Maintaining accurate and up-to-date contact information is crucial for effective communication and successful campaigns. By updating your contacts' information in Brevo, you can ensure that your messages are reaching the right people, with the right information. This not only helps to improve the overall effectiveness of your communication but also enhances the customer experience.

But updating each of your contacts individually can be very time-consuming, especially if you have a large database. That's why Brevo allows you to easily update multiple contacts at once.

Good to know

• If you want to associate your contacts with existing companies or deals, check our dedicated article Associate my Companies, Deals, and Contacts.
• If you want to blocklist contacts in bulk, check our dedicated article Import a list of blocklisted contacts.
  
  

There are three ways you can update contacts in bulk:

• Assign multiple contacts to an owner: assign the same owner to multiple contacts at once
• Edit a single attribute for multiple contacts: edit the same attribute for multiple contacts at once
• Update multiple contacts with an import: import a file with updated information about multiple contacts at once

Assign multiple contacts to an owner

You can assign the same owner to multiple contacts at once directly from the Contacts page. For example, this can be useful if one of your team members has left the company and you need to assign their previous contacts to a new owner.

1. Go to the Contacts page.
2. If necessary, segment your contacts. For example, you can segment the contacts assigned to a particular owner. Learn more about creating a segment in our dedicated article.
   
3. Select the contacts that you want to update:
   
   1. To select multiple individual contacts, select the checkboxes next to the contacts.
   2. To select all of the contacts on your current page, select the checkbox at the top left of the table.
   3. To select all of the contacts on your current list or database, select the checkbox at the top left of the table and click Select all the # contacts.
      
4. Click More actions > Assign.
   
5. Select the owner that you want to assign to the contacts.
6. Click Assign to confirm.
   

The contacts are now assigned to this owner.

Edit a single attribute for multiple contacts

You can edit the same attribute for multiple contacts at once directly from the Contacts page. For example, this can be useful if multiple contacts register for an event on the same date and you want to store this date in a custom attribute you've created.

1. Go to the Contacts page.
2. If necessary, segment your contacts. For example, you can segment the contacts for whom the custom attribute "EVENT_DATE" does not have any value. Learn more about creating a segment in our dedicated article.
   
3. Select the contacts that you want to update:
   
   1. To select multiple individual contacts, select the checkboxes next to the contacts.
   2. To select all of the contacts on your current page, select the checkbox at the top left of the table.
   3. To select all of the contacts on your current list or database, select the checkbox at the top left of the table and click Select all the # contacts.
      
4. Click Edit.
   
5. Select the attribute that you want to update.
6. Enter the new value.
7. Click Update to confirm.
   

The attribute is updated for the selected contacts.

Update multiple contacts with an import

To update multiple contacts at once with an import, you'll need to export your existing contacts and update the file with your new information. Then, you'll need to re-import the file as you'd do to import new contacts.

📤 Export your existing contacts

To update your existing contacts, we recommend you export them directly from Brevo:

1. Go to the Contacts page.
2. If necessary, segment your contacts. For example, you can export contacts for whom the attribute "WhatsApp" is empty. Learn more about creating a segment in our dedicated article.
   
3. Select the contacts that you want to export:
   1. To select multiple individual contacts, select the checkboxes next to the contacts.
   2. To select all of the contacts on your current page, select the checkbox at the top left of the table.
   3. To select all of the contacts on your current list or database, select the checkbox at the top left of the table and click Select all the # contacts.
      
4. Click More actions > Export.
   
5. Select the attributes that you want to export. 
   
   ❗️ Important

   Make sure you include at least one unique identifier for each contact. The EMAIL attribute is selected by default, but you can also select the Contact ID (generated by Brevo), SMS number, or WhatsApp number to identify your contacts. If you don't include one, your contacts will be re-imported as new contacts, resulting in duplicates in your database.
6. Select the field separator to use in your file.
7. Click Export.
   
8. Once available, download your export file from your Notifications.

🔁 Update the file

Once you've exported your contacts, you can update their information in the file. Make sure you keep the right file structure and attribute format as explained in our article about formatting your contact import file.

Example of an original export file	Example of an updated export file

📥 Re-import your contacts

Once you've updated and saved your file, you can re-import it into Brevo and specify that you want to update your existing contacts with the new information.

Upload your file

1. Go to the Contacts page.
2. Click Import contacts.
3. Select the Upload a file or Copy/Paste method.
4. Based on the import method you chose:
   • For the Upload a file method, select your file or drag and drop it within the outlined area.
   • For the Copy/Paste method, copy your data and paste it in the outlined area and click Check the data.
5. You will then see a preview of the contacts and attribute data to be imported from your file. The table header shown in the preview is the same as the one in your import file. If the contacts and attributes are separated correctly, click Confirm your file.
   

Map your data

1. Map the data from your file to the corresponding contact attributes. You can ignore an attribute if you don't want to import it or create a new one if it doesn't exist yet.
   
2. Once you are done with the data mapping, click Confirm mapping.

Choose your lists

1. Choose the list(s) to which your contacts will be added. You can select one or multiple existing lists or create a new list.
   
2. Once you are done, click Confirm your list.

Finalize your import

1. In the Contacts management section, configure the import settings:
   
   
   • Keep the Update the attributes of the existing contacts option toggled to update your existing contacts with the new information from your file.
   • If you deleted some information from your file and also want to delete it from your database, toggle the Import empty fields to erase existing attribute data option. If you don't want to delete any information, keep the option untoggled.
   • If you want to blocklist your contacts, toggle the relevant blocklist options. If you don't want to blocklist your contacts, keep the blocklist options untoggled. To learn more, check our dedicated article Import a list of blocklisted contacts.
2. In the Opt-in agreement section, confirm that you are importing only contacts who have officially agreed (opted-in) to receive your messages. Review our opt-in guidelines to ensure you are only importing opt-in contacts, and then check the I confirm that my new import adheres to these conditions box.
   
3. Once you're done, click Confirm your import.

Once your import is completed, you will be redirected to your Contacts page. A banner will summarize the details of your import, including the number of updated contacts, number of duplicates, number of invalid email addresses, etc. If you import a contact ID that doesn't exist or an email address in the wrong format, an error message will appear in your import report, and the contacts won't be imported. You will also receive an email notification confirming this summary.

⏩ What's next?

• Import options for importing your contacts to Brevo
• Format your contact import file
• Importing blank contact attributes
• Update your contacts details and preferences (Update Profile form)

🤔 Have a question?

If you have a question, feel free to contact our support team by creating a ticket from your account. If you don't have an account yet, you can contact us here.