You're reading Local (offline v1) help. This is the $39 one-time, Windows-only version of Groundbase. For help with the Cloud subscription (web + desktop + Android, real-time sync, AI integrations), jump back to the main help center.

Groundbase Local help

Setup and reference for the offline $39 one-time version. Bring-your-own Twilio, bring-your-own email, data lives on your machine.

Getting started

Welcome to Groundbase

Groundbase is a local-first CRM. Your data lives on your computer, not in the cloud. Everything you put in stays with you.

The basics

Contacts — the people you do business with. Names, phone numbers, emails, tags, custom fields.
Companies — organizations your contacts work for. A contact can be linked to one company; a company can have many contacts.
Deals — opportunities tracked through your sales pipeline. Every deal is linked to a contact.
Tasks — things you need to do, with optional due dates and recurrence.
SMS — send and receive text messages through your own Twilio account.
Inbox — read and send email through your connected Gmail, Outlook, or other IMAP account.

Where to start

Import your existing contacts via CSV or Excel — see Importing contacts.
Connect your email and Twilio if you want SMS and email features — see the setup guides.
Customize your pipeline stages in Settings → Deal stages.
Add tags that match how you think about your contacts.
Save filtered views so you can jump to common segments in one click.

Setting up Twilio

Why Twilio?

Twilio handles the actual SMS delivery. Groundbase connects to your Twilio account using credentials you provide. We never see your messages or your Twilio password — your credentials are encrypted with your operating system's keychain (Windows DPAPI or macOS Keychain).

01 — Create a Twilio account

Sign up at twilio.com/try-twilio. Free trial accounts will let you sign up and explore the Twilio console, but Groundbase does not allow sending SMS from trial accounts — see step 2 for why. You'll need a paid Twilio account before sending.

02 — Why we block trial accounts entirely

Twilio trial accounts prepend "Sent from your Twilio trial account - " to every outbound message. Every recipient sees this on every message — there's no way to disable it on Twilio's side. For professional outreach, this destroys your credibility before they read a word of what you wrote.

Example of what your recipient sees: "Sent from your Twilio trial account - Hi Sarah, just confirming our 3pm meeting tomorrow."

Groundbase refuses to send any SMS from a trial account to protect your reputation. To send normally, upgrade to a paid Twilio account — separate from your Groundbase license. Twilio bills you per message, typically ~$0.0079 per US SMS segment.

03 — Buy a phone number

From the Twilio console, navigate to Phone Numbers → Manage → Buy a number. Pick a number in the area code you want (typically your own area code or your customers'). US numbers cost ~$1.15/month. Save the number — you'll paste it in the form above as your sender number.

04 — A2P 10DLC registration (US numbers only)

US carriers now require business registration for outbound commercial SMS — this is the A2P 10DLC program. Without it, US carriers may filter or block your messages.

From the Twilio console: Messaging → Regulatory Compliance → A2P 10DLC. Register your business (takes 1–3 business days for approval), then attach your phone number to the approved campaign.

Canadian and international numbers don't need 10DLC — skip this step. Twilio's full A2P 10DLC guide.

05 — Find your Account SID + Auth Token

From the main Twilio console dashboard, scroll to the "Account Info" panel. Both values are right there:

Account SID: starts with AC… (34 characters)
Auth Token: 32-character hex string (click "Show" to reveal)

Treat the Auth Token like a password — anyone with it can send SMS on your account's dime.

06 — Paste into Groundbase

Copy your Account SID, Auth Token, and the phone number you bought (in E.164 format, e.g. +14155551234) into the form on the Twilio settings page. Hit "Save credentials" — Groundbase verifies the credentials with Twilio before saving. Once green, SMS works from Compose, Bulk SMS, and the per-contact SMS tab.

Setting up email integration

Why we ask for IMAP and SMTP

IMAP lets Groundbase read your inbox. SMTP lets Groundbase send mail. Both run against your existing email provider — Groundbase doesn't relay anything through a third party. Your credentials are encrypted with your OS keychain and never leave your machine.

