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If you’ve ever dealt with cookie management on a WordPress site, you probably know it’s not just about dropping in a banner and calling it a day. Especially when you’re working with GDPR or CCPA compliance, things can get a bit… tedious. That’s where importing and exporting cookies using a CSV file comes in handy.
Instead of manually entering each cookie (and its details) one by one, you can save yourself a ton of time by bulk managing them through a simple spreadsheet. In this post, we’ll walk you through how to import and export cookies in WordPress using CSV files.
Let’s get started.
Key Takeaways:
- Importing and exporting cookies in WordPress using a CSV file helps you save time, stay GDPR/CCPA compliant, and manage cookie data more efficiently.
- The WebToffee GDPR Cookie Consent Plugin makes this process seamless with built-in scanning, categorization, and bulk import/export features.
- Whether you’re managing one site or many, this workflow keeps your cookie setup consistent and audit-ready.
Here’s why importing and exporting cookies using a CSV file can actually save your sanity:
1. GDPR & CCPA Compliance Gets a Whole Lot Easier
Most privacy plugins (like cookie consent managers) require you to list out every single cookie your site uses, along with its purpose, category (like marketing or analytics), and expiration period. Doing this manually? Painfully slow.
But if you’ve got all that data in a neat CSV file, you can upload it in seconds.
2. You Need to Keep Documentation Handy
GDPR and similar laws encourage (and in some cases, require) you to maintain records of the cookies your website uses. That includes the name, purpose, provider, and how long they are retained.
By exporting your cookie list into a CSV, you can easily save or share it—whether it’s for internal use, audits, or a surprise compliance request from a regulator.
3. You Manage Multiple WordPress Sites
Running several WordPress sites? Then you already know how annoying it is to set up cookie details from scratch every time. By creating a standard cookie list and importing it across all your sites, you get consistent naming, categories, and descriptions without repeating the same work over and over.
4. It’s Faster to Edit in a Spreadsheet
Editing stuff in a WordPress dashboard isn’t always the smoothest experience. But in a spreadsheet? You’ve got copy-paste, search-and-replace, filters—the whole package.
Just export your existing cookie list, make updates in Excel or Google Sheets, and reimport it into WordPress. Way quicker than tweaking each cookie details one by one.
To import and export cookies and manage cookie consent for your WordPress website, we’ll be using the GDPR Cookie Consent Plugin by WebToffee.
This cookie consent plugin is not simply an import export tool. It is a Google Certified Consent Management Platform that lets you create cookie banners to get prior consent from your website visitors.
Now, follow the steps below to import and export WordPress cookies using CSV files.
Step 1: Install WebToffee Cookie Consent Plugin
After purchasing the plugin, you will receive an email to download the plugin file. You can also download the plugin file from the My Account page.
Step 2: Scan Website to Identify Cookies
- Once you have installed the plugin, go to Cookie Consent > Manage Cookies from the WordPress sidebar menu.
- Click on the Cookie Scanner button.
- Scan your website to identify the cookies used on it.
- Once the scanning is complete, the plugin will add the cookie details to the cookie list.
Step 3: Export WordPress Cookies to CSV
- Now go to the Advanced tab of the Cookie Consent plugin.
- Click on the Export cookies button to export the cookie list to a CSV file.
Step 4: Import WordPress Cookies From CSV
- From the Advanced tab on the Cookie Consent plugin settings page, click on the Upload file button.
- Upload the CSV file with the cookie list.
Click on the Import Cookies button.
The WebToffee Cookie Consent Plugin is more than just a tool for displaying cookie banners—it’s a complete compliance solution for WordPress websites. Designed to help you stay on the right side of privacy laws like GDPR, CCPA, and more, this plugin makes it incredibly easy to collect, manage, and document user consent.
It offers customizable cookie banners that you can tailor to match your site’s design, along with flexible display options like bottom bars, popups, or even widgets, ensuring that your compliance doesn’t come at the cost of user experience.
Key Features of WebToffee Cookie Consent Plugin
- Complete Compliance Solution: Ensures compliance with GDPR, CCPA, and other global privacy laws.
Customizable Cookie Banners: Tailor banners to match your site design; supports bottom bar, popup, and widget formats. - Built-in Cookie Scanner: Automatically detects and categorizes cookies used on your website.
- Prior Consent & Script Blocking: Blocks cookies and third-party scripts until user consent is obtained.
- Granular Consent Control: Enables users to manage consent per cookie category.
- Multilingual Support: Compatible with WPML and other translation plugins.
- Google-Certified CMP: Fully supports Google Consent Mode v2 and integrates with Google Tag Manager.
Not really. WordPress doesn’t offer native functionality for cookie management like importing or exporting cookies. You’ll need a plugin like the WebToffee GDPR Cookie Consent plugin to handle that part, especially if you’re dealing with compliance requirements.
The WebToffee plugin supports CSV format for importing cookie lists.
Yes, as long as the cookies are relevant to the technologies you use (like Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, etc.). Just make sure the data you’re importing is accurate and reflects the cookies actually being used on your site.
Absolutely. That’s one of the main benefits of using CSV files—you can quickly edit cookie names, descriptions, categories, and durations in a spreadsheet, then import the updated version into your site.
Managing cookies might not be the most exciting part of running a WordPress site, but it’s one of those things you just can’t afford to ignore, especially with privacy laws tightening up. The good news? You don’t have to do it all manually. With tools like the WebToffee GDPR Cookie Consent Plugin, importing and exporting cookies using a CSV file becomes quick, clean, and way less stressful.
Whether you’re staying compliant with GDPR, keeping cookie documentation ready for audits, or just trying to manage multiple sites more efficiently, bulk handling your cookies is a smart move. So go ahead—scan your site, export your cookie list, edit it on your own terms, and reimport when you’re ready. Simple as that.
Needless to say, staying compliant doesn’t have to be complicated. A few smart tools and a good process are all it takes.
