If your company is switching over to TextUs from a different texting provider, you can upload your previous contacts and conversation history to your account within Settings > Contact Settings > Conversation Import.
Important note: This import process should be done on the messaging account you want the conversation history to live on.
Step 1: Prepare your CSV files
Before uploading your account’s contacts and conversation history, you will need to prepare two CSV files: one for your contacts, and one for your conversation history. These files may have been provided as an export from your previous system or texting provider. The sections below describe how to format your files to ensure a smooth import process into TextUs.
Contacts CSV file
The contacts CSV file must meet the following requirements:
The maximum file size is 2 MB.
The file must include at least a Name and a Phone Number column. Other columns are optional, as outlined below.
CSV columns and formatting
Column | Description | Required |
Name | The contact’s full name. You can also include separate columns for First Name and Last Name if the Name column is not provided. | Required |
Phone Number | The contact’s mobile phone number. Hyphens and parentheses are optional. See formatting rules below:
When adding multiple phone numbers to a single contact, enter all phone numbers in the same cell and separate each phone number with a comma (,). | Required |
Business | The contact’s business name. Only one business can be associated with a contact. | Optional |
Tags | A special identifier that groups contacts together by label. For example, ‘Denver’ or ‘leads’. | Optional |
Example Contacts CSV file:
Conversation history CSV file
The CSV file for your conversation history must meet the following requirements:
The maximum file size is 50 MB.
The CSV file must be formatted with the following column headers; however, not all columns require values. See the table below for more information.
Column Name | Description |
date_created | Date the message was sent. |
direction | Indicates if the message was sent or received. Possible values are inbound for received messages or outbound for sent messages. |
line | Values are not required for this column. |
contact_number | The contact’s phone number. |
group_message | Values are not required for this column. |
has_attachements | Values are not required for this column. Note that TextUs will not import any conversation attachments. |
body | The body text of the message or conversation history. |
Note: Before you create your conversation history CSV file, make sure it only contains conversations you would like to import into the inbox for this TextUs phone number or messaging account.
Example Conversations CSV file:
Step 2: Upload your CSV files
To upload your contacts and conversation history, complete the following steps from the messaging account you want the conversation history to be stored on.
Go to Settings > Contact Settings > Conversation Import.
Click Select File to select the CSV file you want to import.
Review the contact upload information that displays. Use the column dropdowns to ensure that the column data is mapped to the correct fields.
When you’re done reviewing, click Import Contacts. Your contacts may take a few minutes to upload. You'll receive a confirmation email when the process is complete.
Once your contact upload is complete, click Skip Step 1 to go to the next step.
Click Select File to select the CSV file you want to import. You'll receive a confirmation email when the process is complete.
After your CSV files are uploaded, you'll be able to access your contacts and conversations on your messaging account. Your imported conversations will be listed in the Closed folder until you message the contact or reopen the conversation.