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This page walks through adding one contact at a time. For bulk uploads see Import from CSV.

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When to add a contact manually

  • You’re testing a campaign or template and need a single recipient.
  • A new lead reached you by phone or email and you want to reach them on WhatsApp.
  • You’re editing an existing contact to update details.
For more than a handful of records, use CSV import.

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Open the add-contact screen

1

Go to Contacts

In the sidebar, click Contacts.
2

Click 'Add Contact'

The button sits at the top of the contact list.

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Field reference

Status and Source are required for manual contact creation. If WhatsApp Auto-Lead is enabled in Settings, defaults from that page apply when contacts are auto-created from inbound messages.
The phone number must be in E.164 format with a leading + and country code, no spaces, no dashes.Good: +14155551234, +447911123456, +919876543210Bad: 415-555-1234, (0) 7911 123 456, 9876543210

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Step-by-step

1

Enter the name

First and last name are both required. Enter them the way you want them to appear in messages — Alex not alex.
2

Pick a type

Choose Lead or Customer from the dropdown.
3

Enter the phone number

Type the full international number including + and country code. Double-check the country code — a wrong country code means the message never arrives.
4

Enter the email (optional)

If you have it, add the email. Xobito does not send emails, but it’s useful for cross-referencing with your other tools.
5

Pick a status

Pick one status from the dropdown. If the list is empty, go to Contacts → Status first to create one.
6

Pick a source

Pick where this contact came from. If the list is empty, go to Contacts → Source first to create one.
7

Add to groups (optional)

Tick any groups the contact should belong to. You can change groups later at any time.
8

Fill in address and company (optional)

Add city, country, and any other details you have.
9

Fill in custom fields (if any)

If you’ve defined custom fields, they appear below the standard fields. Fill in the ones you have data for.
10

Save

Click Save. The contact is created and added to your list.
Success — the new contact appears in your contact list and is ready to receive messages.

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Notes

The contact form has a dedicated Notes section where you can record context that isn’t covered by a standard field — call summaries, preferences, agreements, or internal reminders.
1

Open the Notes section

Inside the Add/Edit Contact form, switch to the Notes tab.
2

Type your note

Enter plain text describing what you want to record.
3

Save

Save the contact. The note is attached to the contact record and visible to your whole team.
Notes are plain text — no rich formatting, markdown, or attachments. For files, use your own document tool and paste a link into the note.
Notes are visible to every team member who can view this contact. There is no author-only or private flag — treat every note as shared with your workspace.

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Editing an existing contact

1

Find the contact

In the contact list, use the search box to find by name, phone, or email.
2

Open the contact

Click the contact row to open its detail page.
3

Click 'Edit'

Update any field. If you change the phone number, make sure the new number is not already used by another contact.
4

Save

Changes take effect immediately across the platform.

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Tips for clean data

Name casing — enter names the way you want them to appear in WhatsApp messages. “alex” will arrive as “Hi alex,” — store it as “Alex”.
Duplicates — Xobito uses phone number as the unique key. Attempting to save a contact with a phone number that already exists will be rejected with a validation error.
Batch first — if you’re adding more than a handful of contacts, use CSV import.

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Common errors and fixes

Check that you included the +, a valid country code, and no spaces, dashes, or parentheses. Remove any leading zeros after the country code (British mobile numbers drop the leading 0).
A contact with this number is already in your list. Open the existing contact and edit it instead.
If you provide an email, it must be unique within your workspace. Leave the email blank or use a different one.
You haven’t created any yet. Go to Contacts → Status and Contacts → Source to add the options you need, then return to the contact form.
Each custom field has its own type and rules — see Custom Fields for what each type accepts.

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Next steps

Import from CSV

Add many contacts at once from a spreadsheet.

Create a group

Collect contacts together for targeted campaigns.

Create a template

Design the message you want to send these contacts.

Start a campaign

Broadcast to your new contacts.