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Add new customers to your Customer Directory

Who is this article for?
Sellers with the customers permission to create new customers. Set permissions in Square Dashboard.

About adding new customers to your directory

Square Customer Directory is a comprehensive contact management tool that enables you to store and edit customer information, track their interactions with your business, and engage with them. Every time you add an existing customer to your sale, you can view details of their previous visits, preferences, frequently purchased items, and personalized notes to enhance their experience.

Before you begin 

  • You can add customers to your Customer Directory from both your Square Dashboard and Square POS app.

  • When you add, update, or delete a customer profile, the change will reflect in both your Square Dashboard and Square POS app.

  • You can bulk import customers from Square Dashboard only.

Add a customer

You can add a customer to a sale to track their purchase history and see trends. A customer is automatically opted into email marketing if you manually input their email into their profile. Customers are also automatically added to your Customer Directory if they book services with your business using Square Appointments, enroll in your Square Loyalty program, or are charged with Square Invoices.

When adding customer information to your Customer Directory, never store sensitive personal data in the notes field such as payment card numbers or health information.

Option 1: Add a customer directly to your Customer Directory

Square Dashboard

  1. Sign in to Square Dashboard, then click Marketing & loyalty > Customer directory.
  2. Click Create and enter your new customer’s information.
  3. Click Save.

A “Contact successfully created” banner will appear when your customer is added.

Square POS app

  1. Tap More > Customers.
  2. Tap ••• next to Customers, then click Create New Customer and enter your new customer’s information.
  3. Tap Save

A “Customer saved” banner will appear when your customer is added.

Option 2: Add a new customer during a sale

You can create a new customer and add them to a sale from the current sale section of your Checkout screen just before taking a payment.

Square Dashboard

  1. Start a new sale.
  2. Click Add Customer > Create customer.
  3. Enter your new customer’s information.
  4. Click Save.
  5. Complete the transaction.

A “Customer profile created” banner will appear when your customer is added.

Square POS app

First, make sure you enable Customer management by tapping ≡ More > Settings > Checkout > Customer management > toggle Show Add customer button during checkout ON.

  1. Start a new sale.
  2. Tap Add customer or tap Actions > Customer.
  3. Tap the + icon and enter your new customer’s information.
  4. Tap Save.
  5. Complete the transaction.

A “Customer saved” banner will appear when your customer is added.

Option 3: Add a new customer after a sale

If you've completed a sale but didn't add a customer to it, you can still add your customer's contact information afterward.

Square Dashboard

  1. Sign in to your Square Dashboard and click Reporting > Transactions.
  2. Click on the selected transaction.
  3. Click ••• next to Send Receipt, then click Add Customer.
  4. Click Create New Customer and enter your new customer’s information.
  5. Click Save.

A “You have added a customer” banner will appear when your customer is added.

Square POS app

First, make sure you enable Customer management by tapping ≡ More > Settings > Checkout > Customer management > toggle Show Add customer button after checkout ON.

If you’ve completed a sale and haven’t yet tapped New Sale, you can still add your customer’s contact information. To do so:

  1. From the receipts screen, tap Add Customer.
  2. Tap Create Customer > enter your customer’s information > tap Save.

Bulk import customers

If you want to upload and manage multiple customer profiles at once, you can use the bulk import tool to make bulk additions or changes to your Customer Directory using a spreadsheet. The import tool is only available on Square Dashboard. You'll be unable to subscribe previously unsubscribed customers into email marketing using the import tool.

  1. Sign in to your Square Dashboard and click Marketing & loyalty > Customer directory.

  2. Click Import/Export > Import customers.

  3. Click either Download template or Next (if you already have a spreadsheet ready).

  4. Upload your file and click Next.

  5. Review and assign the fields, then click Import.

The import process can take up to a few minutes to complete. You can view a summary of the imported customer profiles after the process is completed with the following details:

  • Imported: New customer profiles that were created in the directory.

  • Matched to existing customers: Customers in these rows matched existing customer profiles. If your import file had any additional information about them, it'll be added to their profiles.

  • Failed: Customers in these rows were not processed due to an error. Click Fix and reimport to download a file that lists out the errors.  

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