Use the Import My [Records] feature to import the records owned by (assigned to) you. By default, the records' ownership is automatically assigned to the user who imports the records.

Use Import My Organization [Module] feature to import all the records that are owned by (assigned to) the users in your organization, including the records owned by you. While importing, the import file should have a column that contains the exact email address of the users to whom you want to assign each record. Only then will the records automatically get assigned to the respective users while importing.

To import data

1. Click the [Module] tab.
   Module refers to the tabs like Leads, Contacts, Accounts, etc.
2. In the [Module] Home page, click Import [ Module ].
   
3. In the Import [Module] page do the following:
   • Choose Import My [Records] or Import My Organization [Records].
   • Browse to locate and select the required file that is to be imported.
   • Select the check box to Enable Manual Lead approval. 
     The records will be manually approved by the admin before being assigned to specific users. This option is available only while importing leads. See Also Approve Records 
     
   • Select Skip, Overwrite or Clone for duplicate records. (Refer notes below)
     The skip and overwrite option is available only in the Paid Editions.
4. Choose a field from the Find duplicates using picklist field. (Refer notes below)
   The field you choose here will be used by Zoho CRM to compare the existing records with those in the import file. On identifying matching records, Zoho CRM will reject, overwrite or duplicate the records based on your choice.
   See also: How to mark a field as a Unique Field
5. Under Advanced Options, do the following:
   • Select the Character Encoding from the list.
   • Select a Workflow Task, if required. 
     Note, that the work flow task will be available in the list only if you had already created a work flow task.
     
   • Choose the Date and Time format for the date and time values in the import file.
   • Select a rule from the drop-down list to Assign [Record] Owner as per the Assignment Rule. This option is available only when you Import Organization's record. 
     Based on the rule, records will be assigned to the users. With assignment rules you can implement theRound Robin method to assign records to the users. See Also Assignment Rules
   • Select an option from the list to Assign all imported Leads to this Lead Source.
     This option is available only while importing leads.
   • Click Next to continue.
6. In the Map Fieldssection, do the following:
   • Associate the fields in CSV/XLS file column header with the corresponding [Module] fields in Zoho CRM. 
     (Mandatory fields should be properly mapped) 
     
   • Click Next to continue.
7. In the Confirm Mapping section, verify whether all fields are mapped correctly.
8. Click Import.
   When the process is over, the added, updated and skipped records will be listed for your reference.

• When the Overwrite option is selected, the duplicate records will be identified based on some fields for each type of record. Following are the fields for each type of record:
  
  • Leads - Email
  • Contact - Email
  • Account - Account Name
  • Potentials - Potential Name
  • Cases - Subject
  • Solutions - Title
  • Campaigns - Campaign Name
  • Vendors - Vendor Name
  • Products - Product Name
• When the above mentioned fields are not mapped, duplicate records will not be identified, causing duplicates to be created in CRM.
• In case of duplicate records, only the fields that are mapped will be overwritten.
• When you do not use the above mentioned fields and still want to check for duplicate records while importing, then you can use the Record ID. Each record in  CRM has a unique ID. When you export the records, you can get their individual Record IDs. See Also Knowledge Base