Import/Paste data from Excel to Smartsheet

Ambika Sujir

Hello,

I need to import or copy paste data from my excel into Smartsheet. Some of the columns have names in them, but when I paste them into Snartsheet they do not convert into a contact even though the column property is set to be Contact Type.

I have seen other suggestions to save them as email address in order for it to be converted into a contact type.

Unfortunately, the data source does not have an email address and I cannot save email address in a helper sheet as the contacts are not limited to a few, it is open to anyone in the organization.

Is there a work around for this as I need to set up notification workflows which is currently not possible due to this limitation.

Thanks,

Ambika

John_Foster

HI @Ambika Sujir,

I had a similar issue in one of my sheets, I did have to go through and update them manually to the required contacts. Because of the quantity of rows I imported, I sorted by this column, then when I changed the first occurrence for a contact I copied the first row I changed down for all other rows were this contact was listed.

John

Ambika Sujir

Thanks @John_Foster !

Not an ideal solution, as I have four different columns with names which may or may not repeat. It would end up being more manual work than simplifying my process. :(

Any other thoughts for a work around?

Thanks,

Ambika

John_Foster

Hi @Ambika Sujir,

I have had a look at this and have been unable to do it also. I have found a previous response to something similar and they recommended using Bridge by Smartsheet. I have added a link to the discussion below.

https://community.smartsheet.com/discussion/70547/adding-contacts-to-primary-sheet-from-bulk-upload-sheet

John

Ambika Sujir

Hi @John_Foster ,

Thank you so much for sharing this!

It looks very promising as I read through the post. But I'm not sure if I even have that as a part of our Enterprise agreement. How can I check or enable Bridge to even explore this solution?

Thanks,

Ambika

John_Foster

Hi @Ambika Sujir,

I think you would need to contact the Smartsheet support team or the company who you have purchased your Enterprise agreement through to discuss Bridge and the associated costs.

Sorry I am unable to help further.

John

Andrée Starå

Hi @Ambika Sujir,

I hope you're well and safe!

As far as I know, to add contacts, you must have email addresses for each record.

What's the use case, and why do you want to add them as contacts?

I hope that helps!

Be safe, and have a fantastic week!

Best,

Andrée Starå | Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

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Ambika Sujir

Hi @Andrée Starå ,

The data source that I'm pulling all the data from does not have the email address, but just the employee names. I will not be able to maintain a helper sheet to map the name to the email address as the primary process/workflows (outside of Smartsheet) are open to the entire org. This is the reason why I'm looking for a workaround to convert them to a contact type.

Thanks,

Ambika

John_Foster

Hi @Ambika Sujir,

In order for a contact to be a contact in Smartsheet they must have a first and last name and an email address.

If you wish them to be associated with contacts then at some point this data must exist somewhere. Is this an import that you will run as a one-off or something you will import on a regular basis?

John

Andrée Starå

@Ambika Sujir

Happy to help!

Unfortunately, it's a requirement to have an email for each contact.

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Ambika Sujir

Hi @John_Foster ,

This is something I would import on a regular basis

Cheers!

John_Foster

Hi @Ambika Sujir,

The contacts will have to exist in Smartsheet for it to recognise them for each import, so they will have to be maintained in Smartsheet otherwise what you are attempting to do will not work. If the users are maintained in Smartsheet you can export the users to CSV creating you a mapping tool that you could use to ensure the data imported is correct.

If you are not going to maintain the users in Smartsheet ahead of the import, I do not see any way in which what you are trying to do is possible.

John

John_Foster

It is worth noting though that if you can get a list of all potential users from the business, they can be imported as contacts via a quick import routine. You can find more about this using the link below.

https://help.smartsheet.com/articles/796143-managing-contacts?source=apphelpicon

John

Ambika Sujir

Thank you so much for all your support!

I will see how I can proceed.

Cheers!

Andrée Starå

@Ambika Sujir

Excellent!

You're more than welcome!

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John_Foster

You are very welcome. Good luck!

John