Importing WooCommerce Products With Images: A Complete Guide
Are you trying to figure out how to import your product images in WooCommerce? It can be challenging to manually import WooCommerce products with images into your store, especially when you have hundreds to.
Are you trying to figure out how to import your product images in WooCommerce?
It can be challenging to manually import WooCommerce products with images into your store, especially when you have hundreds to thousands of them. The process is not only extremely time-consuming, but it could also mean that mistakes are made as you try to correctly map the many images to the many products in your WooCommerce store.
Additionally, if you are particular about growing and scaling your WooCommerce store, adding products with images manually is not sustainable.
In this detailed guide, we will show you two different methods that you can use to import product images in WooCommerce. You can do it without a plugin, leveraging WooCommerce’s built-in importer tool (which has many limitations), or with a plugin like WP All Import.
Table of Content
- How To Import WooCommerce Products With Images Using Built-In Importer
- Limitations of WooCommerce’s Built-In Importer
- How To Easily Import WooCommerce Products With Images From Any Source
- Import Product Images in WooCommerce – FAQs
How To Import WooCommerce Products With Images Using Built-In Importer
WooCommerce offers a built-in importer tool that allows you to import products with images using CSV or TXT files.
To do this, navigate to Products > All Products from your WordPress admin dashboard menu and click the Import button at the top of the page.
On the Import Products screen, click the Choose File button to select the CSV file that contains your product and images from your computer. Then click Continue.
You will see a product mapping table that allows you to correctly map fields in your CSV file against WooCommerce’s product data fields to ensure your import executes successfully. Take a moment to review all your imported data, especially if you are importing products with variations. Once you are pleased with everything, click Run Importer to begin the import process.
WooCommerce will complete the import and you will be taken to a new screen that notifies you of the completion.
You can confirm the success of the import by clicking View Products or going to Products › All Products to see the list of imported products and their associated images. You can also visit your WooCommerce store’s shop page to double-check that all imported products display the right information and work as they should.
While WooCommerce’s built-in importer can be a decent tool to import WooCommerce products with images, it has many limitations.
Limitations of WooCommerce’s Built-In Importer
Some of the most obvious limitations of WooCommerce’s built-in importer tool, especially when it comes to importing product images in WooCommerce, include its inability to:
- Import image files from sources other than the WordPress media library
- Handle large CSV files, especially if they contain high-resolution images
- Assign the correct product featured images and gallery images during an import
- Import the SEO and metadata of product images
- Automate the import process for recurring imports of products with images
These reasons, among many others, show why you may need a more advanced import tool to import products with images in WooCommerce.
How To Easily Import WooCommerce Products With Images From Any Source
If you are looking for an easy way to import products with images into WooCommerce, WP All Import is the ideal choice because its Automatic Setup maps catalog data, image links, and galleries automatically upon upload.
The WP All Import plugin allows you to bulk upload images in WooCommerce through multiple image import methods. Whether you are a beginner or a more advanced WordPress user, you will find the plugin easy to use as it features:
- Automatic Setup to analyze spreadsheets and map thousands of WooCommerce product fields and image galleries without manual configuration
- Options for granular control of your import of products with images in WooCommerce
- Import scheduling and automation to add and update product images in WooCommerce
- Support for importing WooCommerce products in CSV, XML, Google Sheets or Excel formats and many more amazing features!
If you’re ready to start easily importing your products with images in WooCommerce, head to the WP All Import website today to purchase the plugin.
1. Create a New Product Import and Upload Product Data
Assuming you have already purchased and installed the WP All Import plugin, go to All Import › New Import to create a new product import.
At the top of the screen, click the Set up automatically banner to open the automated import wizard.
On the Select Your Import File page that appears, choose how you want to import your products with images in WooCommerce.
WP All Import allows you to upload your data in four ways:
- Upload from your computer
- Download from a URL
- Use an existing (previously uploaded) file
- Download from FTP/SFTP
Decide which data import method works best for you and upload your product data accordingly. You can import your WooCommerce products with images in CSV, XLS, XLSX, and XML formats.
