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Contacts are the backbone of every campaign and chat. This page walks through the most common contact problems and how to fix them.

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Duplicate contacts

Symptom: The same person appears twice in your contact list. How it happens:
  • Two imports ran with the same CSV.
  • A contact messaged you before they were imported, creating an auto-contact.
  • Two agents added the same person manually.

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Finding duplicates

1

Go to Contacts → All Contacts

2

Click 'Find duplicates'

Xobito groups contacts that share the same phone number or email.
3

Review each group

Decide which contact has the most complete information.

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Merging duplicates

1

Select the duplicates

Tick the two or more contacts you want to merge.
2

Click 'Merge'

3

Pick the 'primary' contact

All messages, notes, and history from the others are moved onto this one.
4

Confirm

The other contacts are deleted. The merge cannot be undone.
Merges are permanent. If in doubt, export the duplicate contact first as backup.

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Import errors

Symptom: Your CSV import shows “0 imported” or partial counts with errors.

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The error file

After every import, Xobito gives you two files:
  • success.csv — contacts that imported cleanly.
  • errors.csv — rows that failed, with a reason column.
Open errors.csv and look at the Reason column to see what’s wrong.

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Common import error reasons

Phone numbers must start with + and include a country code with no spaces or dashes.
  • Wrong: (415) 555-1234
  • Right: +14155551234
Two rows in your CSV share the same phone. Keep one, remove the other.
Phone number is always required. If you have a custom field marked required, every row must include it.
Names limited to 100 characters, emails to 254. Long free-form fields are truncated.
Save as CSV UTF-8 in Excel, not plain CSV. Otherwise accented characters like é import as é.
The column header in your CSV doesn’t match any field in Xobito. Either rename the header or map it manually on the import screen.

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Re-importing after fixing

1

Download the errors.csv

2

Fix the issues in Excel or a text editor

Update bad phone numbers, fill missing fields, remove duplicates.
3

Re-upload the fixed file

Only the corrected rows need to be re-uploaded — successful rows from the first run are already imported.

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Missing fields in imported contacts

Symptom: Contacts imported fine but some fields are empty. Likely causes:
  • CSV column not mapped to a Xobito field.
  • Field name mismatch (e.g. CSV has “Phone Number”, Xobito expects “phone”).
  • Custom field doesn’t exist in Xobito yet.

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Fix

1

Check the mapping on import

On the import screen, make sure every relevant CSV column has a matching Xobito field in the dropdown.
2

Create custom fields first

Go to Contacts → Custom Fields and create any missing fields before importing.
3

Re-import with correct mapping

You can re-import the same CSV — Xobito will update existing contacts if the phone number matches.
Xobito stores “updates by phone number” — re-importing a file won’t create duplicates if the phone numbers match existing contacts; it’ll fill in the new fields instead.

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Bulk delete

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Deleting a few contacts

1

Select the contacts

Tick the boxes next to their names in the contact list.
2

Click 'Delete'

Top action bar. Confirm.

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Deleting many contacts (e.g. 1,000+)

1

Filter to the contacts you want to delete

Use filters like group, status, or source.
2

Click 'Select all matching'

This selects every contact that matches — even those on other pages.
3

Click 'Bulk delete'

Xobito shows the total count. Confirm. The delete runs in the background; you’ll get an in-app notification when it’s done.
Bulk delete is permanent. Consider exporting first (see below) as backup.

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Deleting all contacts

There’s no single “delete everything” button on purpose — it’s a destructive action. To delete all, select all, then bulk delete in batches.

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Exporting contacts

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Export all contacts

1

Go to Contacts → All Contacts

2

Click 'Export'

Pick CSV or Excel.
3

Choose fields

By default all fields are included; uncheck any you don’t need.
4

Click 'Download'

For large exports (>10,000 contacts), Xobito emails you a link when it’s ready.

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Export a filtered selection

First apply filters to narrow the list, then click Export. Only the filtered contacts are included.

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What’s in the export

  • All standard fields: name, phone, email, groups, status, source, created date, last message date.
  • All custom fields.
  • Opt-in and opt-out status.
Exports are accurate at the time you click Export. If contacts change after, download again.

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Re-syncing after external changes

If you also keep contact data in another system (CRM, spreadsheet), you may need to reconcile changes.

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Update by re-importing

1

Export from your external system

Download a CSV from your CRM.
2

Keep the 'phone' column

Xobito uses phone as the unique key. All other columns update the matching contact.
3

Re-import

Contacts → Import → upload the CSV. Map columns as needed. Existing contacts with matching phone numbers are updated; new rows create new contacts.

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Use the API for automatic sync

If you need ongoing sync, use Xobito’s API. See API Reference.

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Missing contacts

Symptom: A contact you remember adding is not in the list. Likely causes:
  • You’re filtering by a group that doesn’t include them.
  • The contact was deleted.
  • You’re in the wrong view (e.g. “My contacts” vs. “All contacts”).

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Fix

1

Clear all filters

Click Clear filters at the top of the contact list.
2

Search by phone number

Search is the fastest way to find any specific contact.
3

Check the audit log

Team → Activity Log shows when a contact was deleted and by whom.
If a contact was deleted in the last 30 days, admins can restore them from Contacts → Trash.

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Opt-out issues

Symptom: A contact complained about receiving messages after they asked to stop. Xobito automatically opts out contacts who reply “stop”, “unsubscribe”, “opt out” (configurable). If a contact still gets messages:
1

Check their opt-out status

Open the contact. The Opt-out flag should be Yes.
2

Toggle opt-out manually

If it’s still No, toggle it to Yes and save.
3

Exclude opt-outs from campaigns

Every campaign has an Exclude opt-outs toggle — make sure it’s on by default.

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Contact in wrong group

Move a contact between groups:
1

Open the contact

2

Edit the 'Groups' field

Add or remove groups from the chip list.
3

Save

For bulk group changes, filter the contacts then click Bulk actions → Add to group / Remove from group.

Import contacts

Step-by-step CSV import guide.

Message delivery

Failed deliveries and bad numbers.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions.