Export your contacts and erase someone's personal data

Your contacts are yours. You can download them as a CSV file at any time. And when someone asks you to delete their data, you can erase their personal details permanently while your orders and revenue figures stay correct.

Before you start

• For an erase request, make sure the request really comes from that person, for example by replying to the email address on their record.

Steps

Export contacts

1. Open Contacts.
2. Tick the box beside each contact you want. To take everyone in the current view, tick one and press Select all in the bar that appears.
3. Press Export in the bar.
4. A file called contacts- followed by today's date downloads, and a message says how many contacts were exported.

The file has one row per contact, with first name, last name, email, phone number, pipeline stage, where they came from and the date they were added. Open it in any spreadsheet program.

To export archived contacts, open the menu beside Add Contact, choose Restore archived contacts to show them, then select and export as above.

Erase a person's personal data

1. Open Contacts and open the person's record.
2. Press the menu button (three dots) at the top right of the record.
3. Choose Erase personal data.
4. Read the window. It says the erase "Removes their name, email, phone and form answers permanently. Orders and revenue reports are kept. This cannot be undone."
5. Type ERASE in the box.
6. Press Erase permanently. The message Personal data erased appears, and a line at the top of the record says Personal data erased on and the date.

Other ways to remove a contact

• Archive (same menu) hides the contact but keeps everything. Use Restore to bring them back.
• Delete permanently only appears for a contact with no history: no form answers, orders or notes. Anyone with history can be archived or erased instead.

What happens next

An erased record stays in the list without anything that identifies the person, so the orders it is attached to still add up. You cannot call or email it, and its details can no longer be edited. Where the person appears in AI logs, they are shown as "Erased contact".

Exporting is recorded under Contacts › Bulk Actions.

For agencies

Do an erase inside the client account the person belongs to. An erase in one account does not touch any other account.

Troubleshooting

The Export button isn't there. It appears in the bar only once at least one contact is ticked.

The file has fewer rows than I expected. Only the contacts selected, in the view you are on, are exported. Active and archived contacts are exported separately. Clear any search or smart list first, then use Select all.

"Couldn't export those contacts". Reload the page and try again with fewer contacts selected. If it keeps happening, see Tell support about a problem.

The Erase permanently button stays grey. The box must contain ERASE exactly, in capitals.

There's no Delete permanently option. The contact has history. Erase their personal data instead; that is what a deletion request needs.

I erased the wrong person. An erase cannot be undone. If you have an earlier export, you can add them again as a new contact with their permission.

Related

• Keep your account secure
• Archive, delete or erase a contact
• Import contacts