Why Use Contact Filters and Groups

Contact filters and groups let you segment your contact list based on specific criteria — such as tags, field values, phone type, or activity — so you can quickly take action on a targeted subset of your contacts. You can apply a filter to view a temporary list, or save the filtered results as a contact group that updates automatically in real time as contacts meet or stop meeting the criteria.

How to Filter Contacts

You can filter contacts based on nearly any piece of information on a contact record — including standard contact fields, custom fields, tags, events, and phone type. You can stack multiple filter criteria to build a precise list.

1. In the left-hand navigation, click Contacts to open the contacts list.

   

2. Click the Filter button at the top of the contacts list to open the filter panel.

   

   The Filter button is located at the top of the contacts list. Clicking it opens the filter panel where you can add filter criteria.

3. In the filter panel, click the Add a filter drop-down and select a filter from the menu. Filters can be based on events, tags, or any field on the contact record — including standard fields and custom fields.

   

   The Add a filter drop-down displays the available filter categories. Select the filter type that matches the criteria you want to use.

4. After selecting a filter, configure the additional criteria for that filter. Many filters allow you to set conditions such as "contains," "does not contain," "is empty," or "is filled" to include or exclude contacts based on the value of the selected field.

   

   The filter criteria drop-down displays the available conditions for the selected filter. Select the condition that matches what you want to filter for.

5. To narrow the list further, add additional filter criteria by clicking Add a filter again and selecting a second filter. You can stack as many filters as needed to build a precise contact list.

   

   The filter panel displays multiple filter criteria stacked vertically. Contacts must match all criteria to appear in the filtered results.

   Tip: To filter for multiple values within the same filter, separate the values with a comma. For example, to find contacts whose email address contains either "keap" or "gmail," use the email filter set to "contains" and enter keap, gmail in the value field.

6. Click the View contacts button to apply the filter and display the contacts that match all the criteria you configured.

   

   The View contacts button is located at the bottom of the filter panel. Clicking it applies all configured filters and displays the matching contacts in the contacts list.

7. To clear the filter and return to the full contacts list, click the Filter button again and click Reset to remove all active filter criteria.

   

   The Reset button is located at the top of the filter panel. Clicking Reset clears all active filter criteria and returns the contacts list to its unfiltered state.

How to Create a Saved Contact Group

Saving a filtered contact list as a group creates a dynamic list that updates automatically in real time. Contacts are added to the group when they meet the filter criteria and are removed from the group if they no longer meet the criteria.

1. Apply filters to your contacts list using the steps in the How to Filter Contacts section above to define the criteria for the group.

2. Click Save filtered contacts as a list to open the save dialog.

   

   The Save filtered contacts as a list button appears above the contacts list after filters have been applied. Clicking the button opens a dialog to name and save the group.

3. Enter a name for the group in the name field and click Save.

   

   The save dialog displays the name input field and the Save button. Enter a descriptive name for the group and click Save to create it.

4. The new group will appear in the Contact groups list in the left-hand column of the Contacts section.

   

   The Contact groups list in the left-hand column now displays the newly saved group. Clicking the group name filters the contacts list to show only the contacts that currently match the group's criteria.

How to Update a Saved Contact Group

1. In the left-hand navigation, click Contacts and then click Groups to open the Groups page.

   

2. On the Groups page, click the name of the group you want to update to open it.

   

3. Click the ellipses button to open the group options menu and select Edit.

   

   The ellipses button opens a menu with options for the selected group. The Edit option opens the filter criteria editor for the group.

4. Adjust the filter criteria as needed. When finished, click Save list to update the existing group with the new criteria, or click Save as a new list to create a new group while keeping the original group unchanged.

   

   The filter criteria editor displays the current criteria for the group. The Save list button updates the existing group. The Save as a new list button creates a new group with the updated criteria without modifying the original group.

How to Show or Hide Contact Groups

If you have many contact groups, you can hide the ones you use infrequently to reduce clutter in the left-hand column without deleting the groups.

1. Click the View/hide groups button at the top of the Contact groups list in the left-hand column.

   

   The View/hide groups button is located at the top of the Contact groups panel. Clicking it opens the group visibility management panel.

2. In the group visibility panel, toggle the visibility of each group to show or hide it in the Contact groups list. Groups that are hidden do not appear in the left-hand column but are not deleted.

   

   The group visibility panel displays all contact groups with a toggle switch next to each group name. Turning a toggle off hides that group from the left-hand column. Turning it back on makes the group visible again.

How to Sort Your Contacts

By default, contacts are sorted by date added with the most recently added contact at the top. You can change the sort order using the Sort button. The sort order resets to the default — date added, newest first — when you log out.

1. In the left-hand navigation, click Contacts to open the contacts list.

   

2. Click the Sort button at the top of the contacts list to open the sort options.

   

   The Sort button is located at the top of the contacts list. Clicking it opens a drop-down with the available sort options.

3. Select the sort option you want to apply. The contacts list will reorder immediately based on the option selected.

How to Find Contacts by Phone Type

Filtering by phone type is useful when you need to identify contacts with text-capable mobile numbers for a text message broadcast or automated text sequence. Contacts imported from other systems may have their mobile numbers classified as "Work" or "Other" rather than "Mobile," which can prevent them from receiving text messages. Use this filter to find those contacts and update their phone number type.

The phone type filter displays the available phone type options — Mobile, Work, Other — as criteria. Select the phone type you want to filter for to find all contacts whose phone number is classified under that type.

How to Find Contacts with Missing Information

You can create a filter to find contacts that are missing a specific field value — such as a phone number or email address — so you can follow up to collect the missing information.

Note: When filtering for email, phone, or fax fields using the standard filter, Keap searches all standard field types — Work, Personal, Other, and Mobile. Custom fields that are the phone or email type are not included in the standard field filter. To filter custom phone or email fields for missing data, add each custom field individually using the Is empty criteria.

1. Open the filter panel by clicking the Filter button on the contacts list page.

2. Click Add a filter and select the field you want to check for missing data — for example, Email or Phone.

   

3. In the criteria drop-down for the selected field, select Is empty.

   

   Selecting Is empty as the criteria filters the contacts list to show only contacts who do not have a value in the selected field.

4. Click View contacts to see all contacts where the selected field is empty, or click Save filtered contacts as a list to save the result as a group you can revisit and take action on over time.

   

   The View contacts button applies the filter and displays the matching contacts. Saving the filter as a list creates a group that automatically updates as contacts are added to or removed from your CRM.