Importing contacts from csv

When I import a contacts file in csv format (Exported from Goldmine) emClient doesn’t import 'phone numbers and email addresses. I just started evaluating emclient and haven’t found a way to definitively map csv fields to emclient fields. I would appreciate any advice on overcoming this.

I am also evaluating eM Client 5.0 and have issues with the import / export / synchronisation of contacts.

  1. The import from csv does not allow you to import to all fields supported by eM Client - for example, to import more than one email address - it just says “email”, but which one? and why only the one? Neither can you import categories - so you would have to categorise your contacts all over again.

  2. The import from csv dialogue cannot be re-sized, and is rather small, meaning you have constantly to scroll sideways to see the next field - this is awkward to work with. (The “hide empy columns” option is very helpful however.)

  3. There is no export to csv option. Although you can export to vcf format, it is difficult to review and edit the exported file - either to confirm that all fields have been exported, or to edit the file for import elsewhere.

  4. I cannot find any documentation which lists the contact fields supported by eM Client or the labels used to identify the field in a csv file. This would be very helpful in mapping the data between different systems. Could this information be provided?

  5. Synchronising contacts with Gmail contacts will cause any contact fields not supported by Gmail to be blanked, if any field on the Gmail side has been updated - i.e. the whole contact record is updated with the (limited) information supported by Gmail. For example, the Hobbies field in eM Client will be blanked as this is not supported by Gmail. Ideally, eM Client would skip any fields not supported / supplied by Gmail. Perhaps this not possible in whatever sychronisation protocol is used - it would be helpful to know more, and whether this issue is capable of being resolved (even if the development team can’t commit to a particular release or timetable).

  6. Some fields - such as Anniversary - look the same on Gmail and eM Client, but do not sychronise - in fact, they are blanked (as above) when there is any update from the other side. (The Birthday field does howeve synchronise correctly.) This may be due to the way the information is held - possibly there is a mismatch in the field identifiers used on each side - but there is no way to tell until you test it out.

  7. I cannot find any documentation which lists the contact fields supported by eM Client and which maps these to the fields supported by, for example, Gmail. This would be helpful in managing contacts which need to be synchronised between systems. Could this information be provided?

Otherwise, eM Client is looking quite superb - particularly the smooth integration with Gmail (email, contacts & calendar), which is the reason I selected eM Client over the alternatives.

My aims in installing a desktop client were to allow offline access to emails, contacts & calendar, to provide a backup, and to allow personal data such as contacts to be exported easily & completely (so as not to be tied in to any one email client or web service). Each time I try to move my contacts from one system to another, I seem to lose information. Windows Live Mail desktop client for example, will not import or export more than one email address, or any category information. I had hoped eM Client could have avoided such restrictions.

One workaround of course is to import / export directly from Gmail, but there is no dialogue to guide you, and to import correctly you need to edit the csv file very carefully. A solid desktop solution would be preferable.

I really like eM Client and appreciate all the work the developers have put in. In most areas, it is a pleasure to use (at least for my, relatively simple, email requirements) and, apart from the various contacts issues mentioned above, it has worked superbly.

It would be helpful to hear back from the developers on the issues mentioned above. I appreciate that the area of contact management might be something of a nightmare, given that there seems to be little standardisation between different systems.

I really hope to find a reasonable workaround and to continue using eM Client.

Best wishes, Paul

I too am having trouble importing Contacts via CSV. I currently only get the option to set labels from:

Display Name
Company
Home Phone
Work Phone
Mobile Phone

I don’t see any other fields importing in, including email.

I am using an exported CSV file from PolarisMail.

Hi,
send me the original exported CSV at [email protected] so I can test it. Thank you.

In looking further at the CSV file exported from PolarisMail, it appears the CSV file is not exporting everything correctly. I will contact PolarisMail support before continuing here.

Was this ever solved?  I have the same problem with an Outlook 2010 export.

Hi Robin,

If you have access to the Outlook PST file, it’s better to import the PST file than the generated CSV file.

Yes, I tried that thanks. Problem was the same.

Hi Robin, so what exactly is wrong with the import from the pst/csv file?
Can you make a sceenshot of the issue, what version of eM Client are you currently using?

Thank you,
Paul.

Thanks Paul.  Version 6.0.20498.0.
I have started a new topic on this.