01 — Pick your provider

The Email Integration form has presets for Gmail, Outlook/Microsoft 365, iCloud, Yahoo, and ProtonMail. If you use a different provider, pick Custom and fill in your IMAP/SMTP host and ports manually.

02 — Generate an app password

Most providers require an app-specific password rather than your regular login password. Your regular account password won't work — you must generate one.

Gmail / Google Workspace:    https://myaccount.google.com/apppasswords
Outlook / Microsoft 365:     https://account.microsoft.com/security
iCloud:                      https://appleid.apple.com → Security → App-Specific Passwords
Yahoo:                       Account Info → Account Security → Generate app password
ProtonMail:                  Requires ProtonMail Bridge running locally

03 — Test and save

Paste your email address + app password + (for Custom) host details into the form. Hit "Test & save" — Groundbase verifies both IMAP and SMTP work before saving.

Common failure modes:

Typos in the password — generated app passwords have spaces; some forms accept them, others don't. Try with and without.
2FA required but no app password generated — if your account uses 2FA, your regular password is rejected. Generate an app password.
Corporate firewall blocking IMAP — some workplace networks block port 993 (IMAPS) outbound. Try from a different network to confirm.

04 — First sync and ongoing behavior

On first sync, Groundbase pulls the last 90 days of your inbox. Sync runs every 5 minutes in the background. You can also hit "Sync now" in the Inbox toolbar.

When you mark an email as read or archive it in Groundbase, the change syncs back to your email provider — so your real Gmail inbox stays in sync.

05 — Privacy

Your email credentials are encrypted in your local Groundbase database using your operating system's keychain (Windows DPAPI / macOS Keychain). They never leave your machine. There is no Groundbase server reading your email.

If you disconnect your account, your credentials are cleared but your email history stays in the app — disconnect doesn't delete past messages.

Importing contacts

Supported formats

CSV and Excel (.xlsx). Both work the same way through the same wizard.

How to import

Click Import in the top-right of the Contacts page.
Drag your file in, or click to browse.
(Excel files with multiple sheets) Pick which sheet to import. To bring in additional sheets, run the import again and pick a different sheet — one sheet per import.
Map your columns to Groundbase fields. The wizard auto-suggests mappings for common header names. You can skip columns by mapping them to "Don't import."
Review the preview — first 10 rows shown.
Click Import.

Your imported contacts are automatically tagged with imported · YYYY-MM-DD so you can find them later. You can also give the import a custom name in the wizard for a second tag like imported · Trade show signups.

Coming from another CRM

Most CRMs export to CSV. Common patterns Groundbase handles:

HubSpot: Export contacts as CSV from Contacts → Actions → Export. Map "First Name," "Last Name," "Email," "Phone Number," and "Company Name."
Pipedrive: Settings → Tools and integrations → Export data → People. Map "Name," "Email," "Phone," "Organization."
Salesforce: Setup → Data Export → CSV. Salesforce CSVs are complex; you may need to clean the file in Excel first.

Tips

A contact needs at least a first OR last name — fully empty rows are skipped with a warning.
Phone numbers should be in any format; Groundbase normalizes them on save.
Email format is validated — invalid emails are flagged in the preview, you can choose to skip them or fix the source file.
Custom fields you've defined in Settings → Custom Fields will appear as available columns to map.

License & activation

Entering your license

Your license key arrives by email after purchase. It starts with GBSE- and looks like GBSE-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX.

To activate:

Open Settings → License.
Paste your key into the field.
Click Activate.

Activation requires a one-time internet connection to verify the key. After that, Groundbase works fully offline — re-verification only happens periodically in the background.

What activation unlocks

The free tier of Groundbase is fully functional up to 25 contacts. Activating a license removes the cap and unlocks:

Unlimited contacts, companies, deals, tasks, notes
SMS sending (Twilio connection required separately)
Email integration and inbox
Bulk email sending
Unlimited custom fields
Multi-condition advanced filters
Unlimited saved views
Unlimited email templates
Bulk PDF export beyond 5 contacts

Moving to a new computer

Your license works on up to 3 devices you personally own (e.g. your desktop, laptop, and a backup machine). To move data to a new computer:

On your old computer, run Settings → Backup & Export → Backup database. Save the .db file somewhere (USB drive, cloud storage).
Install Groundbase on the new computer.
Open Settings → Backup & Export → Restore from backup. Select your .db file.
Open Settings → License → enter your key → Activate.

