# Import a CSV List and Personalize with Merge Tags

*(Premium only)*

Use CSV ingestion to email people who aren’t in your Gravity Forms
entries, while still personalizing messages with merge tags.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

## Steps

1.  **Prepare the Control Form**
    - The form attached to the feed must have a **File Upload** field.
2.  **Enable CSV in the Feed**
    - Edit your feed and check **Add CSV Emails to List** (this setting
      only appears if a File Upload field is present).
3.  **Prepare Your CSV**
    - Must contain **exactly one** column named `email` (lowercase).
    - Add any other columns you want to use (e.g., `first_name`,
      `amount`, `deadline`).
4.  **Compose Your Email**
    - Write Subject/Message using those merge tags. Example:
      `Hi {first_name:2:meff}, your balance is {amount:3:meff}.`
    - Map each merge tag used to a CSV column. See **Settings Reference
      ->** **Merge Tag Fallbacks & CSV Column Mapping.**
5.  **Submit the Control Form**
    - Upload the CSV to the control form, fill it out like normal and
      submit.
    - When you submit, CSV recipients are pulled into the batch (alone
      for CSV‑only campaigns, or combined with target‑form entries if
      you also set a target form).

------------------------------------------------------------------------

## Tips

- **Preview** the batch to confirm column mapping looks right.
- **Deduplication** applies across CSV and form entries.
- If uploads are blocked, see **Settings Reference -\>** **CSV
  Ingestion** for allowing `.csv` files and remember to **deactivate the
  snippet after** creating your batch.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

With CSV + merge tags, you can send tailored emails to external lists
without importing those contacts into your Gravity Forms database.
