# Contacts FAQ
Is there a limit on the number of contacts?
No. There is no limit on the number of contacts you can have in Missive.
Is there a limit on the number of contact books?
Yes. Each user can have up to **500 personal contact books**.
Can I merge duplicate contacts?
There is no automatic merge feature, but you can manually consolidate contacts:
1. Open the contact you want to keep
2. Note down the information from the duplicate
3. Edit the contact to add any missing details
4. Delete the duplicate contact
How do I move a contact to a different book?
1. Open the contact and click **Edit**
2. Change the **Contact book** field to the desired book
3. Click **Save**
The contact moves to the new book immediately.
Why can't I import CSV into my synced contact book?
Contact books synced with Google or Office 365 are managed by those services. To add contacts:
1. Open Google Contacts or Outlook
2. Import your CSV there
3. Contacts automatically sync to Missive
This ensures the sync stays consistent between both systems.
Can I share a personal contact book with my team?
Yes. Edit the contact book and enable sharing:
1. Open the contacts panel
2. Right-click on your contact book in the list
3. Select **Edit contact book**
4. Check **Share this contact book with others?**
5. Choose to share with your organization, a team, or specific users
How do I stop syncing contacts with my email account?
1. Go to **Settings** > **Accounts**
2. Select the email account
3. In the **Stop syncing** section, click **Stop syncing**
A confirmation dialog warns that all contacts from that account will be deleted from Missive. Contacts remain in your email provider (Google, Outlook, etc.).
What happens to contacts when I delete a contact book?
All contacts in the book are permanently deleted. This cannot be undone. Contacts are not moved to another book - they are removed completely.
Can I use contacts in rules?
Yes. Rules support contact conditions and actions:
**Conditions**: Check if a sender or recipient is in a specific contact book, group, or company. Useful for routing VIP customers or filtering known contacts.
**Actions**: The **Create contact(s)** action automatically adds new contacts from incoming messages to a specified contact book.
See [Using contacts in rules](https://missiveapp.com/docs/core-features/contacts/..#using-contacts-in-rules) for details.
How do I find all conversations with a contact?
1. Open the contact in the contacts panel
2. Click **View all conversations** at the bottom of the contact card
This opens search results filtered to show all conversations involving that contact.
You can also view all conversations with anyone from a company by clicking the company name to open its card, then clicking **View all conversations**.
Can I add custom fields to contacts?
Yes. When creating or editing a contact:
1. Click **More fields** to expand additional options
2. Find the **Custom field** row at the bottom
3. Enter a label (field name) and value
4. Click the **+** button to add more custom fields
Custom fields are searchable and appear in the contact card.
What does "Exclude contacts from search results?" do?
This option hides contacts from the auto-complete menu when composing emails. The contacts still exist in the contact book and can be browsed directly, but they won't appear as suggestions when you type in the To, Cc, or Bcc fields.
This is useful when you have a large imported list (like a newsletter subscriber list or a CRM export) that you need for reference but don't want cluttering your compose auto-complete. You can still look up these contacts in the contacts panel when needed.
Why don't I see a contact book shared with me?
Contact books shared with you appear in the contact book list when you open the contacts panel. If you don't see an expected book:
* Confirm the owner has shared it with you, your team, or your organization
* Ask an organization admin to verify sharing settings
Can guests access contacts?
No. Guests cannot view or manage contacts. Contact books and their contents are only accessible to full organization members who have been granted access through sharing settings.