CRM & Spaces
How PrimeCRM data is scoped per Space, syncs across devices, and travels when you share a Space with collaborators.
PrimeTask's Spaces are the top-level organisational unit of the app. They group everything - tasks, projects, notes, custom fields, and CRM data - into independent compartments. Your Personal Space, your Work Space, your Side Project Space each have their own contacts, companies, activities, and CRM tasks. Switching Spaces switches your CRM along with everything else.
This article covers the CRM-specific angles of Spaces: how CRM is per-Space, what travels with a Space when you share it, how CRM data syncs across your devices, and the few things that are global rather than per-Space. For Spaces in general, see Spaces Overview, File Sync, and iCloud Sync.
PrimeCRM is a Pro feature
Everything in this article requires a Pro license. See License Settings.
What you can do
Keep CRM data completely separated between Spaces
each Space has its own contacts, companies, activities, and CRM tasks
Share a Space's CRM with collaborators
when you share a Space via File Sync, the entire CRM travels with it
Sync CRM data across your own devices
via iCloud Sync or File Sync, CRM data flows between your machines automatically
Encrypt CRM data in synced Spaces
AES-256 encryption protects everything in the sync folder
Control CRM visibility per Space
turn CRM on or off independently for each Space
Use the global toggle
to disable CRM across every Space at once
Things worth knowing
CRM is per-Space
Every CRM feature - contacts, companies, activities, CRM tasks, custom company statuses, custom field configurations - is scoped to one Space at a time. This means:
- Adding a contact in your Work Space does NOT add it to your Personal Space
- Switching Spaces swaps your entire CRM context: you see the new Space's contacts, companies, activities, and CRM tasks
- Two Spaces can have a contact named "John Smith" and they're treated as completely separate records - there's no cross-Space deduplication
Why per-Space matters
Spaces separate kinds of life. Putting work contacts in a Work Space and personal contacts in a Personal Space means you don't have to filter or scroll past one when looking for the other - they're in different containers entirely. For most users this is a feature, not a limitation.
What's per-Space
When you switch Spaces, all of these change to reflect the new Space:
| Per-Space CRM data | Notes |
|---|---|
| Contacts | Each Space has its own contact list |
| Companies | Each Space has its own company list |
| Activities | Activities are tied to the contacts/companies in their Space |
| CRM Tasks | Both the CRM records and their integration into the regular task system |
| Custom company statuses | Added in CRM Settings. They live in one Space (you can copy them between Spaces) |
| Custom field configurations | Field definitions are per-Space - see CRM & Custom Fields |
| CRM Visibility toggle | Each Space independently shows or hides CRM in the sidebar - see CRM Settings |
| Project CRM modes | Each project's Shared vs Isolated CRM mode is per-Space - see Shared vs Isolated CRM |
What's global (not per-Space)
A small number of CRM-related settings apply across every Space at once:
| Global setting | Where |
|---|---|
| CRM Features master toggle | Settings → PrimeCRM Settings → Global Settings. Turning this off disables CRM across every Space. |
| Pro license | Your license is global to your install - upgrading to Pro enables CRM across every Space. See License Settings. |
CRM data is local-first
PrimeTask stores every Space's data locally on your device. CRM data - contacts, companies, activities, CRM tasks - is part of those local files. There is no PrimeTask cloud database; everything lives on your machine first, and sync (if enabled) is how it reaches other machines.
This local-first design is the foundation for everything else: sync, backup, sharing, and AI agent access all read from and write to the same local data.
CRM and sync
CRM data syncs the same way the rest of a Space's data syncs:
iCloud Sync - if your Space uses iCloud Sync, CRM data flows between your Macs signed into the same Apple ID automatically. The CRM Dashboard refreshes live when new CRM data arrives from another device. See iCloud Sync for setup.
File Sync - if your Space uses File Sync (via Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, a network share, or any other synced folder), CRM data is part of the files that flow between devices. This works for both personal sync (your own devices) and collaborative sync (sharing with teammates). See File Sync for setup.
Encryption - PrimeTask supports AES-256 encryption for synced data. When encryption is enabled on a Space, CRM data - contact details, company records, activity notes, everything - is encrypted at rest in the sync folder. See File Sync Settings for encryption configuration.
