External Images for WooCommerce

External Images allows your WooCommerce store to use images from any external URL as product images, including featured images, galleries, and variations, without storing them on your server.

Installation

↑ Back to top

The simplest way to start using a product from WooCommerce.com is to use the “Add to store” functionality on the order confirmation page or the My subscriptions section in your account.

Navigate to My subscriptions.
Find the Add to store button next to the product you’re planning to install.
Follow the instructions on the screen, and the product will be automatically added to your store.

Alternative options and more information at:
Managing WooCommerce.com subscriptions.

Adding a WooCommerce.com subscription to your store

Setup and Configuration

↑ Back to top

Getting started

↑ Back to top

Once activated, navigate to the External Media menu item in your dashboard to access the external images importer.

Advanced configuration

↑ Back to top

The plugin offers several ways to import and use external images with WooCommerce.

Using the WooCommerce Product CSV Importer

This is the most powerful method for bulk-importing products with external images. The extension integrates directly with the built-in WooCommerce CSV importer.

Format Your CSV File

In your product spreadsheet, use the standard Images column.
To add a featured image and gallery images, place all URLs in the same cell, separated by commas e.g. https://example.com/image1.jpg,https://example.com/image2.jpg,https://example.com/image3.jpg
The first URL will be used as the featured image. All other URLs will become gallery images.
For product variations, enter the external image URL in the Images column for that specific variation’s row.

Import the CSV in WooCommerce

Go to WooCommerce → Products and click Import.
Choose your CSV file and proceed to the Column Mapping screen.
Map your Images column to “External Images”. This is the crucial step that tells the plugin how to handle these URLs.
Click Run the Importer to finish.

Your products will be created or updated, with images displayed directly from the external URLs without using any server storage.

Manually Importing Images for Individual Products

You can also import external images first and then assign them to products when creating or editing them manually.

Import via URL Input:

Go to External Media in your WordPress dashboard.
In the Import Images via URL Input section, paste one or more image URLs (separated by commas).
Click Import.

Bulk Import from JSON or XML:

Go to External Media.
Find the Bulk Image Import from JSON or XML section.
Choose your .json or .xml file and click Import.

This process adds the external images to your Media Library as “virtual” attachments. You can then assign them as featured or gallery images from the product edit screen, just like any other media file.

Troubleshooting

↑ Back to top

Issue	Solution
Image not showing	Make sure the URL is valid, publicly accessible, and points directly to an image file (e.g., .jpg, .png).
Placeholder shown	Check that the External Images plugin is active
Gallery missing	Confirm that multiple URLs in your CSV file’s Images column are separated by commas.