> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://developer.voyado.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Importing historical contacts
You will likely need to bulk-import contacts into your Customer Engagement enviroment, when starting up your Customer Engagement account, or migrating, or when updating certain data points.
There are a number of ways this can be done. Each has its own dedicated article.
## Manual import as CSV files
When you have a small customer database of less than 500 000 records, manual import by CSV is the recommended way to import (or update) those contacts.
## Automated import as XML files
For customer databases of 500 000 records or more, it is recommended to use the XML-importer. This is a more automated process where you export your contacts from your own database as XML files that are then placed on the Customer Engagement FTP server. From here they are imported by a scheduled job.
This method has better high volume performance and superior error management.
For this to work, the "ContactXmlImporter" module setting needs to be activated by your Customer Engagement team.
## Contacts bulk API
Contacts can also be created and updated in bulk through a dedicated API endpoint.
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