How to Send Bulk SMS from Excel in Uganda — Step by Step Guide

The most common SMS question we get

"I have my contacts in Excel — how do I send SMS to all of them at once?"

This is the #1 question new Yoola SMS users ask. Today we're going to answer it completely, with screenshots and step-by-step instructions. By the end, you'll be able to send personalized SMS to thousands of contacts in under 10 minutes.

What you need before you start

• A Yoola SMS account (free to create at yoolasms.com)
• Your contacts in an Excel file or CSV
• Some SMS credits topped up (from UGX 2,500 minimum)
• About 10 minutes

Step 1: Format your Excel file correctly

Yoola SMS accepts Excel files (.xlsx, .xls) and CSV files. The minimum required column is the phone number. Optional columns let you personalize messages.

Minimum format

Just one column with phone numbers:

Phone
256712345678
256772123456
256755987654

Recommended format with names for personalization

Name        | Phone         | Balance
John Doe    | 256712345678  | 250000
Mary Smith  | 256772123456  | 150000
Peter Okello| 256755987654  | 0

Important rules for phone numbers

• Use international format starting with country code: 256 for Uganda (no + sign needed)
• Acceptable formats: 256712345678, +256712345678, 0712345678 (we auto-convert)
• One number per row
• No spaces or dashes within numbers

Step 2: Clean your data (the part most people skip)

Before uploading, check for:

• Duplicates — Excel's Remove Duplicates feature (Data → Remove Duplicates) catches obvious ones; Yoola SMS auto-removes more on upload
• Invalid numbers — anything shorter than 9 digits or longer than 12
• Empty cells — delete any rows missing phone numbers
• Mixed formats — pick one format (we recommend 256712345678) and use it throughout

Tip: keep your master contact list in Excel as your source of truth. Upload subsets to Yoola SMS as needed.

Step 3: Upload to Yoola SMS

1. Log into your Yoola SMS dashboard at yoolasms.com/login
2. Click "Phonebook" in the left sidebar
3. Click "Import Contacts"
4. Choose your Excel file
5. Map columns: select which column is "Phone" and (optionally) which is "Name"
6. Choose a group name (e.g. "Parents 2026" or "Customers Q3")
7. Click "Upload"

Yoola SMS will show you:

• Total contacts processed
• Duplicates automatically removed
• Invalid numbers skipped
• Final count imported

Step 4: Compose your message

1. Click "Compose SMS" in the sidebar
2. In the recipients box, select the group you just uploaded (or type/paste numbers manually)
3. Choose your sender (default is "ATInfo" — or your branded sender ID if you have one)
4. Type your message in the message box

Personalization with merge fields

If your Excel had a Name column, you can personalize each SMS:

Hi {name}, your school fees of UGX {balance} are due Friday.

Yoola SMS replaces {name} and {balance} with each contact's actual data. Each recipient gets their own personalized message.

Message length tips

• One SMS = 160 characters max
• If your message is longer, it's charged as 2 SMS (or 3, or 4...)
• Yoola SMS shows the character count and SMS count as you type
• Special characters like emojis count as multiple characters — use sparingly

Step 5: Send (or schedule)

Once your message looks good:

• Click "Send Now" to send immediately
• Or click "Schedule" to send at a specific date/time (e.g. Saturday 9am for a Sunday service reminder)

Yoola SMS will send to thousands of contacts in seconds. You'll see real-time delivery reports as messages reach recipients.

Step 6: Check delivery reports

Go to "Sent Messages" in the sidebar. You'll see:

• Delivered count (green)
• Failed count (red)
• Pending count (yellow)
• Per-recipient delivery status

Typical delivery rates on Yoola SMS: 95%+ delivered within 30 seconds. Failures are usually invalid numbers or barred lines.

Common Excel-to-SMS problems and solutions

"My numbers show as scientific notation in Excel (1.23E+11)"

Excel auto-converts long numbers. Fix: format the Phone column as Text (right-click column → Format Cells → Text) before entering numbers. Or add an apostrophe before each number: '256712345678

"Some contacts have leading zeros stripped (712345678 instead of 0712345678)"

Yoola SMS auto-handles this — we recognize Ugandan local format and add the country code. But for safety, save numbers in international format (256...) from the start.

"I get duplicates even though I removed them in Excel"

Sometimes the same person is in twice with different formats (256712345678 and 0712345678). Yoola SMS detects these as duplicates on upload and keeps only one. Trust the upload report.

"Half my SMS failed — what happened?"

Common causes:

• Invalid numbers (typos)
• Disconnected lines (numbers no longer active)
• Barred lines (UCC blocked numbers)
• Network congestion (rare, usually resolves with retry)

You're not charged for failed SMS on Yoola SMS.

Advanced: sending via Yoola SMS API instead

If you're a developer or have a system that already manages your contacts, you can send SMS programmatically via Yoola SMS's REST API. See API documentation for code samples in 9 languages.

Ready to send your first bulk SMS from Excel?

Create a free Yoola SMS account, upload your Excel, and send in under 10 minutes. We'll give you 3 free SMS to test before you top up.

Get started free →