Before launching your campaign, make sure to upload leads.
There are two ways to add leads to your campaign: directly from the campaign itself or from the CRM Campaigns section.
Method 1: Add Leads from the Campaign
Open your campaign and go to the Leads section
Click the Add Leads button
Choose your preferred upload method:
CSV – Upload leads from a CSV file
SuperSearch – Find and add leads using Instantly's lead database
Enter emails manually – Type or paste email addresses directly
Google Sheet – Import leads from a Google Sheets document
CRM integrations – Sync leads from HubSpot, Salesforce, or Pipedrive
Method 2: Add Leads from the CRM
You can also add leads through the CRM interface.
Go to CRM -> Campaigns section
Select the target campaign
Click Actions -> Add leads
Choose your preferred upload method (same options as above)
Troubleshooting Lead Upload Issues
Leads uploaded, but do not appear in campaigns
Leads uploaded, but do not appear in campaigns
If you uploaded leads but no leads or only part of them appear, here are the most common causes:
Duplicates Were Skipped (Most Common)
"Check for duplicates" was enabled during upload. Leads already in other campaigns or lists were automatically skipped
Disable "Check for duplicates" if you want to add the same leads to multiple campaigns or lists.
To verify duplicates: Search for a few "missing" leads in CRM > All Leads. If they exist in any list or campaign, they were skipped as duplicates
Look for a banner after the upload: "Contact uploaded! x emails already exist!"
Missing or Invalid Email Addresses
Email addresses are mandatory - leads without emails won't upload to the campaign
Review your file and make sure that every lead has an email address in the correct format (e.g., [email protected]). Only domains(email.com) will not work.
Make sure the Email column isn't mapped as "Do Not Import"
Look for a banner after the upload: "X missing or invalid emai(s)"
Duplicate Emails Within Your File
If your CSV or Google Sheet contains the same email multiple times, Instantly automatically removes duplicates within your file.
Clear duplicate emails from your CSV/Google Sheet before uploading.
File Formatting Issues
First row must contain column names (Email, First Name, etc.)
Column names must be under 20 characters
No special characters
Leads on Blocklists
Emails or domains on your blocklist are automatically skipped
Check your blocklist settings
Whitespace in Data
Extra spaces, tabs, or line breaks can cause upload failures
Use the "Trim whitespaces" feature in your spreadsheet (e.g., Data → Data cleanup → Trim whitespaces) and try uploading again.
If the error persists, use Find & Replace (Ctrl+H or Cmd+H). In the "Find what" field, paste the zero-width space character, leave "Replace with" empty, and click "Replace All".
Save the cleaned file and re-upload. Walkthrough video
Lead Count Not Updating After Upload
Lead Count Not Updating After Upload
The lead count updates every 5 minutes after upload. Force refresh your browser to see the updated count.
If the count still isn't updating, the leads may not have uploaded successfully due to duplicates or formatting issues.