Introduction
With Artshell, you can export your contacts in Excel format to manage and analyze them more effectively.
The exporting option includes toggle switches (), which you can turn on or off to include or exclude specific features and details.
Watch the short explainer video below:
Select the contacts for export
The export operation starts by selecting the contacts.
Expand the box below to review how to use the 'Select' function:
- Click the icon at the top right.
- Click the contacts you want to select. If the contact is successfully selected, you will see a black checkmark on the right and the green counter at the top will increase.
- Click the green counter to view only the selected contacts.
- Use the hand icon cursor to rearrange the display order of the contacts, which will also determine how they appear in the export.
For a more detailed explanation of this function, see the article Introduction to the Contacts section.
Once you’ve selected your contacts, the Manage panel will automatically appear on the right.
If the panel does not appear (e.g., due to a small screen size), click the circled three-dot icon at the top right:
Then click Excel and set the export options:
- name of the document
- language
- the information to include by toggling the switches ()
Each switch corresponds to a sheet in the Excel file. By enabling the toggles, you can include the following data:
- Details: contains all contact card data, excluding information already present in other sheets (e.g., here you’ll find Contact Type, Position, etc.)
- Addresses
- Emails
- Phones
- Links
- Invited by: this sheet is only available if you’ve used Inviter, an additional Artshell feature, before creating your events.
Finally, click the Generate Excel button to download the file.
The generated file has the following structure:
Consolid your data into a single sheet
When exporting contacts from Artshell, the data is organized across multiple sheets within the Excel file, each dedicated to a specific type of information (such as personal details, addresses, emails, phone numbers, links, etc.).
Keep in mind that only the sheets corresponding to the data types you selected during the export process will be included. For example, if you choose to export only Details and Phones, the file will contain only those two sheets.
To obtain a unified view of all this data, you’ll need to create a summary sheet — which we’ll call “Merge” — in which the main information is consolidated using a combination of manual steps and automated formulas
Data structure
In the exported Excel file, you’ll find one or more sheets depending on the export options selected. Each sheet contains a specific type of information:
- Details: first name, last name, company, role information, notes, date of birth.
- Addresses: physical addresses.
- Emails: email addresses.
- Phones: phone numbers.
- Links: URLs.
All sheets contain a common column named Artshell ID, which serves as the unique identifier for each contact. This ID will be your reference point for merging the data.
Additionally, each sheet includes — in the last two columns — the creation date and last update date of the data, allowing you to track changes over time.
Preliminary note: handling duplicate data
Some contacts may have multiple rows in sheets like Emails, Addresses, or Phones (e.g., if a contact has two email addresses). In these cases, merge formulas would return an Error value.
For this reason, it’s essential to manually manage duplicates before using formulas.
Step 1: Identify and isolate contacts with duplicate Artshell IDs
- In the first sheet, select the column containing the Artshell IDs.
- Go to Home -> Conditional Formatting -> Highlight Cells Rules -> Duplicate Values. (See the Microsoft article for more information.)
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Confirm the formatting rule by clicking OK. You can use the default red fill if you like.
- Esegui la stessa operazione per ciascun foglio (Email, Indirizzi, Telefoni, Link).
Nel nostro caso, il foglio Dettagli non presenta duplicati, mentre negli altri fogli alcuni contatti compaiono su più righe, in quanto lo stesso Artshell ID è associato a più dati (ad esempio, due indirizzi email o più numeri di telefono).
Per ogni contatto che compare su più righe (ovvero con Artshell ID duplicato), scegli una sola riga da mantenere: ad esempio quella che contiene l'informazione più rilevante o aggiornata.
Le righe duplicate che non desideri includere subito possono essere spostate in un foglio separato — ad esempio chiamato “Duplicati” — così da poterle gestire o consultare in un secondo momento.
Una volta effettuata questa pulizia, ti consigliamo di eliminare eventuali righe vuote rimaste nei fogli di origine, per evitare errori o confusione durante la fase di unione dei dati.
Step 2: Create the “Merge” sheet
After reviewing and cleaning up duplicates, you can proceed with creating the summary sheet where all primary contact information will be consolidated.
