Resources · Make integration

Google Contacts Make integrationAutomate Google Contacts with Make.

What if every new lead landed in the right contact group without a single copy and paste? The Google Contacts Make integration gives you 17 modules, 2 of them triggers. This guide is for people who know Google Contacts but are new to Make, and it walks you from connection to a working first scenario.

Try the Google Contacts integration on MakeSee the 17 modules

Verified Trustpilot reviews · AI, automation & growth agency

What you can automate

What can the Google Contacts Make integration do for you?

The Google Contacts Make integration links your Google address book to Make, so contacts and contact groups can be read, created, updated or deleted by an automation instead of by hand. In Make, that automation is called a scenario: a chain of bricks, called modules, that each do one job on one app.

New leads filed without typing. A form tool or a CRM receives a new lead, Create a Contact adds the person to Google Contacts, and Add/Remove Contacts from a Group drops them into the group your sales team works from.

Changes pushed to the tools that need them. Watch Contacts picks up contacts created or updated in your address book. From there, Get a Contact reads the full record and the next module sends it to a spreadsheet, a newsletter tool or a helpdesk.

Groups that stay tidy. Watch Contact Groups notices a new or renamed group, List Contact Groups gives you the full inventory, and Update a Contact Group or Delete a Contact Group handles the cleanup once a campaign is over.

What the modules do not cover, Make an API Call reaches through the same connection. One limit from the documentation: whatever Make receives from Google APIs is used and passed to other apps under the Google API Services User Data Policy. The same app also has an n8n node, described on the Google Contacts n8n integration page, and the n8n vs Make comparison helps you pick a tool. If you would rather learn the editor step by step, the Make training starts from zero.

Connect

How do you connect Google Contacts to Make?

  1. 01

    Add a Google Contacts module

    Open your scenario, add any Google Contacts module and click Create a connection. A connection is your Google account linked to Make once, then reused by every Google Contacts module. You can type a label in Connection name, which helps if you connect several accounts.

  2. 02

    Sign in and grant access

    Click Sign in with Google, pick the account that holds your contacts, and confirm access if Google asks. That is enough for most people: the connection appears in the module and Make can now list your groups and contacts.

  3. 03

    Use your own client if needed

    Some teams prefer their own Google Cloud project. Switch on Show advanced settings and paste the Client ID and Client secret of an OAuth client created there, with the Google People API enabled and https://www.integromat.com/oauth/cb/google/ as the redirect URI.

First scenario

Your first scenario: file every new lead in the right group

GoalWhen a new lead arrives in another app, Make creates the contact in Google Contacts and adds it to your leads group.

  1. 01

    Create the scenario

    From the Scenarios page, create a new scenario and click the big +. The first module is the app where your leads arrive, such as your form tool or your CRM, with its own connection.

  2. 02

    Add Create a Contact

    Click the + to the right of that first module, search for Google Contacts and pick Create a Contact. Choose your connection, then map the contact details that the first module sends, so nothing gets retyped.

  3. 03

    Add the group step

    Add Add/Remove Contacts from a Group after it. Once the connection exists, Make shows your groups, so you just pick the leads group and map the contact that the previous module created.

  4. 04

    Test with Run once

    Click Run once and send a test lead. Each module shows the bundles it received, a bundle being one item passing from module to module, here one contact. Check the new contact sits in the right group.

  5. 05

    Schedule and switch it on

    Open the clock on the first module to set the schedule, every 15 minutes by default for a new scenario, then switch the scenario on. Each module run on one bundle is an operation, the unit Make counts on your plan.

Triggers

What starts a Google Contacts scenario?

2 modules start a scenario when something happens in Google Contacts. A scheduled trigger is checked by Make on the scenario's schedule; an instant one is called by Google Contacts as soon as it happens.

Google Contacts1Watch Contacts

Watch Contacts

Scheduled trigger

In Make“Triggers when a contact is created or updated.”

Watch Contacts starts your scenario whenever a contact is created or updated in Google Contacts, and hands each one to the next module. It is the natural first brick when your address book is the place where people get added.

How it fires
scheduled, so Make checks the app on the scenario's schedule (every 15 minutes by default, down to 1 minute on paid plans) instead of being called at the moment of the change.
When to use it
a salesperson saves a new client in Google Contacts and you want that person copied into your CRM or mailing list.
Watch out
updates count too, so a scenario that edits the same contacts it watches can pick them up again on the next check.
Google Contacts2Watch Contact Groups

Watch Contact Groups

Scheduled trigger

In Make“Triggers when a contact group is created or updated.”

