> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.daylite.app/help/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.daylite.app/help/mac-fundamentals/overview/daylite-quick-start.md).

# Daylite Quick Start

This quick start explains how to get set up in Daylite and see your business connected — contacts, email, schedule, and deals in one place — in about 15 minutes.

At the end of this guide, you'll have a working setup with your first linked record: one screen showing every conversation, commitment, and person involved in a deal. That's the big idea behind Daylite, and you'll build it yourself as you go.

{% hint style="warning" icon="brightness" %}
**Want more than a quick start?** 

The [Getting Started guide](https://docs.daylite.app/help/getting-started/getting-started) builds this same setup step by step, explains each concept as you go, and keeps going after setup — planning your day, working your boards, and making Daylite yours.
{% endhint %}

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## Download & Log In

Daylite is built exclusively for Mac, iPhone, and iPad. Start on the device where you work most — you can add the others anytime and everything stays in sync.

1. Download Daylite for [Mac](https://www.daylite.app/download) or from the [App Store](https://itunes.apple.com/app/daylite-6/id965269916?ls=1\&mt=8) for iPhone and iPad.
2. Open the app and create your account, or log in if your team already has one. Daylite creates your database in the cloud, where everything you add from here on will live.

{% hint style="info" %}
**Setting up for a team?** You can [invite them now](https://docs.daylite.app/help/learn/getting-started/invite-your-team), or finish this guide first so you can show them around.
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## Connect Your Email

Email is where most of your business actually happens, so we connect it first. Once your account is added, you can read, send, and file email inside Daylite — and every message can be attached to the person or deal it belongs to, which is where Daylite starts to feel different.

1. Go to **Daylite > Settings > Mail** and [add your email account](https://docs.daylite.app/help/learn/mail-management/add-mail-account). Daylite works with Gmail, Office 365, Outlook, iCloud, Yahoo, AOL, and any IMAP provider.
2. Send yourself a test email to confirm everything's flowing.

**Turn emails into action.** In Daylite, an email isn't just something to read — it's the start of a record. A message from someone new becomes a contact, a request becomes a task, a "can you send us a quote?" becomes an opportunity — each created right from the email, with the conversation attached from day one.

 [See how →](https://docs.daylite.app/help/mac-fundamentals/email/quick-guide-to-mail-in-daylite)
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{% step %}

## Add Your Contacts

Your contacts are the foundation everything else sits on. A contact in Daylite is more than a name and an email address — it's the record of a relationship, and its history builds itself once your setup is done. It just needs the person to exist first.

First, [create one contact by hand](https://docs.daylite.app/help/getting-started/add-your-first-contact) — pick a real client or lead, not a test entry, so the work counts.

Then bring in the rest:

<table><thead><tr><th width="200">Import from</th><th>Best for</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong>Apple Contacts / vCard</strong></td><td>Contacts already on your Mac or iPhone — export and drag them in.</td></tr><tr><td><strong>CSV</strong></td><td>Spreadsheets or exports from another CRM — map your columns on import.</td></tr><tr><td><strong>From email</strong></td><td>Adding people as they show up — create a contact straight from a message, details pre-filled.</td></tr></tbody></table>

You don't need your whole list to start — import the people you're actively working with (clients, live leads), and add the rest as they come up. A smaller list you trust beats a complete one you don't.

&#x20;[Importing contacts →](https://docs.daylite.app/help/mac-fundamentals/contact-management/importing-contact-information)

{% hint style="success" %}
🔗 **Link it.** Find an email from the contact you just created and link it to them. Open the contact — that conversation is now part of their history. Ten seconds, and you've just done the thing that makes Daylite Daylite.
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{% step %}

## Set Up Your Calendar

Your calendar in Daylite isn't a separate app to check — it's your schedule sitting next to the people, projects, and tasks it involves. A meeting linked to a client becomes part of their history, so "when did we last meet?" is never a mystery again.

