Google Contacts is a free contact management tool that is part of the Google Workspace family of web applications. It's popular among small businesses because it's included with Google Apps and works well alongside Google's other apps. Both for commercial and personal purposes.
Google Contacts is a service that allows you to store and manage contact information for your organization. It is part of G Suite/Google Workspace, which also includes Gmail and Google Calendar. Google Contacts is free to use and can be used in conjunction with other applications for business email and scheduling.
How can you use Google Contacts to manage your business's contact information? In this guide, we'll examine best practices for Google Contacts.
Simply put, Google Contacts is a contact management system that is developed by Google. It is also available as an Android Mobile Application, a Web App, or you can also see it on the sidebar of Gmail as a part of Google Workspace.
Google Contacts originated as a Gmail feature called Google Sync in 2007, and was later released as the standalone Android app for Nexus devices in 2010. It was made available to all devices with the latest version of Android in 2015. A web app was released the same year, featuring a redesigned user interface that returned to Gmail in 2020, now part of Google Workspace.
Since 2020, Google Contacts has continued evolving with several important updates: the introduction of Material You design language in 2021 that adapts to your device's color scheme, enhanced integration with Google Workspace tools for better team collaboration, improved contact suggestions using AI, and better mobile-desktop sync capabilities. In 2023-2024, Google added features like contact labels for better organization and enhanced search functionality across the platform.
Already using Google Contacts? I bet you are, even if you don't realize it. But now that we're on a quest to incorporate Google Contacts into our business routine and make the most out of it, let's evaluate whether it's worth the hype or not.
Spoiler alert: It still is, but for better reasons than before.
Here's what Google Contacts can actually do for your team in 2025:
In case you are wondering or confused about how to import contacts from Google Contacts, you can refer to this detailed guide on importing contacts from Google Contacts.
However, this is not a complete list of uses for Google Contacts. With its deeper integration with Google Workspace applications like Meet, Chat, and Drive, you can elevate the productivity and effectiveness of your entire workflow. Modern Google Contacts works especially well when your organization needs centralized contact management with proper access controls.
When combined with specialized Contact Management Systems like ContactBook, your results are optimized to be truly remarkable. ContactBook fills the gaps where Google Contacts falls short, like advanced team sharing, cross-account sync, and mobile-first contact collaboration.
Google Contacts mostly works backstage to keep your contacts on Gmail up-to-date and well-organized. For a fact, it is more than just an address book.
Google Contacts has evolved well enough to offer you multiple fields of information and segmentation options to manage and organize your contact data, both on your mobile devices and emails as well.
Contacts are pulled automatically to Google Contacts from your Gmail, but it also gives you the right to edit, enrich, and create new contacts manually. Plus, Google now uses smart contact enrichment to automatically fill in missing details like job titles, company information, and profile photos from public sources and your interaction history.
Google Contacts also syncs seamlessly with your Android or iOS system contacts, meaning when you save someone's number on your phone, it automatically appears in Google Contacts and vice versa. This two-way sync keeps everything perfectly aligned across all your devices.
Below we are going to learn how Google Contacts work in various ways.
You can add labels to your contacts. Yes. You can label your contacts in groups that make sense for your organization or team.
For Example, ‘Unengaged Customer’, ‘New Leads’, ‘Customers’, ‘Sales Team’, and ‘Marketing Team’.
Therefore, adding labels to your contacts or group of contacts can segregate the professional and personal contacts on the Google Contacts account to make sure there is no confusion or that they don’t get mixed up.
On the Google Contacts’ homepage, these labels appear on the left-hand sidebar. It makes it easy for you to visualize which contacts are in which group. It also displays how many contacts are in each group.
In addition to visualizing the labels, you can also review all contacts, contacts that are frequently contacted, other contacts, and contacts that can be fixed or merged.
You might notice that you can see ‘Contacts’ on the sidebar and ‘Other Contacts’ at the very bottom. But what is the difference between these two majorly?
So on Contacts, you can see the contacts that you have added manually or those contacts that were added to Google Contacts via integration of CMS (Contact Management System) or contact sync.
However, if you have emailed someone and don’t have them saved as contacts, then Google Contacts automatically saves their email in your ‘Other Contacts’ group. So in case next time you wish to email them, their email address will automatically showcase on your Gmail as an autofill feature.
You can also transfer the contacts from ‘Other Contacts’ to ‘Contacts’. Why should you do that? Because in the future if you ever sync your Google Contacts database to other applications then only the contacts stored in ‘Contacts’ will be synced.
Therefore briefly, ‘Contacts’ is your actual contact list to use and edit. While ‘Other Contacts’ holds everyone you have ever contracted with via Gmail so that you don’t have to keep memorizing their email addresses.
It is not abnormal to come across duplicate contacts in Gmail or Google Contacts when your Google Contacts are synced and integrated with multiple platforms like ContactBook.