Next, select WooCommerce, then choose Products (Simple, Variable, Grouped) as the import type.
Click Start Automatic Setup to allow WP All Import to analyze your spreadsheet, detect image columns, and build the field mappings automatically.
2. Review Uploaded Product Data and Apply Filters
When the analysis finishes, WP All Import presents the Your Import Is Ready summary card, displaying the total record count in your import file and how fields are mapped.
Expand the Field Mappings list to confirm that your product fields and image columns were recognized accurately.
If your spreadsheet has clean image URLs and standard columns, you can proceed directly to run the import, or click Manual Setup to inspect media settings or apply filters.
If you want to apply filters to your import, scroll to the bottom of the template editor and click the Back to Create Filters button. This panel offers a powerful filtering functionality that allows you to tailor your import to your specific use case.
For example, if you want to import products that fall under a specific category, the filtering option makes this easy. To do this, you will select the column name you set for your product category data field as the Element, equals as the Rule, and then input the category name as the Value.
Once you have reviewed the uploaded product data and applied filters relevant to your import, click Continue Setup Import.
3. Review Mapped Data to WooCommerce Product Fields
Because Automatic Setup configures your import automatically on upload, manual mapping is completely optional. If you click Manual Setup, the template editor opens with all fields pre-mapped from your file.
Import WooCommerce Product Title & Description Data
Automatic Setup pre-fills the Title & Description fields from your file. If you want to modify anything, you can edit the fields directly or drag and drop elements from your product import data table on the right into the appropriate WooCommerce fields.
Import WooCommerce Product Fields With the WooCommerce Add-On
The WooCommerce Add-On panel lets you easily populate all the standard WooCommerce product data fields. The interface here is very similar to the one you get when you manually add the product data in WooCommerce. This makes the mapping process easier, even if you’re a complete beginner.
Automatic Setup sets the correct Product Type automatically from your spreadsheet. Then, drag and drop the correct fields from your product data table into various sections of the WooCommerce Add-on to complete this step.
You can learn more about populating WooCommerce product fields with the WooCommerce Add-on in this guide.
WooCommerce Product Image Import Options
The Images panel is where we will focus on the most in this guide. Here, we will show you how to use all the image import options that WP All Import provides to allow you to import your product images seamlessly into WooCommerce.
Let’s start from the top.
Download Images Hosted Elsewhere
This option is selected by default since it’s most likely that you have added image URLs within your uploaded CSV or Excel file. WP All Import can download your product image files from external URLs and add them to your imported products and Media Library. Automatic Setup pre-fills the image URL field from your incoming product data, but you can also drag and drop additional image fields manually. If you have more than one image per product, enter one image URL per line or separate them with a comma.
Use Images Currently in the Media Library
With this option, instead of importing product images via URLs, you can assign existing images that are already in your WordPress Media Library. This way, your imported products are assigned images that already exist in your WooCommerce store’s back-end without needing to duplicate them by re-uploading.
Use Images Currently Uploaded in WP-Content/Uploads/Wpallimport/Files/
This option is great for when you have many product image files to upload. You will need to first go into your server’s backend and create a folder in wp-content/uploads/wpallimport/files/ to dump your image files. Then you can select it as your image import option and map the image file names to the imported products.
Import Multiple Images to Product Variations
If you are importing WooCommerce variable products, WP All Import can import images both into the parent product and the variations. By default, the first image is assigned as the featured image if the Set the first image to the Featured Image (_thumbnail_id) option is enabled. The rest of the images are then added to the product gallery.
If the product import file contains images specifically for the variation product alone, these images are linked to only that variant. To add them to the product gallery, enable Save variation image to the gallery checkbox in the Variations tab.
