---
title: "Contact Lists"
description: "Create manual and filter-based contact lists for recurring audiences and team workflows."
canonical_url: "https://usecleo.io/docs/getting-started/contact-lists"
---

> Index of every page on this site: [llms.txt](https://usecleo.io/llms.txt)

Contact lists organize people around an audience or working process. Cleo supports manual lists for deliberate membership and filter-based lists for contacts that match a saved set of conditions.

## Create a list

1. Go to **CRM > Lists**.
2. Select **New list**.
3. Choose how the list will be populated.
4. Enter a clear name and optional description.
5. Configure the selected source and save.

Name the audience rather than the mechanism. `Clients renewing in 60 days` tells the team why the list exists. `Renewal filter 2` does not.

## Choose a list source

### Manual list

Use a manual list when membership represents a deliberate choice or fixed historical group. Examples include event attendees, approved case-study candidates, or a temporary call list.

People stay in a manual list until somebody adds or removes them.

### Filter-based list

Use a filter-based list when membership can be expressed as contact conditions. The builder can combine standard contact data, tags, custom fields, and supported activity criteria.

Before saving:

1. Add the conditions that define the audience.
2. Preview the number of matching contacts.
3. Inspect whether the conditions are too broad or too narrow.
4. Save the list when the preview matches the intended audience.

Membership follows the saved conditions. A contact enters when their data matches and leaves when it no longer matches.

### CSV import

Choose CSV import when the list begins with a file. Cleo validates and uploads the file, then creates contacts and list membership from its rows. See [Import Contacts from CSV](https://usecleo.io/docs/getting-started/import-contacts-csv) for preparation and limits.

## Use list exclusivity carefully

A list can be marked exclusive during creation. Exclusive membership removes matching contacts from other lists, so use it only when the business rule truly permits one list at a time.

Lifecycle buckets such as `New`, `Active`, and `Former` may be exclusive if a contact can hold only one current state. Audiences such as `Newsletter`, `Quarterly review`, and `VIP` usually should overlap.

## Review a list

Open a list to see:

- Source and current status
- Contact count
- Creation and synchronization dates
- Included contacts
- Import or synchronization history
- Errors from the latest run

The contact table is paginated. Use **Previous** and **Next** to move through larger lists.

When a request fails, use the retry action shown in the relevant section. An empty audience and a failed request are displayed as different states.

## Re-import a CSV list

For a list created from an uploaded CSV, select **Re-import CSV** from the list page. Cleo creates a new import run from the stored source file and records the result in the history.

Review older source files before re-importing. If the original upload no longer represents the desired audience, create a new list from an updated file instead.

## Pick the right list type

<table>
<thead>
  <tr>
    <th>
      Situation
    </th>
    
    <th>
      Recommended type
    </th>
  </tr>
</thead>

<tbody>
  <tr>
    <td>
      Everyone who attended a specific event
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Manual or CSV list
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      Contacts tagged <code>
        monthly-report
      </code>
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Filter-based list
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      Leads with no owner
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Filter-based list
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      Handpicked reference customers
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Manual list
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      Contacts supplied by a partner in a file
    </td>
    
    <td>
      CSV list
    </td>
  </tr>
</tbody>
</table>

Read [Smart Lists](https://usecleo.io/guides/smart-lists) for rule design and [Customer Segmentation](https://usecleo.io/guides/customer-segmentation) for audience strategy.

## Sitemap

See the full [sitemap](https://usecleo.io/sitemap.md) for all pages.