Sharing a Space - what travels with it
When you share a Space with collaborators (via collaborative File Sync, a Pro feature), the entire CRM data of that Space travels with it. Your collaborators see:
- Every contact and company in the Space
- Every activity logged
- Every CRM task
- All custom field definitions
- All custom company statuses
- The project CRM mode configuration for every project
There's no separate sharing toggle for CRM data. If a Space is shared, its CRM is shared.
Shared Spaces share all CRM data
If you collaborate on a Space with team members, every contact and activity in that Space becomes visible to them. There's no per-record privacy within a shared Space. If you have data that should NOT be shared with your team, either put it in a separate unshared Space, or use Isolated CRM mode on a project within the shared Space for project-level isolation.
For the full collaborative Space experience - the Join Shared Space wizard, Space members, roles, and assignment notifications - see Spaces Overview, Spaces Settings, and File Sync Settings.
Switching Spaces - what changes
When you switch Spaces (via the Space switcher in the sidebar):
- The entire app reloads to reflect the new Space's data - tasks, projects, notes, AND CRM
- The CRM sidebar entry reflects the new Space's CRM Visibility toggle
- The CRM Dashboard loads the new Space's stats and recent items
- The View Mode Selector in the dashboard reflects the new Space's projects (only its Isolated CRM projects appear)
- Any CRM page you had open becomes stale - navigate to the equivalent in the new Space
Isolated CRM is a different layer
Spaces and Isolated CRM are different levels of separation. A Space isolates everything - tasks, projects, CRM, all data. Isolated CRM isolates only CRM data within a single Space, at the project level. You can combine both: an isolated project inside a shared Space gives you project-level CRM privacy within a team-shared workspace. See Shared vs Isolated CRM.
CRM in a private vs shared Space
A common pattern is to maintain two Spaces:
| Space | Purpose | CRM use case |
|---|---|---|
| Personal Space | Your own private workspace | Personal contacts (family, friends), private notes, hobby projects |
| Work Space | Shared with your team via File Sync or iCloud Sync | Professional contacts (clients, vendors, partners), sales tracking, team-wide accounts |
Each Space has its own CRM settings, its own contacts, its own activities. The two CRMs are completely independent.
Common questions
"I want to keep my client work separate from personal contacts."
Create two Spaces - one for personal, one for work. Add personal contacts in the Personal Space and client contacts in the Work Space. The two CRMs are completely independent. Switch between them via the Space switcher in the sidebar.
"I want to share my Work CRM with two team members."
Set up the Work Space as a collaborative Space using File Sync. Your teammates join via the Join Shared Space wizard and receive the entire Space, including all CRM data. As you log activities or add contacts, changes flow to their devices via sync. See Spaces Settings and File Sync Settings.
"Some client data must stay private even within my shared Work Space."
Two options: (A) move the sensitive data to a separate unshared Space for maximum separation, or (B) create an isolated CRM project within the shared Space - project-only contacts stay private to that project. See Shared vs Isolated CRM.
"I added a CRM contact yesterday but I can't find it on my other Mac."
Most likely: sync hasn't caught up yet, or you're looking in a different Space.
"I disabled CRM in my Personal Space but it's still active in my Work Space."
Expected - CRM Visibility is per-Space. The toggle only affects the current Space. To disable CRM everywhere at once, use the global CRM Features toggle in Settings → PrimeCRM Settings → Global Settings.
"Can I move contacts from one Space to another?"
Not directly with a move button, but you can export contacts from one Space and import them into another. See CRM Import & Export. Alternatively, if both Spaces share some contacts via SpacesCare, changes can flow between them.
Where to go next
| If you want to… | Read this |
|---|---|
| Understand Spaces in general | Spaces Overview |
| Set up File Sync for a Space | File Sync |
| Set up iCloud Sync for a Space | iCloud Sync |
| Configure CRM per Space | CRM Settings |
| Use Isolated CRM within a Space | Shared vs Isolated CRM |
| Import/export contacts between Spaces | CRM Import & Export |
| Manage contacts in a Space | Contacts |
| Manage companies in a Space | Companies |
| Configure Space sync and collaboration | Spaces Settings / File Sync Settings |
| Return to the CRM hub | PrimeCRM Overview |