Having duplicate contacts also means that you may have multiple contact records that belong to the same person which implies that these different contacts store different bits of information under one name.
Well, fortunately, Google Contacts has a convenient option to merge and fix contacts. It automatically identifies contact records that might be duplicated and shows them under the option of ‘Merge & Fix’ on Google Contacts. This option is visible on the left side of the menu bar.
Follow the steps below to learn how to ‘Merge & Fix’ contacts.
In this ever-evolving world, everyone keeps changing something or the other. Some change phones, whereas some change numbers.
And how to keep up with people changing numbers who are associated with you or your business? By updating them. May it be manually or automatically.
The question remains the same. How to edit Google Contacts?
To edit and update a contact's information (email, address, phone number, etc) you can click on them and then update any and every information on your contact. Just don't forget to 'Save Changes'.
Good news! Google Contacts now makes this even easier with smart features. When you email someone regularly, Google automatically suggests updates to their contact info based on your Gmail interactions - like when they sign emails with a new job title or phone number.
Need to update lots of contacts at once? You can now export your contacts to a CSV file, make bulk changes in a spreadsheet program like Excel, then import them back. This is super helpful when your whole team moves to a new office or when contact details change company-wide.
Apart from just updating contact numbers for your contacts, you can do some advanced editing as well with the help of Google Contacts.
Mistakes happen, particularly when updating your contacts. Fortunately, Google Contacts makes it easy to undo changes by clicking on the settings icon in the top right corner of the screen and clicking on Undo Changes.
After you have chosen a time from which to revert, the system will ask you to verify a time before proceeding with the undo.
Google now keeps automatic backups of your contacts for up to 30 days. This means if something goes really wrong - like you accidentally delete a bunch of contacts or import bad data - you can restore your entire contact list from any point within the last month. Just go to Settings > Restore contacts, pick the date you want to go back to, and Google will bring back all your contacts from that time.
If your organization uses G Suite/Google Workspace and Google Contacts, then you will be able to see an option on the left-hand side of the sidebar that you do not have on your personal Google Contacts account: the Contact Directory.
Now when you go to this Contact Directory, you will notice certain contacts that you have not entered. So how did they end up there?
So basically, this directory is a list of users and email addresses under your organization's domain. This is how Google auto-completes the email addresses of your colleagues and schedules meetings with anyone in your organization, even when you have never emailed them before.
Here's what's really cool now - your system administrator has way more control over what everyone sees! They can choose from different visibility settings: show everyone in the company (full access), show only certain departments (limited access), or create custom groups where people only see contacts relevant to their role.
Plus, Google now automatically pulls this information straight from your Admin Console. When HR adds a new employee, creates email groups, or sets up email aliases, they all show up in the Contact Directory without any extra work. It's like magic - but it's just smart automation!
It's the system administrator that controls which email addresses are visible in the directory. They also hold the right to remove contacts.
If you are like most of the people out there who use Gmail, then it is likely that your contact list has a variety of contacts in it, including your friends, family members, classmates, colleagues, business partners, and more.
The size of this list has grown since it includes not only all of the people with whom you have corresponded via email and phone but also those with whom you have corresponded via Google Voice or Google Chat.
Fortunately, a feature in Gmail called labeling allows you to organize your contacts into specific labels, family members, friends, co-workers, business associates—which makes it easier to access the contact information that you need.
Labels To be precise, creating labels on Google Contacts is a piece of cake. And how to create labels on Google Contact?
When you log into your Google Contacts, at the top of the screen is a link to import contacts. At that screen, click Upload .csv or .vCard File and choose the files from which you'd like to import contacts.
Steps to follow.
Give your contacts a label so that you can easily find them in your list of contacts.
Keep in mind that you can only upload 3,000 contacts per singular session when using CSV files. If you're using vCard format, the limit is even smaller at 1,000 contacts per upload. So if you have a lot of contacts and need to migrate to Google, make sure you export your contacts into multiple files, each staying within these limits. The good news is that Google Contacts can store up to 25,000 total contacts in your account you just need to upload them in smaller batches.
Having Google Contacts, it not only has data incoming but also requires exporting contacts. If you wish to have a neat file with all your contacts that have accumulated over the years, for example, to put it in a Contact Management System, you can export it in just a couple of clicks.
And how to do so? How to export Google Contacts?
Export formats supported by Google Contacts are. CSV and vCard.
How to sync Google Contacts with Android? Follow the steps below to do so.
Note: In newer Android versions, contacts are also automatically included in the device backup through Google One, which helps restore your contacts if you get a new phone.
How to sync Google Contacts with iOS? Follow the steps below to do so.
Your contacts can only be automatically saved to one Google Account.
