How to Export Contacts from Capsule CRM

TL;DR

• List export: in Capsule CRM, open People & Organizations, pick a list, select all, click Export on the upper right-hand side of the list, choose a column template and a file type (CSV, Excel or vCard), then click Export again.
• No Export button? Your user needs the permission "Allowed to export records to CSV, Excel or vCard". It is set per user at Account Settings > Users and Teams.
• One contact: open it, use the arrow next to Edit, and choose Export as vCard.
• Account backup: a separate route at Account Settings > Export Data. Capsule emails you a link to a ZIP of 3 CSV files (Contacts, Opportunities and Projects), and file attachments are not in it.

There are three main routes for exporting contacts from Capsule CRM, and most people need only one. Use the list export for a group of contacts, the vCard option for a single person or organization, and the account backup when you want Contacts, Opportunities and Projects saved together. The list export and the backup both depend on export rights. If the button is missing, check the permission on your user first. We read Capsule's help pages in October 2026, starting with its help page on exporting contacts. If you want new people in Capsule instead of a copy of the old ones, Add to CRM adds them in one click, and the last section covers it.

Export a Capsule contact list in five steps

1. Open People & Organizations. People and organizations share one list.
2. Pick a list. Use the Saved lists drop-down for one you saved earlier, or build a new list with your own filters. Filter by Tag or Name first. You can then add a filter for anything recorded against a contact, including email address, custom fields or the date it was last updated.
3. Select all. Tick the select-all box in the top left of the list. With more than 50 results, you can choose one page or all the contacts in the list.
4. Click Export on the upper right-hand side of the list.
5. A dialog opens. Choose a column template and a file type, then click Export again. The file downloads to your computer.

You can skip the filtering and export a saved list as it stands. You can also filter people by the details of the organization they work for, then export just those people. A saved list keeps its filters, not its rows, so it changes as your data changes. Export it when you need a frozen record of who matched today.

Pick the file type

Capsule explains what each type is good for:

• CSV works for a mail merge, or for importing into another tool.
• Excel is the pick when you only plan to view or change the data, or pass it on to other people.
• vCard can help when you load contacts into the Mac Contacts app. That is the only target Capsule names in its list-export text.

Our view: when you are unsure, take CSV. It is plain text that most tools can read.

Capsule says its exports are always UTF-8. If accented letters look wrong when you open a file, try loading it through your spreadsheet's text import option and choosing UTF-8. That is our suggestion, not Capsule's.

No Export button?

Capsule makes the list export available to users who have Allowed to export records to CSV, Excel or vCard checked in their profile. The setting belongs to each user, so a colleague can see Export while you cannot. Capsule's page says the feature is on all plans, which makes the permission the first thing to check, not the plan.

An Administrator can fix it:

1. Open Account Settings, then Users and Teams.
2. Click the name of the user who needs to export.
3. Check the box Allowed to export records to CSV, Excel or vCard.
4. Ask that user to open People & Organizations again and look for Export.

There is one catch. Capsule says an Administrator whose own export right has been removed cannot assign it to other users. Ask an Administrator who can export themselves.

Capsule's pages for Opportunities and Projects word the permission as Allowed to export records to CSV or Excel, without vCard. If you meet that wording, it points to the same export permission.

The pages also disagree about who may export. The "Who can use this feature?" line on the help page for exporting contacts says Administrator. The user management page says Standard Users with export permissions can export lists of Contacts, Projects and Opportunities. If the box is checked and Export is still missing, ask Capsule support.

Export one contact

For a single person or organization, skip the list:

1. Open the contact.
2. Use the small arrow beside Edit.
3. Choose Export as vCard.

Capsule names vCard as the format for this route. Need one person as CSV or Excel instead? Use the list export and tick only that contact's checkbox, or filter by Name and select all. That is our workaround, not a route Capsule documents, so check the file you get.

Export an account backup

Capsule's own name for this is the full export, and it does not include file attachments. Capsule says those have to be downloaded one at a time from each record. What you do get is a ZIP of 3 CSV files, one each for Contacts, Opportunities and Projects. The list export covers one list at a time, so this is the route for a backup. Capsule's backup help page has its own steps.

1. Sign in as an Administrator who has export rights.
2. Open Account Settings, then Export Data.
3. Click the Export to ZIP file button.
4. Check the inbox of the first email address on your user record. That is where Capsule's security page says the email goes.
5. Download the file soon. Capsule's export page says the link expires 12 hours after the email is sent.

Capsule's pages describe the email in two ways. The export page says it holds a single link to the ZIP. The security page says it contains the ZIP file itself. Both describe the same ZIP of 3 CSV files.

They also differ on who can run the backup. The "Who can use this feature?" line on the backup page says Super Administrator, while its text says Administrators given Export Rights. The security page says an Administrator can export a backup, and the user management page says Administrators with export permissions can. Plan on an Administrator who has export rights.