Watch Contact Groups reacts to your labels rather than to people: it launches the scenario when a contact group is created or updated. Handy when groups mirror something real, like a new client account or a new event.

How it fires
scheduled. Make checks the app on the scenario's schedule, so a new group shows up at the next check, not instantly.
When to use it
someone creates a group for a new trade show, and you want a matching list or tag created in your email tool.
Watch out
renaming a group also counts as an update, so a scenario that edits groups should not start from this trigger.
Modules

What can Make do in Google Contacts?

Google Contacts gives you 15 modules in 4 groups. For each one: what it does for you, when to reach for it, and what to watch out for.

Contact

7 modules
Google Contacts1

List My Contacts

Search

In Make“Retrieves my list of contacts.”

Your whole address book comes out in one go with List My Contacts, one bundle per person, so later modules can work through everyone in a single run.

When to use it
a one-off export of all your contacts to a spreadsheet before a cleanup.
Watch out
a long list means many bundles, and every module after it spends one operation per contact.
Google Contacts2

Search Contacts

Search

In Make“Searches for contacts.”

Search Contacts looks for matching people in your address book and returns zero, one or several results, which makes it the right check before you create anyone.

When to use it
a lead comes in from your website and you want to know whether that person already exists before adding them.
Watch out
plan for the zero-result and the several-results cases, for example with a filter after the module.
Google Contacts3

Search Directory Contacts

Search

In Make“Searches for contacts within the user's domain directory.”

Search Directory Contacts searches your domain directory, meaning the colleagues listed by your organization rather than the people you saved yourself.

When to use it
a request form names an internal teammate, and you need that teammate's details to route the request or copy them in.
Watch out
it only makes sense for an account that belongs to a domain directory; with your own Google Cloud client, the directory scope must be on the consent screen.
Google Contacts4

List Other Contacts

Search

In Make“Retrieves a list of other contacts.”

List Other Contacts reads the Other contacts list of your Google account, which Make exposes as its own module next to List My Contacts, one bundle per entry.

When to use it
you want to review people who are not in your main list yet and promote the relevant ones with Create a Contact.
Watch out
with your own Google Cloud client, add the other contacts read-only scope on the consent screen before testing it.
Google Contacts5

Get a Contact

Action

In Make“Retrieves information about the specified contact.”

Get a Contact fetches the complete record of one person you already identified, so the next module works with fresh details and not with a partial copy.

When to use it
right after Watch Contacts or Search Contacts, when you need all the details of that one person before writing them elsewhere.
Watch out
it needs a specific contact, so map the identifier from an earlier module instead of typing one.
Google Contacts6

Update a Contact

Action

In Make“Updates an existing Contact.”

Update a Contact rewrites an existing entry, so a change recorded in another tool also reaches your Google address book.

When to use it
your CRM records that a client moved to another company. Google Contacts should catch up without anyone retyping the change by hand.
Watch out
pair it with Search Contacts to find the right person first, and avoid watching the same contacts with Watch Contacts in that scenario.
Google Contacts7

Delete a Contact

Action

In Make“Deletes a contact.”

Delete a Contact removes one person from the connected address book, which is useful for clearing out entries that another system has already retired.

When to use it
a client closes their account in your billing tool and you do not want their details lingering in the shared address book.
Watch out
treat each deletion as final and test on a dummy contact with Run once before switching the scenario on.

Contact Group

5 modules
Google Contacts8

List Contact Groups

Search

In Make“Retrieves a list of contact groups.”

List Contact Groups returns all the groups of the account as bundles, which gives you a clear inventory of how your contacts are organized today.

When to use it
you are auditing your labels before a reorganization and want them written to a sheet for review.
Watch out
it lists the groups only; searching inside a group takes another module, such as Search Contacts.
Google Contacts9

Get a Contact Group

Action

In Make“Gets metadata of a specified contact group.”

Get a Contact Group reads the metadata of one group, such as its name, so a scenario can check what a group looks like before doing anything with it.

When to use it
after Watch Contact Groups, to read the details of the group that just changed and pass them on to another app.
Watch out
you get information about the group, not a list of the people inside it.
Google Contacts10

Create a Contact Group

Action

In Make“Creates a new contact group.”

