How to Import Your Christmas Card Address List Into BetterFriend

Moving your Christmas card address list into BetterFriend takes about five minutes. Most people already have the list as a spreadsheet somewhere; if you do, you can upload it directly to BetterFriend, and we'll match the columns. The one piece you'll need to add: birthdays, since Christmas lists don't track them.

Why move your Christmas card list at all

Your Minted address book is the most curated list of people you'll ever maintain. Every name on it is someone you cared enough to send a card to last December. The question isn't whether those people deserve to hear from you again. It's whether you have to wait until next December to do it.

BetterFriend uses the same list across the calendar. Birthdays. Recurring monthly cards to grandma. A real photo postcard to a friend having a rough week. The list does the work; we handle the printing and the mail.

You don't have to retype anyone. The list comes with you.

Step 0: Do you already have the spreadsheet?

Most Christmas card lists already live as a spreadsheet somewhere: Google Drive, Dropbox, iCloud, an email attachment from last December, or a file on your laptop. Often named something like "Christmas Cards 2024" or "Holiday Card List." If you have one, you can just use that.

Find it, save it as a CSV (in Google Sheets: File → Download → Comma Separated Values; in Excel: File → Save As → CSV), and skip ahead to Step 2. You don't need to touch Minted at all.

If you genuinely don't have a spreadsheet anywhere and the list only lives inside Minted, keep reading.

Step 1: Export your Minted address book

Sign in to minted.com and head to your account. The address book lives somewhere under your account settings; look for "Address Book" in the navigation. Once you're in the address book, look for an export button (sometimes labeled "Download" or "Export to CSV"). The file lands in your downloads folder.

If you don't see an export option (Minted has reshuffled this interface a few times over the years), skip to Workarounds below. We've solved for this.

Step 2: Don't worry about formatting

BetterFriend auto-matches common column names. If your CSV has "Name," "Address," "City," "State," "Zip" (or close variations), we map them. If your column names are unusual ("Recipient" instead of "Name," "Apartment" instead of "Unit"), the import wizard shows you the matched fields and lets you fix anything we got wrong. No spreadsheet surgery required.

We dedupe by name on import. If you re-upload the same file later, you won't get doubles.

Step 3: Upload to BetterFriend

Sign up at betterfriend.today (about a minute). From the dashboard:

1. Click Contacts in the sidebar
2. Click Import contacts
3. Choose Spreadsheet (CSV)
4. Drag your Minted CSV onto the upload area
5. Review the column matching
6. Click Import

You'll land on a contact list populated with everyone from your Christmas card. If anyone has an incomplete address, BetterFriend flags it with a small warning icon and tells you what's missing (usually a ZIP code or apartment number). You can fix those individually or in bulk.

Step 4: Add birthdays as you go

This is the difference between a Christmas card list and a BetterFriend list. Christmas cards don't need birthdays. BetterFriend does.

You have three options, in order of how much effort you want to spend up front:

Approach	Time	When to use
Add as you go	0 minutes now	The default. The weekly digest will eventually surface every contact, and you can add birthdays when prompted.
Bulk paste from another source	5–15 minutes	If you have a Facebook birthday export, a family birthday list, or a calendar with everyone's dates.
Add the close ones first	5 minutes	Add birthdays for the 10–15 people you'd be most upset to miss. The rest can fill in over time.

There is no penalty for not having a birthday on file. Contacts without birthdays still receive any ad-hoc cards you decide to send. They just won't appear in the weekly birthday digest.

Step 5: Send your first card

Once your list is in, find someone with an upcoming birthday or pick anyone for a "Just Because" send. Pick a photo. Pick a style (watercolor, woodblock, vintage travel poster, or pure photo). Write a short note. Hit send.

The card prints on real cardstock the next business day, gets stamped, and arrives in their mailbox within five to seven days. For birthday sends, we time it so the card lands the day before.

The first three cards are on us. No charge until day 14.

Workarounds: what to do if Minted's export isn't where you expect

Minted has reorganized the address book interface several times. If you can't find a CSV download where I described, try these in order:

• Copy-paste into a Google Sheet. Open your Minted address book. Select all entries (Cmd+A or Ctrl+A on the table view). Paste into a fresh Google Sheet. Use File → Download → CSV to get a working file.
• Use BetterFriend's photo import. If you have a printed copy of your address book, snap a photo and upload it. Our import will read names and addresses from the image and let you confirm each one.
• Type it in. If your list is small (20–30 people), the manual-add interface is fast. Each contact takes about 30 seconds.

The CSV path is the cleanest, but no version of this is hard. Even a complete manual rebuild of a 50-person list takes about half an hour. Worth it. You only do it once.

What you've just set up

A real photo postcard going to your mom on her birthday. A monthly card to your grandmother. A quick note to a college friend you haven't seen in three years. Birthday cards lined up for your sister's family for the next twelve months.

None of this used to be possible without a calendar, a stack of stamps, and a free Sunday afternoon. The list is doing the work now. You're free to think about the people, not the logistics.

FAQ

Will I lose my Minted address book?

No. The export creates a copy. Your original Minted address book stays exactly as it is, and you can keep using Minted for Christmas cards if you want. They're not direct substitutes.

What if some addresses don't have ZIP codes?

BetterFriend validates every address through Lob, the same printer-and-mail service used by some of the largest brands in the country. If a ZIP code is missing or wrong, we surface the issue and let you fix it before any card goes out. You won't print to a bad address.

Can I keep using Minted for Christmas cards?

Yes. Many of our customers do. Minted is the standard for once-a-year premium holiday photo cards with editorial-grade design. BetterFriend handles the year-round birthday and occasion cards Minted isn't built for. Use both.

Do I have to add birthdays for everyone?

No. The weekly digest works with whoever has a birthday on file. Contacts without birthdays sit in your list, ready for ad-hoc cards (thank-you, sympathy, congratulations, "Just Because"). You can backfill birthdays whenever you want.

How long does the full import take?

Five minutes for the CSV upload. Adding birthdays takes whatever you decide to spend. Most users are fully set up inside fifteen minutes. Some prefer to take their time over a few weeks.

What about international addresses?

BetterFriend currently mails inside the United States. International contacts in your import will land in your contacts list, but cards won't send to them. The import preview tells you which addresses we can't reach.

Ready to move?

Start your 14-day trial. Three cards on us. The CSV import lives at /contacts once you're in.

If you hit a snag along the way, email us at help@betterfriend.today. The Minted-to-BetterFriend path is one we've helped a lot of new users walk, and we keep notes on every Minted UI change so we can guide you through it.

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About the author

Dimitri Abrams is the founder of BetterFriend. He started the company after realizing he was the friend who always meant to send the card and never did, and that pretty much everyone he knew was the same way. He writes about thoughtful relationships, the products that support them, and the small habits that compound over years.