Before you start
Export the collection from Swops (Export contacts to a CSV file) and prepare the file as described in Prepare your Swops export for a CRM: split Name, because Last Name is usually required for leads and contacts, and remove the apostrophe in front of international phone numbers. Your layout may require other fields too; to see which, click Create Lead and Save on an empty form, and Zoho should flag them. You need the Import Records permission in your profile. This guide imports into Leads, where the company is a simple text field. Prefer contacts? Import the companies into Accounts first, then the contacts with an Account Name column.
Import the file
Open the Leads module. Click the down arrow next to Create Lead and select Import Leads.
Drag your CSV into the window or click Browse. Charset appears once the file is uploaded: Auto-Detect works for Swops files (they are UTF-8). Click Next.
Choose Add as new Leads, or Both to also update leads that are already in Zoho. Pick Email as the field Zoho uses to recognise existing leads. Click Next.
Map the columns. Click Auto Map and Apply, then check every row: columns you leave unmapped are not imported.
Under Create New Fields, tick the Swops columns that have no Zoho field yet (LinkedIn, Priority, the analysis), give each a name and type and click Create.
Use Assign Default Value to give every lead from this file the same value, for example Lead Source set to Trade Show if your list has it.
Map Collection to Tag. When Zoho asks, choose whether the tag is added to existing tags or replaces them.
Click Save and Next. Leave the options for assignment rules, approval and automation as your team prefers, tick the anti-spam policy box and click Submit. The import shows as Import Scheduled and Zoho notifies you when it is done.
Which column goes where
| Swops column | Zoho CRM lead field |
|---|---|
| First name, Last name | First Name, Last Name |
| Name (the original column) | Leave unmapped |
| Company | Company |
| Role | Title |
| Phone | Phone |
| Mobile | Mobile |
| Website | Website |
| A new field, created in step 5 | |
| Address | Street |
| Country | Country |
| Priority | A new pick list field with Hot, Warm, Cold and Unrated |
| Notes | Description |
| Business analysis, In more depth | New multi-line fields, or leave unmapped |
| Collection | Tag |
| Captured, Research date | New date fields, or leave unmapped |
Good to know
- Duplicates. Zoho recognises existing leads and contacts by email. With Add as new Leads, rows whose email is already in Zoho are skipped.
- Tags. Tags in a column are separated by commas. A collection name that contains a comma becomes two tags, so rename it in the file first.
- Dates. When you map a date column, hover over its row and pick the date format that matches Swops’ YYYY-MM-DD. If none matches, leave the dates unmapped.
- Limits. How many rows you can import per file depends on your edition, from 1,000 on the free edition to 200,000 on Ultimate.
- Results. Go to Setup > Data Administration > Import > Import History. For seven days you can see what was added, updated and skipped, and download the reasons for skipped rows.
- Undo. In Import History, hover over the import and click Undo Import. This works for 30 days, though one part of Zoho’s guide says seven, so do not wait. It removes only the records the import added; updates to existing records stay.
- Approval. Leave manual lead approval off unless your team uses it: leads waiting for approval sit in a separate list and do not appear in Zoho’s global search.
Checked against Zoho’s help pages in October 2026: Import data into a CRM module and FAQs: Import. Menus change from time to time; if a step looks different, follow Zoho’s own import guide.