Contacts: overview, list and views
What a contact is, how contacts are added, and how to find, filter and manage them from the contacts list and its saved views.
Updated 9 October 2026 · 8 min read
A contact is a person you do business with, such as a customer or the person you deal with at a supplier. Contacts keeps all of them in one list, so anyone on your team can find a person and see who they work for.
For example, a customer calls to ask about their order. Type their name in the search box on Contacts. You see their email, phone number and the account (company) they work for. Open their page to see their deals, quotes and the last emails you sent them.
A contact is not the same as a lead. A lead is someone who might become a customer, and you haven't qualified them yet. When a lead is ready to buy, you convert it, and Salesfresh creates the contact for you. See Convert a lead.
Before you start
| You want to | You need |
|---|---|
| See contacts | The View Contacts permission |
| Create or clone contacts | The Create Contacts permission |
| Edit or lock a contact, add tags, or change whether they get your emails | The Edit Contacts permission. You must also be the contact's owner, or the person who created it |
| Delete contacts | The Delete Contacts permission. You must also be the contact's owner, or the person who created it |
How many contacts your company can have depends on your plan. See Plans and limits.
How contacts get into Salesfresh
Add one yourself
Click Create Contact on the contacts list, or click the + button at the top of any page. Fill in the form. See Create and edit a contact.
From an account
Open an account and go to its Contacts tab. A contact you add there is already linked to that account.
While you create a deal or quote
The deal and quote forms have a Create Contact button. It opens a short form with just the salutation, name and email. You become the owner of the new contact.
From an email
Got an email from someone who isn't in Salesfresh yet? Open it in Emails and create a contact from it. The form starts with the sender's name and email filled in.
By converting a lead
When a lead is ready to buy, convert it. Salesfresh creates the contact from the lead's details. See Convert a lead.
Import a file
Have a list of people in a CSV or Excel file? Import it. Moving from another CRM? Export your contacts from it, then import the file here. Want a complete migration, including deals and quotes? Contact us and we'll take care of the whole migration. You own all the contacts you import. If a row has an email that is already used by a contact, that row is skipped. See Import from CSV or Excel.
Web forms and the browser extension add leads, not contacts. Convert those leads when they are ready.
The contacts list
Click Contacts in the sidebar. Salesfresh remembers how you left the page, including the view, page size, sort order and Created by Me.
Columns
The table shows Contact Name, Email, Phone, Lead Source, Department, Account, Contact Owner, Updated At and Created By. To sort, click a column heading. You can sort by every column except Phone.
- A lock icon next to the name means the contact is locked. Point at it to see who locked it.
- An envelope icon next to the email means the contact doesn't want your emails. Point at it to see "This contact no longer wishes to receive our emails".
- Next Action shows the contact's next task, meeting or call. A Draft badge there means the contact is a copy that hasn't been saved yet.
Toolbar
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| View list | Switch to another saved view. See Views |
| Created by Me | Show only the contacts you created. You won't see this on My Contacts |
| View all records | Shows the contacts of everyone in your company, not just the ones you are allowed to see by default. For example, a sales manager can use it to check all the team's contacts. To see this switch, your role needs the View All Records permission. Ask your admin if you need it |
| Filter (funnel icon) | Show only the contacts that match what you need. See Filter the list |
| Search | Searches name, email, title, industry, department and description. It doesn't search phone numbers |
Filter the list
Want to see only certain contacts, for example contacts who came from referrals and work in retail? Use the filter to find them.
- Click the funnel icon. The Advanced Filter panel opens.
- Click a saved filter at the top, such as one of your views. Its conditions are loaded below, and you can change them. Or start with an empty condition.
- Build your conditions. Pick a field, how to compare it, and a value. Click + Rule to add another condition, or + Group to add a set of conditions.
- Choose AND to show contacts that match every condition, or OR to show contacts that match any of them.
- Click Apply. The list now shows only the contacts that match.
To see all contacts again, click Clear Filter. The filter isn't saved, so if you want to use the same filter again later, ask your admin to add it as a view. You can't use the filter while View All Records is on.
Views
A view is a saved filter. Every company starts with these:
| View | Shows |
|---|---|
| All Contacts | Every contact |
| New This Week | Contacts created this week |
| New Last Week | Contacts created last week |
| All Locked Contacts | Locked contacts |
| Unread Contacts | Contacts nobody has opened yet |
| Unsubscribed Contacts | Contacts who don't want your emails |
| Recently Created Contacts | Contacts created this week, up to today |
| Recently Modified Contacts | Contacts changed this week, up to today |
| My Contacts | Contacts you own |
Admins can add more views and tags in Settings > Data Management > Contacts.
Row actions
Click the menu at the start of a row to see what you can do with that contact.
| Action | You see it when |
|---|---|
| Edit | You can edit contacts, you own or created the contact, and it isn't locked |
| Clone | Always. It is greyed out if you can't create contacts |
| Lock / Unlock | You own or created the contact. Locking stops anyone editing it. Only the person who locked it can unlock it |
| Subscribe / Unsubscribe | Always. It is greyed out if you can't edit contacts. Unsubscribe when the contact doesn't want your emails |
| Delete | You can delete contacts, you own or created the contact, and it isn't locked |
You won't see Clone, Lock or Subscribe on a draft.
Who can see and change a contact
Your admin decides who can see contacts, in Settings > Data Share Policies. It starts as Company Wide.
| Setting | Who sees a contact |
|---|---|
| Company Wide | Everyone in the company |
| Team Based | Everyone in the team picked on the contact, which is one of the owner's teams |
| Owner Only | Only the contact's owner |
| Owner and Team | The owner, and everyone in the team picked on the contact |
- The person who created a contact can always see it.
- With Team Based, a contact with no team can only be seen by the person who created it.
- Being able to see a contact doesn't mean you can change it. To edit, lock, tag, subscribe or delete it, you need the permission and you must be the owner or the creator.
To give all of one person's contacts to someone else, open the ⋮ menu at the top right of the contacts list, next to Create Contact, and click Change Owner.
Emails and notifications
- When a contact emails you at a connected mailbox, the email shows on the contact's Emails tab, and the contact's owner is told about the reply.
- Salesfresh doesn't send notification emails when a contact is created or given to someone.
Deleting a contact
You can delete a contact from the row menu, or from the contact's page.
- A deleted contact no longer shows in any list or search.
- Its deals, quotes, comments and products are kept.
- After your company's retention period, it is deleted for good.
Contacts don't have a recycle bin. Check before you delete.
If you later add a contact with the same email as a deleted one, Salesfresh offers to bring the old one back. See Create and edit a contact.
Troubleshooting
| You see | Why | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| "Contact not found" | The sharing rules hide the contact from you, it was deleted, or you don't own it and didn't create it | Ask an admin, or the contact's owner |
| "You have reached the maximum of N contacts on your current plan. Please upgrade for more." | You have used up your plan's contact limit | Delete contacts you don't need any more, or upgrade from My Subscription. See Plans and limits |
Related
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