ActiveCampaign contact import file formatter: quoted, UTF-8, phones in E.164
In short: Upload any export (.xlsx or CSV) or paste cells. The tool writes Email, First Name, Last Name and Phone as +country code, wraps every value in double quotes, merges repeats and keeps rows that have a phone but no email. Limit: Only Email, First Name, Last Name and Phone are written; add custom fields as columns and map them on the import screen.
ActiveCampaign's guide says each contact needs an email address or a phone number, phone numbers should be in E.164 form such as +13125555555, and the CSV should be UTF-8 with values in double quotes and no line breaks in cells. Upload your export here to get that file with repeats merged.
Price: this tool is free. Checking a whole email list is from $9/mo, and the first 100 checks are free with Google, no card. Check your list free nowSee pricing
Used only to complete phone numbers.
Sample result
Jane's row becomes jane@example.com with +14155550132, and a phone-only row is kept because a phone is enough.
- Rows
- 3 contacts
- Phone
- +14155550132
- Quoting
- Every value
What this means for you
ActiveCampaign takes an email or a phone per contact, with phones as +country code and values in quotes.
- Email or phone per row
- E.164 phones
- Values in quotes
- Repeats merged
- ActiveCampaign
- Contacts
- CSV
By SimpleVerifier Team · Last updated · Runs in your browser; nothing you paste is sent to us
Check the addresses before they go into ActiveCampaign.
- Export the email column from the file you just made, or use the check button under the result.
- Upload or paste it at /verify. Every address gets a live mailbox check, and the first 100 email checks are free with a Google sign-in, no card.
How do I prepare a CSV for an ActiveCampaign import?
- Upload the export (.xlsx or CSV), or paste the cells with the header row first.
- Choose the country used for phone numbers written without a + country code.
- Check the columns found and the rows left out, then download the CSV.
- In ActiveCampaign, import contacts from a CSV and match each column to a field on the mapping screen.
Example
- You enter
- A sheet with Full Name, Work Email, Mobile, Country, Company and Website:
Jane Doe,Jane@Example.com,(415) 555-0132,United States,Northwind,https://www.northwind.example/about;Leo Martinwithleo@example.org; l.martin@example.org; a repeat row forjane@example.com; and a row with only a phone,(212) 555-0100. - You get
- Three contacts under Email, First Name, Last Name and Phone, every value quoted: Jane with
+14155550132, Leo withleo@example.org, and the phone-only row as+12125550100. The repeat is merged and Leo's second address is dropped and counted. - Limits
- Runs in your browser; nothing is uploaded. Files up to 25 MB.
What does ActiveCampaign require in a contact file?
ActiveCampaign's help center says every contact in the file needs an email address or a phone number, phone numbers should be in E.164 format such as +13125555555, and the importer takes CSV only. Values should be in double quotes, the encoding UTF-8, and line breaks inside cells are not supported. See ActiveCampaign's CSV preparation guide.
What does the tool write?
Email, First Name, Last Name and Phone, with emails lower-cased, a full-name column split, phone numbers written with a + and country code, every value in double quotes and line breaks inside cells flattened to a space. A row with a valid phone but no email is kept.
What happens on the mapping screen?
ActiveCampaign has you match file columns to fields and lets you skip a column. Two columns mapped to one field cause an error, so each header here appears once. Large files are best split and imported in smaller parts, as the help center suggests.
Who uses this tool, and for what?
- Marketing teams
- Move a webinar or trade-show list into ActiveCampaign without mapping errors.
- Agencies
- Prepare each client's contacts in one consistent format.
- Store owners
- Turn a customer export into a phone-ready file for SMS and email.
What can’t this tool tell you?
- Only Email, First Name, Last Name and Phone are written; add custom fields as columns and map them on the import screen.
- ActiveCampaign's page doesn't spell out every header, so confirm the column mapping on its import screen.
- Phone numbers that can't be read are left blank and counted.
- Consent, tags and list choices are made in ActiveCampaign, not here.
Common questions
- What does ActiveCampaign need for each contact?
- An email address or a phone number. Rows with neither are skipped.
- Which phone format does ActiveCampaign want?
- E.164, for example +13125555555.
- Why are all values in quotes?
- ActiveCampaign's guide asks for values enclosed in double quotes, so the download quotes every cell.
- Does it accept Excel files?
- No. The importer takes CSV only; this tool downloads a CSV.
- Is my list uploaded to SimpleVerifier?
- No. The file is read and rewritten in your browser.
Sources
A tidy list can still be full of dead addresses.
Extracting, deduplicating and syntax checks all work on the text of an address. None of them can tell whether the mailbox exists. Only the server that hosts it can answer that, through an SMTP check, and that is what the paid product does.
- Upload the cleaned file as it is: CSVs up to 100,000 rows
- A real SMTP mailbox check on every row, with catch-all detection
- Small list? Starter at $9/mo covers 2,500 emails a month, cancel anytime
Plans from $9 a month, cancel anytime, no contract. Sign in with Google and your first 100 email checks are free, no card. The free tools stay free either way.