choose to overwrite. A new email creates a record, and a row with no email is skipped. By default, rows in your file that share an email are cut to one first, the first one kept. A new row with a similar name at the same company as someone already in Pipedrive can be flagged as a possible duplicate. The report shows which rows are new, updated or not sent before you confirm, and Operelio never merges or deletes Pipedrive records.

Can I undo a Pipedrive import?

Yes, for 48 hours after the upload. A global admin can revert it from the Import history tab.

How do I update people I already have?

Export them with the Pipedrive System ID column, change the values in the spreadsheet, and import it back with the ID mapped. Pipedrive uses the ID to find each record and writes the file’s values over the ones it holds.

Why did my import create deals?

Deals was checked on the File info step and the file had a deal field, such as a value. Every row with one becomes a deal, titled from the contact or organization name if there’s no title column. Uncheck Deals for a people-only import.

Why were rows skipped?

Each skipped row is listed in a skip file, with the reason in its own column. Common ones include a person with no name, an organization with no name and a currency written as a symbol.

How do I import a mobile number as Mobile?

On the Map step, click the pencil next to the phone field and change the label from Work to Mobile. A file with a mobile and a landline can map each to its own label.

Which fields are required to import people into Pipedrive?

A name on every person, and a name on every organization.

Pipedrive import templates

Find the people Pipedrive would add twice.

The CRM Formatter maps your export to Pipedrive’s fields, on every plan. From Starter, it checks each row against your Pipedrive by email and flags a new person who shares a name and organization with one you have.

Get started freeSee the CRM Formatter