How to import and export WooCommerce Products

Last updated on April 20, 2022

While migrating to a new WooCommerce website, the absolute important thing that you need in your website are the products. Including all the products in your new website or adding each product’s information manually, can be dawdling!. Import Export Suite for WooCommerce Plugin helps you to export a CSV/XML file that includes all the WooCommerce product’s data and import the same to the website much quickly.

Download Sample Product CSV.

WooCommerce Mapping Fields

Before you get down to the product import & export operation, you should know some information about mapping fields.

For example, the post_title field gets mapped to the product name and the regular_price field gets mapped to the regular price of your product. If you want the plugin to work correctly, you must map all of the fields in the correct format. If there is any mistake in your import file, your product import may not work as expected.

The details of WooCommerce mapping fields are given below:

Column/Tag Header	Explanation	Accepted value or format
post_title	Indicates the name of the product.	Text (ex. High Heel Shoe)
post_name	Indicates slug name of the product.	Text (ex. high-heel-shoe)
post_status	Indicates whether the product is in a draft or published mode.	draft/publish
post_excerpt	Indicates a short description of the product.	Text/HTML
post_content	Indicates description of the product.	Text/HTML
post_parent	Indicates parent of grouped and variable products.	Parent ID
post_password	For including a password for a private post.	Text
sku	SKU(stock keeping unit) is an identification, usually alphanumeric, of a particular product that allows it to be tracked for inventory purposes.	Alpha-numeric characters
menu_order	It decides the order of displaying the products in the shop. Items with menu order = 0 are displayed 1, 2, 3, etc. Products with the same menu order number are then listed alphabetically. When you create a new product it defaults to menu_order = 0.	Numeric characters
downloadable	After purchasing the product, whether the product can be downloaded or not.	yes/no
virtual	It is not physically existing as such but made by software to appear to do so.	yes/no
visibility	Indicates whether a product is available for purchase or not.	visible/hidden
stock	Total number of products available in stock. You can use (+) or (-) signs with parenthesis to add or subtract the number of products to the stock.	Numeric characters
stock_status	It indicates whether the product is in stock or not.	instock/outofstock/onbackorder
backorders	Indicate orders for out-of-stock products that cannot be currently fulfilled or shipped, but is requested nonetheless for when the product becomes available again.	yes/no
manage_stock	It indicates whether the stock is managed by a store or not.	yes/no
regular_price	Indicates the original price of the product.	Numeric characters
sale_price	It is the price of the product that is being offered at a discounted rate.	Numeric characters
weight	Indicates the weight of the product.	Numeric characters
length	Indicates the length of the product.	Numeric characters
width	Indicates the width of the product.	Numeric characters
height	Indicates the height of the product.	Numeric characters
images	Indicate image URL or image name. Supports multiple image URLs separated by ‘\|’.	URL Eg: http://url/filename1.png
tax_status	It indicates whether the product is taxable or not.	taxable/none
tax_class	It indicates the tax option for the product.	Standard rate/Reduced rate/Zero rate
tax:product_type	Indicates the type of product, such as simple, variable etc.	Simple, Variable
tax:product_cat	It is used during importing the product which indicates the category of product. Use the pipe symbol to import multiple categories and the greater than symbol (>) to import category hierarchy.	Text
tax:product_tag	It is used during importing the product which indicates tag(s) used for the product. Use the pipe symbol to add multiple tags	Text
tax:product_brand	It indicates the brand of the product.	Text
attribute:Color	It indicates the available color of the product. Ex: red\|blue\|orange etc	Text
meta:attribute_color	Ex: red or blue or orange	Text
attribute_data:Color	It indicates the metadata about the attribute color of the product.	position\|visible\|variation (ex. 0\|1\|1)
attribute:Size	It indicates the available size of the product.	Ex. US7\|US8\|US9
meta:attribute_size	It specifies the attribute value of each variation.	Ex. US7 or US8 or US9
attribute_data:Size	It indicates the metadata about the attribute size of the product.	position\|visible\|variation (ex. 1\|1\|1)
attribute:pa_unit	This lists out the unit options.	Ex. 10 kg \| 20 kg \| 30 kg
meta:attribute_pa_unit	It indicates the metadata about the product unit.	Ex. 10 kg
attribute_data:pa_unit	It defines the position, visibility and whether used for variation or not.	position\|visible\|variation (ex. 4\|1\|1)
attribute_default:pa_unit	This is the default value of a unit attribute.	Ex. 10 kg

Note: Attribute names with pa are global attributes and the ones without pa are called local attributes.