Any note and email history sits in the last column of each CSV. Capsule's import help warns that the Excel program cuts fields at 32,000 characters, and it calls Excel unsuitable for long note histories. The Export screen on its backup page gives a lower figure, around 16,000 characters, and warns that Excel truncates the history when you open and then save the file. If you open a backup CSV in Excel, do not save over the original.

Capsule recommends backups "on a regular basis" and names no interval, so the rhythm is yours to set. We would pick once a month, plus a fresh backup before any bulk update.

Capsule also says that once an account is canceled, its data is permanently deleted after 14 days. If you plan to cancel, take the backup first.

Opportunities, Projects and what is never exported

• Opportunities: open the Sales Pipeline tab and switch to list view. Exports from the Pipeline view or the Dashboard are not possible, Capsule says. In list view, the top-left checkbox selects all Opportunities, and the file types are CSV or Excel, with no vCard.
• Projects: use list view as well. Capsule says you cannot export Projects while you look at the Project Board. Capsule renamed Cases to Projects by mid 2022, so an older guide may still say Cases.
• Comments: comments on activity entries are not in any Capsule export.
• Tasks: Capsule's help pages do not describe a Tasks list export, and the backup ZIP holds only Contacts, Opportunities and Projects. If you need task history, ask Capsule support before you rely on an export.

What is in a list export?

Not much is written down. The help pages we read do not list the columns behind any column template. They do not say whether tags, custom fields, owner, phone numbers or notes come out in a list export, and they state no row limit.

What Capsule does say: the dialog has a column template choice and an All columns option, and its update guide uses a Custom Field as its example, which hints that custom field columns exist. With All columns selected, its update guide treats the file as having a Contact ID column, which it also calls the ID column, plus an Organization Name column for organizations.

We suggest a cheap test before you trust an export for a migration or an audit. Export about five contacts (a Tag or Name filter keeps the list small) and read the header row. Your own file settles what Capsule's pages leave open, including the exact name of the ID column.

Update contacts in bulk: export, edit, import

Capsule's update guide says the easiest way to change many contacts is to export a list, adjust the values, and import the same file again. Take a backup first, because Capsule says updates to existing contacts cannot be undone. Try the loop on your five-contact test list before you point it at everyone.

An import has limits you should know before you start:

• A tag, address, phone number or email address you change is added as a new entry. Capsule never overwrites the old one, so an edited phone number becomes a second number.
• On plans with access control, the Owner field cannot be updated by an import.
• Notes can only be imported for brand new contacts.
• Undo works only for the brand new contacts an import added, never for updates to existing ones.

1. Export your list. In the dialog, make sure All columns is selected, and choose CSV or Excel.
2. Open your download in a spreadsheet program and delete most of the columns. Keep Contact ID and the column you want to change. If you rely on Capsule's default duplicate checker, also keep First Name, Last Name and Email for people, or Organization Name for organizations. Contact ID alone is enough as a unique identifier.
3. Edit the cells you want to change.
4. In People & Organizations, click Import Contacts at the top right.
5. Select From a File > People and Organizations and upload your file.
6. Map the ID column to Contact ID. Capsule's guide uses both names, so check your own header row.
7. Choose Import and update duplicates using the data from your file.
8. If it applies, also tick Overwrite name, job title, Organization and Custom Fields.

Capsule imports CSV or Excel files and assumes a CSV is UTF-8, which matches what its exports use. The import side has its own page: our import guide for Capsule. If your file lists the same person twice, the duplicates guide shows how to merge them. For people who are not in Capsule yet, you need no file at all: Add to CRM adds them with verified details in one click.

For developers: the Capsule API

Capsule's API calls people and organizations "parties". List them with GET /api/v2/parties.

• You can ask for 1 to 100 records per page, and the default is 50. Page numbers start at 1, and the link to the next page comes back in a Link header.
• With a bearer token, Capsule says each user can make up to 4,000 requests an hour. It recommends a one second delay between requests.
• The since parameter returns only records changed after a date. The embed parameter can add each party's tags and custom fields.

For a single list, the Export button is quicker. The API pays off for pulls you want to repeat.

Add new contacts to Capsule

An export is a copy of Capsule as it stood that day. New people are not in it. Add to CRM adds them. It is a Chrome extension that finds verified contact details and adds a person to your Capsule CRM in one click, from LinkedIn, Gmail and Outlook. Each contact is enriched with 20+ data points, so new people reach Capsule without a file or a manual copy.

You connect in the Add to CRM web app, not in the extension, and your credentials are stored encrypted on our servers. Use Sign in to Capsule CRM, or choose Connect using an API key and fill in the field named Capsule CRM API Auth Token (our guide shows where to find your Capsule API key). A credit is used only when contact details are found.

Try it with a free 7-day trial. A card is required, and you can cancel any time. The pricing page lists the plans.