Introduction

The Product CSV Import Suite WooCommerce extension lets you import and export products to and from WooCommerce. You can import hundreds, even thousands, of products using one file.

To import your products you’ll need to create a CSV file. CSV stands for Comma-Separated Values. It’s a plain text form of tabular data. That means you create your data as a table in a spreadsheet program, such as Numbers, Excel, or Google Spreadsheets, save it as a CSV, and you have a text file with all of your data that is in a simple format for import.

NOTE: A core product import/export feature is built into WooCommerce. In the long term, this extension will be phased out and its features and functionality included directly in WooCommerce. Until then, Product CSV Import Suite offers the benefits below.

How does it work?

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The plugin takes your CSV and maps the columns to the fields that you would normally complete through the WordPress Admin Screens. So, for example, the post_title column is mapped to your product name, which uses the post title field; the price field is mapped to the price you set for your product. For the plugin to work correctly, all of the column headers must be correct, and all of the fields you fill in must be in the correct format. If there are any deviations your import may fail.

Notes on Formatting CSVs

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When you create your CSV, there are some rules you need to follow. This will ensure that your text file has the correct structure for uploading:

1. Each Product must be on a new row.
2. The first row must include the column headers. This enables to plugin to map the fields correctly.
3. Taxonomies, Attributes and Images support multiple items. Separate these with a pipe “|” character.

The best way to create the perfect CSV for your shop is:

• Add all of the plugins and extensions you need, add any custom fields to your products if required
• Create a product with all of the information you are going to use
• Export this product (make sure you tick the hidden fields check box)
• Open the exported CSV file and delete the product ID column

Now you have the perfect CSV file template for your shop.

Usage

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So how do you use the CSV import suite? Several use cases are covered, and each process is documented.

• You can import new products to your store;
  • see Importing Products and
  • Importing Product Variations.
• You can export products and then import them into another store, or change columns and merge it back.
• You can see available column headers here.
• You can Delete ALL Products and Delete ALL Variations with two tools added under WooCommerce > Status > Tools when this extension is active (Use with caution: a confirmation window is offered, but the action following is irreversible).

Having problems? See our FAQ doc.