Mapping fields supported by Yoast SEO:

meta:_yoast_wpseo_focuskw
meta:_yoast_wpseo_title
meta:_yoast_wpseo_metadesc
meta:_yoast_wpseo_metakeywords

Export Products

To export WooCommerce products:

Click on WebToffee Import/Export(Pro) > Export.

Step 1: Select a post type

As a first step, you need to choose the post type as Product.

Step 2: Select an export method

Choose from the below options to continue with your export:

Quick export from DB
Based on a pre-saved template
Advanced export

Let us have a look at each of these export methods:

Quick Export

exports the basic/standard fields of the respective post type.
To include fields from Taxonomies, Meta(custom fields), Attributes and Hidden meta select the respective group’s checkboxes.
Click the Export button to complete the action or proceed to Step3 for advanced options.
Navigate to Step 5 to know more about Advanced options/ Batch export/ Scheduling.

Pre-saved template

exports data as per the specifications(filters, selective column, mapping.. etc) from the previously saved file.
By selecting this option, one can choose a previously saved template from the Export template drop-down.

Note: The template will be listed in the dropdown only if you have saved it in previous exports, if you go through the Advanced export, at Step 5 you will get an option to save the template. Once you save that, next time when you want to export a pre-saved template, it will be populated within the dropdown.

Click the Export button to complete the action or proceed to Step3 to filter data.
Navigate to Step 3 to know more about filtering options.

Advanced Export

This option will take you through a detailed process of filtering/column selection/advanced options that may be required for your export.

Note: You can also save this file as a template for future use.

Step 3: Filter data

Click on Step 3, to view the following window where one can filter data on the basis of:

Total number of products to export : The actual number of products you want to export. e.g. Entering 500 with a skip count of 10 will export products from 11th to 510th position.
Skip first n products : Specify the number of products to be skipped from the beginning. e.g. Enter 10 to skip first 10 products from export.
Product types : Filter products by their type. You can export multiple types together.
Products : Export specific products. Key in the product names to export to export multiple products.
Exclude Products : Use this if you need to exclude a specific or multiple products from your export list.
Product categories : Export products belonging to a particular or from multiple categories. Just select the respective categories.
Product tags : Enter the product tags to export only the respective products that have been tagged accordingly.
Product Status: Filter products by their status private/draft/pending/future.
Sort Columns: Defaulted to Ascending. Applicable to above selected columns in the order specified.
Sort By: Sorts in Ascending/Descending order.

Click on Step 4 to proceed further.

Step 4: Map and reorder export columns

The column names appearing in this section can be edited if required. The preferred names and choices that were last saved can be viewed on choosing a pre-saved template. One can also move the columns to reorder the arrangement.

Here, one can map and reorder the export columns under the following 5 fields:
1. Default fields
2. Taxonomies
3. Meta(Custom fields)
4. Attributes
5. Hidden meta

Click on Step 5 to proceed.

Step 5: Advanced Options/Batch Export/Scheduling

On reaching Step 5, the following window will appear, from where one can:
1. Export children SKU of grouped products: Exports children of grouped products by their SKU. Default is Product ID.
2. Export file name: Filename for the exported file.
3. Export File Format: Supports both CSV and XML.
4. Delimiter: Separator for differentiating the columns in the CSV file. Assumes ‘,’ by default.
5. Enable FTP export: On opting ‘Yes’, choose an FTP profile and specify the export path.

WooCommerce Import Export-Advanced-options-Export

On expanding Advanced options, one can:
1. Convert shortcodes to HTML
2. Export in batches of
3. Export images as .zip file
Save the template file for future export (if needed).

Click on Export to finish and export or schedule the export to finish.

Import Products

To import WooCommerce products:

Click on WebToffee Import/Export(Pro) > Import.

Step 1: Select post type

As a first step, you need to choose the post type as Product.

Step 2: Select import method

Choose from the below options to continue with your import:

Quick import
Based on a pre-saved template
Advanced import

Let us have a look at each of these import methods:

Quick Import

imports the basic/standard fields of the respective post type.
primarily used when your input file was exported using the same plugin
One can import file from:
1. Local
2. URL
3. FTP
Click the Import button to complete the action or proceed to Step3 for advanced options.

Navigate to Step 4 to know more about Advanced options/ Batch import/ Scheduling.

Pre-saved template

This method retains the previous filter criteria and other column specifications as per the chosen file and imports data accordingly.
By selecting this option, one can choose a previously saved template from the Import template drop-down.