All your data, settings, custom fields, and saved views transfer over.

License keys are for personal single-user use. Sharing your key with others is not permitted and may result in the key being deactivated.

Lost your license key?

Email support@groundbasecrm.com with the email address you used at purchase — we'll resend your key. We aim to respond within 2 business days, though most emails are answered within 24 hours.

Offline grace period

If Groundbase can't reach the license server to re-verify your key (e.g. you're offline for a few weeks), the app keeps working for 30 days. After that, paid features lock until you reconnect to the internet at least once.

Frequently asked questions

Where is my data stored?

On your computer, in a single SQLite database file at %APPDATA%\Groundbase\crm.db (Windows) or ~/Library/Application Support/Groundbase/crm.db (macOS). You can back it up like any other file — copy it to a USB drive, sync it to cloud storage, whatever you prefer.

Does Groundbase send my data anywhere?

No. Groundbase doesn't have a server that sees your data. Your contacts, deals, tasks, and notes never leave your computer. The only outbound network calls Groundbase makes are:

License verification (once on activation, periodic re-checks)
Twilio API calls (if you've connected Twilio for SMS) — direct from your machine to Twilio
Email IMAP/SMTP (if you've connected an email account) — direct from your machine to your email provider
Bug reports (only if you submit one via Settings → Help → Report a bug)

Can I use Groundbase on multiple computers?

Yes — your license works on up to 3 devices you personally own (e.g. your desktop, laptop, and a backup machine).

What doesn't work yet is sync between them. Each computer has its own local database. Contacts you add on your desktop don't automatically appear on your laptop. To move data between computers, use Settings → Backup & Export → Backup database, then Restore on the other machine.

Sync between devices is a feature coming in the future. For now, treat one computer as your main Groundbase machine.

License keys are for personal single-user use. Sharing your key with others is not permitted.

What happens if I cancel my Twilio account?

SMS features stop working but everything else continues. Your SMS history stays in Groundbase — you can read past messages but can't send new ones until you reconnect a working Twilio account.

What happens if I disconnect my email account?

Email features stop working — you can't send new mail or receive new mail. Past email threads stay in Groundbase. You can reconnect the same account or a different one at any time.

Can I use multiple Twilio numbers?

Yes. You can add multiple Twilio numbers to Groundbase — for different area codes, different brands, or separate business lines. When composing a new SMS or sending bulk SMS, pick which number to send from. You can also set a default per-contact preferred number.

Email integration is currently single-account — one Gmail or Outlook account per Groundbase install. Multi-account email is on the roadmap.

Is there a mobile app?

No. Groundbase is desktop-only by design — local-first means the data lives on one machine. A mobile companion app is a possibility for v2 but isn't planned for v1.

How do I export my data?

Settings → Backup & Export gives you three options:

Backup database — full SQLite file. Best for moving to another machine or archiving.
Export everything — JSON file containing all contacts, companies, deals, tasks, notes, tags, custom field definitions, saved views, and templates. Useful for inspecting your data outside the app.
Export CSV (per entity) — Contacts list, Companies list, or Deals list as CSV. Includes tags and custom fields. Use the bulk action Export menu on any list view to export selected records.

What if I find a bug?

Settings → Help → Report a bug. Type what happened, attach a screenshot, send. Reports come straight to support@groundbasecrm.com.

Where do feature requests go?

Email support@groundbasecrm.com. We read everything.

Contact support

Email

support@groundbasecrm.com — we read everything.

Report a bug

Settings → Help → Report a bug. Bug reports include a screenshot and your system info automatically, which helps us fix things faster.

Response time

We aim to respond within 2 business days, though most emails are answered within 24 hours.