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title: "How To: Add a Contact and Navigate the Contact Record in HubSpot"
description: "How To: Add a Contact and Navigate the Contact Record in HubSpot"
---

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October 21, 2026

# How To: Add a Contact and Navigate the Contact Record in HubSpot

## This article walks you through adding a new contact to HubSpot and finding your way around a contact record. It covers creating a contact, what each part of the record shows, the everyday actions you'll take from it, and fixes for common issues.

**Add a contact**

Path: **CRM \> Contacts \> Add contact \> Create new**. Before you start, search the Contacts list for the person's email to make sure they aren't already in HubSpot.

1. In HubSpot, go to **CRM \> Contacts**. If you don't see CRM in the main navigation, click **More** first.
2. In the upper right, click **Add contact**, then select **Create new**.
3. In the right panel, enter the contact's **Email** first. Always include an email: HubSpot uses it to catch duplicates and to link the contact to their company automatically.
4. Fill in **First name**, **Last name**, **Job title** and **Phone number**.
5. Set **Contact owner** to yourself if this is your prospect.
6. Set **Lifecycle stage** and **Lead status** if you know them.
7. Set **Legal basis for processing contact's data**.
8. Click **Create**. To save and add another, click **Create and add another**.

Find the new contact in the Contacts list and click their name to open the record.

**Other ways contacts get created:** imports from a spreadsheet, website form submissions, and emails you log with the HubSpot Sales Chrome extension. You don't need to add those by hand.

**Navigate the contact record**

Every contact record has three areas: a left sidebar, a middle column and a right sidebar. Open any contact from **CRM \> Contacts** by clicking their name.

| Area | What you'll find | What you'll use it for |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Left sidebar** | Name, email, job title and owner at the top; quick-action icons (email, call, note, task, meeting); key property cards below, including Tradeshow Details and Demo Details | Contact details at a glance, quick actions, editing properties |
| **Middle column** | **Overview** tab (opens first: summary, key properties, associations) and **Activities** tab (timeline of emails, calls, meetings, notes and tasks) | The full history of your conversations with this person |
| **Right sidebar** | Cards for associated **Companies**, **Deals** and **Tickets**, plus **Attachments** | Jumping to related records and adding associations |

**Handy left-sidebar tricks:**

- Hover over any property and click the **pencil icon** to edit it in place.
- Click **Actions \> View all properties** to see every field on the contact, including empty ones.
- Click **Actions \> View property history** to see who changed a value and when.

**Filtering the Activities tab:** use the tabs or filters at the top of the timeline to show only emails, calls, meetings, notes or tasks.

**Slide custom cards:** two cards in the left sidebar, Tradeshow Details and Demo Details, give you quick visibility into tradeshow and demo information.

| Card | Fields |
| --- | --- |
| **Tradeshow Details** | Tradeshows, Recent Tradeshow, Recent Tradeshow Tag, Recent Tradeshow Notes, Recent Tradeshow Next Steps |
| **Demo Details** | Demo Booked Date, Demo Scheduled Date, Demo Delivered Date, Demo Call Notes/New Meeting Notes |

Both cards are view-only. Their values can't be changed.

**Everyday actions from a contact**

| To do this | Go here |
| --- | --- |
| Send an email | Left sidebar **email icon**. Sends from your connected Gmail and logs to the timeline. |
| Log a call, meeting or email you had outside HubSpot | Middle column **Activities** tab \> **Log** (or the matching tab), then fill in the details. |
| Add a note | Left sidebar **note icon**. |
| Create a follow-up task | Left sidebar **task icon**. Set a due date and it appears in your task queue. |
| Book a meeting | Left sidebar **meeting icon**. Uses your connected Google Calendar. |
| Link to a company | Right sidebar **Companies** card \> **Add**, then search for the company. |
| Link to a deal | Right sidebar **Deals** card \> **Add**, then pick an existing deal or create a new one. |

Tip: always associate contacts with their company and any open deal. That keeps every email, call and meeting visible on the company and deal records too.

**Troubleshooting**

| Problem | What to do |
| --- | --- |
| HubSpot says a contact with that email already exists | Open the existing record instead of creating a new one. If it belongs to another rep, check with your manager before changing the owner. |
| Can't edit other fields when creating | Enter the email (or first and last name) first; the other fields unlock after that. |
| Contact didn't link to their company | Check the email uses the company's domain, not a personal address. Otherwise add the company by hand from the right sidebar. |
| Activities missing from the timeline | Check your email and calendar are still connected (see the email and calendar guides), and clear any timeline filters. |
| Can't see or edit a contact | You may not have access to records owned by other teams. Ask your HubSpot admin. |

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