Note: The template will be listed in the drop down only if you have saved it in previous imports, if you go through the Advanced import, at Step 4 you will get an option to save the template. Once you save that, next time when you want to import a pre-saved template, it will be populated within the drop down.

Click the Import button to complete the action or proceed to Step3 to map and reorder columns.
Navigate to Step 3 to know more about mapping and reordering import columns.

Advanced Import

This option will take you through a detailed process of filtering/column selection/advanced options that may be required for your import.

Note: You can also save this file as a template for future use.

Step 3: Map import columns

Here, one can map the import columns under the following 5 fields:

Default fields
Taxonomies
Meta(Custom fields)
Attributes
Hidden meta

Note: Columns are mapped automatically only if a matching header name is found in the input file. If not the value is left blank. If your input file header does not have exact names or if you need to edit the existing mapping you can simply click on the respective value fields corresponding to each row. Furthermore, you can also assign expressions based on the existing input file columns.

Evaluate field

This field is used to append a value/expression to an existing item while importing. It basically selects/maps any column from the input file and compute the values with expressions and creates output.

Expression: Any of the operators +*/-()&@ or string constants can be used along with the attributes to manipulate the respective value.
Input: Select the column from the dropdown which has to be modified.
Output: Sample value will be created based on the first record from input file.

Note: Columns that have no values in the input file may cause syntax errors if used in an expression.

Click on Step 4 to proceed.

Step 4: Advanced Options/Batch Export/Scheduling

On reaching Step 4, the following window will appear, from where one can:
1. Update Only: On selecting “Yes”, the store is updated with the data from the input file only for matching/existing records from the file. On selecting “No”, the entire data from the input file is processed for an update or insert as the case maybe.
2. Match products by their: ID, SKU
3. If product exists in the store: One can either Skip or Update the entry.
4. If conflict with an existing Post ID: One can either Skip item or Import as new item.
5. Use SKU to link up-sells, cross-sells and grouped products
6. Delete non-matching products from store

Note: On expanding Advanced options, one can set the number of records that the server will process for every iteration within the configured timeout interval. If the import fails due to timeout you can lower this number accordingly and try again.

Save the template file for future export (if needed).

Click on Import/Schedule to finish.

You can either import the products directly into your store or schedule the import using FTP.

To schedule the import:

Hit the Schedule option, and you will be taken to the cron schedule window as shown below:

The plugin supports two different schedule types:

WordPress Cron: Upon a visit, WordPress Cron will check to see if the time/date is later than the scheduled event/s, and if it is– it will fire those events.
- schedules your job at the specified time.
- is dependent on your website visitors.
Server Cron: You may need to trigger the URL every minute depending on the volume of data to be processed.You can use this option :
- to generate a unique URL that can be added to your system in order to trigger the events.
- if you have a separate system to trigger the scheduled events.

Also, the import/export can be scheduled on a daily, weekly, monthly, custom basis. One can also configure the time at which the import has to be scheduled.

To directly import:

Hit on the Import option

Once the import is completed, a pop-up will be displayed showing import status which contains the number of successful imports and failed imports (if any).

Was this article helpful?
Yes, thanks!Not really

This article posted in Documentation, Getting Started, Getting Started, Import Export Suite for WooCommerce

Written by

Shesna

Shesna is a technical content writer for WebToffee. She is familiar in working closely with the SMEs to break down complex technical information into a concise, easy to understand manner.

Comments (16)

Da Man

May 7, 2022

I do not see a way to SCHEDUAL an EXPORT…………… am I missing it or is that not available…

Reply
- Alan
  
  May 9, 2022
  
  Hi,
  You can schedule an export using the plugin. Refer to how to setup scheduled export for more details.
  
  Reply
Tyrone

April 14, 2022

Hi, is there anywhere what I can find a list of the import/export fields and available options for each?

Reply
- Alan
  
  April 20, 2022
  
  Hi Tyrone,
  Refer to this section and get the details about import/export fields.
  
  Reply
Carina Reshmi

April 7, 2022

Hi
I am looking for a proffessional to help creating a template for importing variable products into Woo commerce, anyone here or anyone who knows anyone that can do this for me?

kind regards
Carina

Reply
Nic Windley

October 28, 2021

Hello,

Is it possible to mass/bulk delete products using this plugin?

I saw an advanced option “Delete non-matching products from store” was available, however, this assumes that any products not found are to be removed. I would prefer an option to “Delete matching” so I can supply a list of products to be removed. Is this possible?