1. [Create an appointment](https://docs.daylite.app/help/getting-started/set-up-your-calendar) and — here's the habit — link the person you're meeting.
2. Meeting someone else? Add them as an **invitee** and Daylite sends the calendar invite for you — their response updates the appointment automatically.
3. Meeting over video? [Connect Zoom, Google Meet, or Microsoft Teams](https://docs.daylite.app/help/learn/getting-started/integrating-with-video-conferencing-services) once, and generate join links right from the appointment.
4. Use other calendar apps too? [Share your Daylite calendar](https://docs.daylite.app/help/learn/getting-started/importing-calendars) so it's visible in Apple Calendar  — your schedule, everywhere.
   {% endstep %}

{% step %}

## Create a Linked Task

Tasks are the promises you've made — and a Daylite task knows *who it's for*. Linked to a contact, it carries its context with it, and nothing you've committed to can fall through the cracks.

1. [Create a task](https://docs.daylite.app/help/mac-fundamentals/task-management/creating-a-new-task) for something you actually owe someone — a good task starts with a verb and fits in one line: "Send proposal to Sarah."
2. Give it a due date and link it to the contact it's for.

Open that contact again: an email, an appointment, and now a task — their record is becoming the one place you check before any call.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

## Accomplish Your Goals

Your contacts, email, calendar, and tasks are all heading somewhere: winning new business and delivering on your promises. In Daylite, **Opportunities** are your deals in motion and **Projects** are the work with a finish line. They're where the linking pays off, because a deal or a project is never just one thing. It's people, conversations, and commitments moving together.

[Create your first Opportunity →](https://docs.daylite.app/help/mac-fundamentals/opportunities/creating-new-opportunities)

[Create your first Project →](https://docs.daylite.app/help/mac-fundamentals/projects/creating-new-opportunities)
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

## Make It Yours

You've seen how Daylite works — now shape it to your business. Categories that match your relationships, a pipeline that mirrors how your deals actually close, lists that surface the right people at the right time. None of it is required today, and all of it gets easier after a week of real use.

Start with the cards below whenever you're ready.
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**Next steps**

<table data-view="cards"><thead><tr><th></th><th></th><th data-hidden data-card-target data-type="content-ref"></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong>Categories &#x26; Keywords</strong></td><td>Classify your contacts, calendar, and tasks so you can filter and find anything.</td><td><a href="https://docs.daylite.app/help/getting-started/stay-organized-with-categories-and-keywords">https://docs.daylite.app/help/getting-started/stay-organized-with-categories-and-keywords</a></td></tr><tr><td><strong>Design your sales pipeline</strong></td><td>Set up stages that mirror how deals actually progress in your business.</td><td><a href="https://docs.daylite.app/help/getting-started/customize-your-setup">https://docs.daylite.app/help/getting-started/customize-your-setup</a></td></tr><tr><td><strong>Build Smart Lists</strong></td><td>Saved searches that update themselves — like contacts you haven't heard from in 30 days.</td><td><a href="https://docs.daylite.app/help/getting-started/build-a-smart-list">https://docs.daylite.app/help/getting-started/build-a-smart-list</a></td></tr><tr><td><strong>Calendar views</strong></td><td>See your week by category, team member, or who's on vacation.</td><td><a href="https://docs.daylite.app/help/mac-fundamentals/calendars/using-the-daylite-calendar">https://docs.daylite.app/help/mac-fundamentals/calendars/using-the-daylite-calendar</a></td></tr><tr><td><strong>Invite your team</strong></td><td>Daylite gets better when everyone's history lives in one place.</td><td><a href="https://docs.daylite.app/help/learn/getting-started/invite-your-team">https://docs.daylite.app/help/learn/getting-started/invite-your-team</a></td></tr><tr><td><strong>Daylite on iPhone &#x26; iPad</strong></td><td>Your whole setup, in your pocket.</td><td><a href="https://docs.daylite.app/help/getting-started/use-daylite-anywhere">https://docs.daylite.app/help/getting-started/use-daylite-anywhere</a></td></tr></tbody></table>


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