In business, sharing contacts is a frequent necessity to enhance productivity. However, Google Contacts lacks a native, intuitive way for teams to share and centrally manage their connections. While some workarounds exist, they are often inefficient and error-prone. For example, a limited "Delegate Access" feature is available, but it doesn't provide the granular, permission-based sharing that professional teams require. This forces users to rely on manual methods like sending contacts as email attachments or using shared spreadsheets, which are not productive solutions.
Since we are interested in improving productivity, let's look into a better method for contact sharing: a dedicated Contact Management System.
A comprehensive contact management system like ContactBook is engineered to address the very deficiencies found in Google's native tools. It's designed to be the missing collaborative layer for contact management within the Google ecosystem. ContactBook transforms a personal address book into a shared, living organizational asset with real-time, permission-based sharing.
ContactBook offers a platform that provides a robust solution for professional teams by:
With ContactBook, your team can access contacts from anywhere and collaborate seamlessly, ensuring everyone always has access to the right contacts without the need for cumbersome workarounds.
You belong to one of the sides of the world. Which are: Android or iOS. Don't worry, in any case, it is possible for you to backup Google Contacts.
When we talk about Android, If your Android device contains a cache of contacts, you are indeed lucky. Most likely, these contacts are automatically backing up to your Google Contacts without you having to intervene. You can ensure everything is working properly by checking your Settings; System backup should be on with Google Contacts synchronized with Contacts.
You can also follow the steps below to ensure backup:
Your contacts can only be automatically saved to one Google Account.
If you are an avid Apple user, setting up Google Contacts sync should be easy for you. First, you will need to download the Google Drive app from your App Store. Once you have enabled backup in Settings, any contacts that currently exist on your device will automatically be imported into Google Contacts. For the final step in this process, simply add your Gmail account in the account section of Settings and ensure contacts backup is enabled.
You can also follow the steps below to ensure backup:
And you are done with backing up your Google Contacts on iPhone.
Connecting Google Contacts with other systems is easy. Here's how to connect your contacts to one of these services. It's possible to connect your Google Contacts with other tools you're using to store contact data.
Google Contacts integrates with many popular online services, including Google Calendar and Google Maps, as well as many email service providers.
For example, you can connect Google Contacts with other tools from Google or outside the company's ecosystem. Let's take a look at how these integrations work.
By creating and maintaining your Google Contacts list, you can then access that information on any of your Google apps.
To do this, simply go to your Gmail account or your Google Account home and then click on the icon with nine dots in the top right corner.
By using apps like Calendar, Tasks, and Google Docs, you can have access to all of your contacts' contact information at any time.
With just one click, you can schedule an appointment with a colleague or simply schedule a meeting, and all you'll need is their email address.
Integrating Google Contacts and Google Maps makes it easy to get directions to someone's house. If you are heading to a friend's house but can't remember how to get there, type their name in the search bar on Google Maps, and their address will automatically appear.
If you are going to a client meeting in their office, you can easily find their address by typing their name into the search bar.
This only works if there is a valid address attached to the contact record for that person, as well as when you are logged into the same Google account on both Google Maps and Google Contacts.
Google Calendar lets you share your calendar with coworkers and guests. To set up a meeting in Google Calendar, you can begin typing the name of someone who's already in your Google Contacts list.
For example, type in "Carrie" and your contacts will automatically appear as suggestions. If you have contacts outside your organization, simply add them to Google Contacts first and then create a meeting.
You can even create meetings with internal contacts without needing their email addresses by going to the directory within the Contacts app.
If a contact has a birthday on their Google Contacts profile, it will also show up on your Google Calendar. This only works if you have included a birthdate for them on Google Contacts.
For internal contacts, start typing their name in the 'Add Guests' box and their contact information will automatically appear as suggestions. This only works if you have included an event for them on Google Contacts.
Google Contacts supports integration with apps that are part of the Google ecosystem and also with apps that store contact data separately.
You can import and export contact data in CSV format and integrate contacts stored in separate sources using third-party integration apps. Learn more about importing and exporting contacts, as well as managing contact information from different sources.
Google Contacts offers an automated method of exporting contact information in the form of CSV files.
When you visit your Google Contacts page, you will see the options to export your contacts as CSV files on the left-hand sidebar. There are three methods available when it comes to exporting your contacts: Google CSV files, Excel files hosted by Microsoft (email clients such as Outlook), and vCard files.
You do not necessarily need to export your entire contact database on Google Contacts, you can choose to only export a certain subset of your contacts, such as those labeled 'Work'.
We hope you got everything you need to know about Google Contacts. However, Google Contacts work even more productively and better with great integrations like Contact Management Systems like ContactBook.
Everything we talked about in this blog regarding importing contacts, exporting contacts, email addresses, merging duplicates, contacts app, editing and managing phone numbers, contact list and directory, contacts group, Google Apps, integrations, and so much more works as a comprehensive guide to Google Contacts for you.
We make every part of the contact management process easier. Getting started with building relationships has never been easier.