Reply
- Mark
  
  October 29, 2021
  
  Hi,
  
  You can move products that are in the CSV file to the trash by setting the post_status as “trash”. In the post_status field please provide the value “trash” and try updating the products.
  
  Reply
Ibrahim Al-Banna

May 27, 2021

Can I import product variations?

Reply
- Mark
  
  May 28, 2021
  
  Hi Ibrahim,
  
  Using the premium version of the plugin, you can import and export variable products.
  
  Reply
Birgit Ortner

March 24, 2021

Hello, I want to extend a variable product with another variable option (size was alreday defined – now I want to add an color option). I already adapted the csv file with all color attributes and uploadesd the file, but it does not update the product. How does this work?
thx

Reply
- Alan
  
  March 31, 2021
  
  Hi,
  
  Please share your importing file via support so that we can check it.
  
  Reply
Syberea

February 11, 2021

Hi, how can i delete pre-saved template, I saved too many and can’t find any option to delete them.

Reply
- Alan
  
  March 16, 2021
  
  Hi,
  
  Sorry to say that currently there is no option to delete the pre-saved templates. We will include that feature in the plugin in the upcoming releases.
  
  Reply
ask3

November 29, 2020

Hi. How can you owerwrite values or add value to empty field? Fo rinstance if i have no Product Category How do i add one? and If i have different categories but i want to overwrite with my default one.

Reply
- Mark
  
  November 30, 2020
  
  You can add a new category or update the category of a product by just specifying the category name in the tax:product_cat column of the CSV file. For a better understanding please go through this article: https://www.webtoffee.com/woocommerce-import-product-categories/
  
  Reply
  - ask3
    
    November 30, 2020
    
    Yeah, it doesnt work. In Product/Reviews Import/Exrpot plugin it works, i just choose “Import Data from Evaluation filed” and input any data i need it works. But in Suite if i input data in empty filed (that doesnt exist in CSV file, for instance my CSV feed doesnt have categories) it doesnt work. Only if i use combination with [{somedata} data] it works, but if i just input [data] or data it doesnt work.
    
    Reply

Cookie	Description
PHPSESSID	This cookie is native to PHP applications. The cookie is used to store and identify a users' unique session ID for the purpose of managing user sessions on the website. The cookie is a session cookie and is deleted when all the browser windows are closed.
viewed_cookie_policy	The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not a user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.

Cookie	Description
_ga	This cookie is installed by Google Analytics. The cookie is used to calculate visitor, session, campaign data and keep track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookies store information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to identify unique visitors.
_gat_gtag	Identification code of website for tracking visits.
_gid	This cookie is installed by Google Analytics. The cookie is used to store information on how visitors use a website and helps in creating an analytics report of how the website is doing. The data collected including the number visitors, the source where they have come from, and the pages visited in an anonymous form.
_hjid	Hotjar cookie. This cookie is set when the customer first lands on a page with the Hotjar script. It is used to persist the random user ID, unique to that site on the browser. This ensures that behavior in subsequent visits to the same site will be attributed to the same user ID.
_hjIncludedInSample	This cookie is set to let Hotjar know whether that visitor is included in the sample which is used to generate heatmaps, funnels, recordings, etc.
has_recent_activity	This cookie is used to signal to the code repository website if the user has browsed other website resources during the current session.
tk_ai	Gathers information for our own first-party analytics tool about how our services are used. A collection of internal metrics for user activity and is used to improve user experience.
tk_lr	This cookie is set by the JetPack plugin on sites using WooCommerce. This is a referral cookie used for analyzing referrer behavior for Jetpack.
tk_or	This cookie is set by the JetPack plugin on sites using WooCommerce. This is a referral cookie used for analyzing referrer behavior for Jetpack.
tk_qs	Gathers information for our own first-party analytics tool about how our services are used. A collection of internal metrics for user activity and is used to improve user experience.
tk_r3d	The cookie is installed by JetPack. Used for the internal metrics for user activities to improve user experience.

Cookie	Description
_fbp	This cookie is set by Facebook to deliver advertisements when they are on Facebook or on a digital platform powered by Facebook advertising after visiting this website.
fr	The cookie is set by Facebook to show relevant advertisements to the users and measure and improve the advertisements. The cookie also tracks the behavior of the user across the web on sites that have Facebook Pixel or Facebook social plugin.

How to import and export WooCommerce Products

WooCommerce Mapping Fields

Export Products

Step 1: Select a post type