How can contracts be uploaded via email?

The screenshots in this article show the German interface. Where a button or field matters, the German label is given in brackets so you can match text to screenshot.


Every team in your account has its own import email address. Send or forward a contract to that address and it is created in ContractHero automatically. This article shows you where to find the address, what gets imported and how to automate the forwarding.


What's in it for you


Instead of uploading every contract manually via the "Upload" button, you save anything from a few seconds to a few minutes per contract: supplier invoices, NDAs and order confirmations move straight from your inbox into ContractHero. Set up a routing rule once and every incoming contract email lands in the system automatically, with nobody having to forward anything. Setup takes under 15 minutes, and after that it runs in the background.


How it works


1. How to find your import address


Go to Settings („Einstellungen").




Then go to Import & Export → Import via email („Import & Export → Import via E-Mail"). On the "Add contracts via email" („Verträge via E-Mail hinzufügen") page, subtitled "Import new contracts by email" („Neue Verträge per E-Mail importieren"), you will see a table with the columns "IMPORT EMAIL ADDRESS" („IMPORT E-MAIL-ADRESSE") and "TEAM NAME" („TEAMNAME").


Each team in your account has its own import address, following this pattern:


import+<unique-id>@contracthero.com


Use the copy icon next to an address to grab the right one — contracts then land in the team whose address you used.





2. Send or forward a contract by email


The new way: all attachment types are now possible, but only one contract per email.


The old way is still available — just get in touch with us about it first:


  • Only PDF files are accepted as attachments (no EML, no DOCX, no JPG).
  • If an email has several PDF attachments, each PDF attachment is imported as a separate contract.
  • The upload happens within a few minutes.


3. Automating it with routing rules (recommended)


If you receive contracts by email regularly, it is worth setting up automatic forwarding at your email provider. Instructions per provider:


  • Microsoft 365 / Outlook — mail flow rule in the Exchange Admin Center, shared mailbox, or Outlook rule. See the related article "How do I import contracts from Outlook / Microsoft 365 via email?"
  • Gmail / Google Workspace — routing rule in the Google Admin Console, shared mailbox, or Gmail filter. See the related article "How do I import contracts from Gmail / Google Workspace via email?"


4. After the import: check the sender in the change log


As soon as the contract has been created in ContractHero, an entry appears in the contract's change log („Änderungsprotokoll", the "Activity" („Aktivität") tab on the right) marked "uploaded via email import" („per E-Mail-Import hochgeladen") — including the sender address the email came from. That way you can see after the fact who delivered the contract and follow up with the sender if you have questions.


Common questions


Which file formats are imported?
All attachment types are now possible, but only one contract per email.


The old way is still available — just get in touch with us about it first:


  • Only PDF files are accepted as attachments (no EML, no DOCX, no JPG).
  • If an email has several PDF attachments, each PDF attachment is imported as a separate contract.
  • The upload happens within a few minutes.


Where can I see that a contract was imported by email?
After the import, an entry appears in the contract's change log („Änderungsprotokoll", Activity tab) marked "uploaded via email import" („per E-Mail-Import hochgeladen") — including the sender address the email came from. Handy for audits, team handovers or queries back to the supplier.


Are emails without an attachment imported?
No. An email is only processed if it contains at least one PDF attachment.


Can I connect several addresses to ContractHero?
Yes. You can set up as many routing rules in Microsoft 365 or Gmail as you like, all forwarding to the same ContractHero import address or to different ones.


How long does the import take?
Usually within a few minutes. With large PDFs or at peak times it can take a little longer.


Which team does an imported contract land in?
The team whose import address was used. Each team has its own address — so make sure you copy from the right row.


What happens to the original email in my mailbox?
Nothing — forwarding to ContractHero is an additional send, and the original email stays unchanged in your inbox (unless your mail rule actively deletes or moves it).


Do my permissions also apply to imported contracts?
Yes. Imported contracts follow your normal role and team setup — whoever has access to the target team sees the contracts.


Good to know


  • Don't share the import address publicly. Anyone who knows the address could in theory deliver PDFs into your account. Treat it as an internal routing secret.
  • Traceable via the activity tab. The sender of every imported email is recorded in that contract's change log — handy for audits, team handovers or queries back to the supplier.
  • A routing rule scales better than manual forwarding. If you receive more than two or three contracts a month by email, the one-off setup in your mail provider's admin centre pays for itself many times over.
  • Use a real contract PDF for your test. Test documents without proper clauses distort the result — the AI field recognition only has something to work with once there is real contract text.
  • We help with the setup. During onboarding we set the routing rule up together, in case you are unsure about the admin centre.



Updated on: 08/26/2026

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