- Click the “+” symbol in the sheet bar to create a new sheet.
- Name the sheet, for example “Merge” (or any other name you prefer).
- In column A, paste the full list of Artshell IDs from the sheets you exported (e.g., Details, Addresses, Emails, Phones, Links).
- After pasting the IDs, select the entire column A. Make sure each ID appears only once, so that each row represents a single contact.
- Usa il comando Dati -> Rimuovi duplicati per eliminare automaticamente gli ID ripetuti. (Consulta l'articolo di Microsoft per avere più informazioni)
- Infine, nella riga 1 del foglio, inserisci i titoli delle colonne che desideri utilizzare per organizzare i dati da recuperare (es. Nome, Cognome, Email, Nazione, ecc.). Questo ti aiuterà a costruire un foglio Unione chiaro e ben strutturato.
In questo modo ottieni un elenco pulito e univoco di Artshell ID, che sarà il punto di partenza per costruire il riepilogo dati utilizzando le formule descritte nello step successivo.
Step 3: Merge data using the VLOOKUP formula
Once the list of Artshell IDs has been added to the Merge sheet, you can begin retrieving information from the source sheets (Details, Addresses, Emails, etc.) using the VLOOKUP formula (called CERCA.VERT in Italian).
This formula allows you to search for a value (in this case, the contact ID) within a range and return the content of a specific column in the same row.
Formula structure (EXAMPLE)
=IFERROR(VLOOKUP($A2,Sheet!Range,Column,FALSE), 0)
Explanation of components
| =IFERROR (...) | handles errors (e.g., ID not found). |
| VLOOKUP | searches a column for a value and returns related data from another column |
| $A2 | the cell where the ID is located. The $ locks the column when copying the formula. |
| Sheet!Range | Name of the sheet and the range to search, e.g.Details!A2:M31. |
| Column | The number of the column from which to extract the value. |
| FALSE | Indicates that you want an exact match. |
| ;0 o ; "" | Value to return if an error occurs (either 0 (zero) or blank). |
If the number of rows is variable, we recommend extending the range — e.g., A2:Z1000 or A:Z— to include the entire column (but be cautious about performance).
To apply the formula select the cell where you want to insert the formula. Type it directly into the cell or into the formula bar next to the fx indicator.
Dopo aver scritto la formula in B2, trascina il quadratino verde verso il basso per copiarla su tutte le righe del foglio. Excel copierà automaticamente la formula per ogni riga, adattando la cella di riferimento (es. A3, A4, A5…).
Formula examples
Retrieve the First Name from the Details sheet
Per inserire il Nome è necessario inserire la formula:
=SE.ERRORE(CERCA.VERT($A2;Dettagli!A2:M31;2;FALSO);0)
Retrieve the Last Name from the Details sheet
Per il Cognome invece la formula sarà uguale ma deve essere cambiato il numero della colonna perchè i cognomi si trovano nella colonna 3.
Per recuperare informazioni da altri fogli, come Indirizzi o Email, utilizza le formule seguenti:
Retrieve the Country from the Addresses sheet
Per recuperare il campo Nazione, usa la seguente formula:
=IFERROR(VLOOKUP($A2,Emails!A2:M31,6,FALSE), 0)
In questo caso si è dovuto modificare il nome del foglio che sarà Indirizzi e il numero della colonna, che all’interno del foglio Indirizzi è la numero 7.
Il risultato sarà questo:
For example, the contact Francesca Arancio Chiaro (row 2) has no associated address in the Addresses sheet.
Retrieve the Email from the Emails sheet
Per inserire il campo Email è necessario inserire la formula:
=IFERROR(VLOOKUP($A2,Emails!A2:M31,6,FALSE),0)
Conclusions
Exporting contacts from Artshell in Excel format is a powerful and flexible way to analyze your data in detail. The separation into themed sheets allows you to explore each category of information in an organized way.
However, for reading, printing, or integration with other systems, it may be useful to consolidate all information into a single worksheet.
By following the steps described in this guide — from selecting contacts to merging the data using VLOOKUP — you can build a clear and complete summary sheet, fully customized to your operational needs..