WP All Import provides many other panels on the Drag & Drop screen to allow you to import additional product data including Custom Fields, Meta Boxes, Categories & Tags, Advanced Custom Fields, and more. You can learn more about the other panels on the Drag & Drop screen and how to import additional data for your products in this guide.
Once you have completed mapping your WooCommerce products and their images, scroll to the bottom of the Drag & Drop screen and click Continue to Step 4.
4. Configure Additional Product Import Settings
The Import Settings screen is the next screen that appears. From here, you can configure additional product import settings to tailor the import to your preference and ensure the process is optimized.
You can automatically set a Unique Identifier for your import by clicking the Auto Detect button or manually set one by dragging and dropping elements from your imported product data table on the left. The Unique Identifier is important as it allows WP All Import to link the records of your imported products correctly if you decide to run the same import with an updated file.
Within the same panel, you can also configure settings for how your import should run in the future.
Additionally, WP All Import provides panels for Scheduling Options and Advanced Settings.
The Automatic Scheduling option is an optional paid service offered by WP All Import that allows you to set up unlimited imports to run on a schedule on specific days of the week or month at predefined times. The service costs $19/month.
You can leave the default settings for these options or set yours up as is relevant for your import.
Once done with the settings, click Continue to proceed to the next step.
5. Run the Import and Verify the Imported Product Data
We’ve now reached the final stage of the import process!
The Confirm & Run screen gives you a full summary of your import settings to allow you to double-check that everything is as it should be.
Once you’ve reviewed all the settings, click Confirm & Run Import to begin importing your WooCommerce products with images.
Once the import is completed, you will see the Import Complete confirmation. It’ll display the number of products you imported, whether existing products were updated, and if any of the products failed to import due to missing information.
To confirm that all your products were successfully imported into your WooCommerce store, navigate to Products › All Products. You should see a list of your imported WooCommerce products and their images.
If you’re ready to maximize the potential of your WooCommerce store by simplifying how you import WooCommerce products with images to save tons of productive time, try WP All Import today!
Import Product Images in WooCommerce – FAQs
How Do I Import Product Images From CSV in WooCommerce?
To import product images from CSV in WooCommerce, install the WP All Import plugin and navigate to All Import › New Import and click the Set up automatically banner. Select Upload a File and choose the CSV file from where you want to import your product images. Select WooCommerce › Products and click Start Automatic Setup to let the plugin map your images to the correct WooCommerce fields automatically, then run the import within minutes!
How Do I Import Products With Multiple Images in WooCommerce?
You can import products with multiple images in WooCommerce using the WP All Import plugin. In your CSV or Excel file, separate multiple image URLs with a comma or pipe character. Upload the file via Automatic Setup, open the Images panel in the template editor, and specify your delimiter character; WP All Import sets the first photo as the featured image and imports the remaining photos into the product gallery.
How To Add Product Images in WooCommerce on a Schedule?
If you want to add product images in WooCommerce on a schedule, the WP All Import plugin provides an easy way to do this through Automatic Scheduling of your imports. Rather than manually adding product images to your WooCommerce store, the plugin allows you to schedule unlimited imports that run on specific days of the week or month at predefined times. This is a convenient way for your product images to be added automatically to your WooCommerce store.
How Do I Import Product Images From CSV or Google Sheets to WooCommerce?
Using the WP All Import plugin is the easiest way to import product images from CSV or Google Sheets to WooCommerce. Once you have installed the plugin, go to All Import › New Import and click the Set up automatically banner. Choose Upload a File or paste a shareable Google Sheets link under Download from URL. Select WooCommerce › Products and click Start Automatic Setup to map your product fields and image galleries automatically, allowing you to complete your import in minutes.
How Do I Import Products in WordPress?
To import products in WordPress, install WooCommerce alongside the WP All Import plugin and its WooCommerce Import Add-On. Navigate to All Import › New Import, upload your product spreadsheet, choose WooCommerce Products, and click Start Automatic Setup to map product titles, prices, stock, and images automatically before publishing.