Create a Contact Group adds a new label to your address book, so contacts coming from a fresh project have a home before the first one arrives.

When to use it
a new client project opens in your project tool and you want a matching group ready for its stakeholders.
Watch out
run List Contact Groups first if the same name could already exist, to avoid ending up with twins.
Google Contacts11

Update a Contact Group

Action

In Make“Updates an existing contact group.”

Update a Contact Group changes an existing group, typically its name, so your labels keep matching the names used in your other tools.

When to use it
a client renames its company in your CRM and the matching group should carry the new name too.
Watch out
the change shows up in Watch Contact Groups, so do not chain both in a single scenario.
Google Contacts12

Delete a Contact Group

Action

In Make“Deletes a contact group.”

Delete a Contact Group removes a label you no longer need and keeps the group list short enough to stay useful for the whole team.

When to use it
an event is over and its dedicated group only clutters the address book.
Watch out
treat it as final, and check the group name with Get a Contact Group before the delete step runs.

Other

1 module
Google Contacts13

Make an API Call

Action

In Make“Performs an arbitrary authorized API call.”

Make an API Call lets you call any endpoint of the Google Contacts API from your scenario, with the same connection as the other modules, which covers what the listed modules leave out.

When to use it
you need an operation that no module above offers and you know which endpoint handles it.
Watch out
you write the request yourself, so keep the Google People API reference open while you set it up.

Other modules

2 modules
Google Contacts14

Add/Remove Contacts from a Group

Action

In Make“Adds or Removes contacts from a specified contact group.”

Add/Remove Contacts from a Group moves people in or out of a group in one step, which is how a scenario keeps your segments in line with reality.

When to use it
a lead becomes a customer in your CRM, so you take them out of the prospects group and put them in the customers group.
Watch out
the group must exist first, so pick it from the list Make shows or create it with Create a Contact Group.
Google Contacts15

Create a Contact

Action

In Make“Creates a new contact.”

Create a Contact writes a new person into Google Contacts from data sent by another app, so nobody has to retype a name, email or phone number.

When to use it
a webinar sign-up or a signed quote should turn into a saved contact right away.
Watch out
run Search Contacts before it, otherwise the same person arriving twice ends up as two entries.
Need help

Need help automating Google Contacts with Make?

A person reads every message.

FAQ

Google Contacts and Make: common questions

01Is the Google Contacts Make integration free?
Yes, Google Contacts is a standard app, so it works on the Free plan of Make. That plan has its own limits: 2 active scenarios, at least 15 minutes between two scheduled runs, 5 minutes of execution per run, files up to 5 MB and 512 MB of data transfer. Paid plans (Core, Pro, Teams and Enterprise) lower the interval to 1 minute, remove the cap on active scenarios and count usage in operations per month.
02What do you need to connect Google Contacts to Make?
A Google account and a Make account are enough in most cases: add a Google Contacts module, click Create a connection, then Sign in with Google and confirm access. The documentation lists no other prerequisite. Your own Google Cloud client is optional, through Show advanced settings, and then it needs the Google People API enabled, the contacts scopes and the Make redirect URI. Once the connection exists, every Google Contacts module in your scenarios reuses it, so you only go through this once per account.
03Do the Google Contacts triggers in Make work in real time?
No. Both triggers, Watch Contacts and Watch Contact Groups, are scheduled: Make checks Google Contacts on the scenario's schedule instead of being called by Google when something changes. A new scenario runs every 15 minutes by default. On the Free plan 15 minutes is also the shortest interval, while paid plans go down to 1 minute. There is no instant trigger for this app. If you need a faster reaction, lower the interval on a paid plan; if you do not need a trigger at all, a scenario can also start from another app.
04What if a Google Contacts module is missing in Make?
Use Make an API Call. It sends a request to any endpoint of the Google Contacts API with the connection you already set up, so you are not limited to the 17 listed modules. Keep in mind one rule from the documentation: data Make receives from Google APIs is used and shared with other apps under the Google API Services User Data Policy. If that rule gets in the way of your plan, keep the data inside Google.
05Should you use Make or n8n for Google Contacts?
It depends on the tool your team already runs. Google Contacts has a Make app with 17 modules, covered on this page, and it also has an n8n node, covered on its own page on this site. Nothing here ranks one above the other. Compare the modules each one offers against your use case, and read the comparison of the two tools linked in the section above before you decide.
Same platform

Other docs you might need on this stack.

Browse all integrations