How do I search contacts and export them to Excel?

A contacts book grows fast: hundreds of customers and suppliers. The filters at the top of the screen get you to what you want faster than scrolling, and the export gives you a file to work on freely.

Steps

1. Open General Settings → Contacts — image 1.
2. Type part of a name or phone number into the search box and press Search.
3. Narrow further with the dropdowns: all countries and all roles, then any custom fields you made filterable.
4. Press Apply filters. The result count appears below the table: showing 1 to 10 of 521 results.
5. Press Export Excel to download the filtered results, not the whole list.

Notes

• Filter first, then export; the export follows what is on screen, so you get a small file covering exactly what you want.
• The export is useful for sending a list to the accountant, checking phone numbers before a marketing campaign, or reviewing dormant customers.
• There is no contact import from a file at present; entry is manual or comes from the data the modules generate.
• If you want an extra column in the export — a credit limit for instance — add it as a custom field on contacts first.