Import/export Collection content

Use a CSV file to import Collection items, or export your CMS database to a CSV file.

We’re transitioning to a new UI, and are in the process of updating our Webflow University content.

When you create Collections in the Webflow CMS, you can add Collection items manually, or import them directly into an existing Collection with a comma separated values (CSV) file. This lets you import hundreds or thousands of items from an external source directly into the CMS and map CSV content to reference fields when importing that content. To make updates to large amounts of data a little easier, you can also selectively update existing Collection items through CSV import. 

You can also export the content of any CMS Collection as a CSV file — this is useful if you want to save a backup of your Collection items. You can use this CSV file to import Collection items into other Webflow sites, or move Collection items to other platforms. Learn more about migrating your CMS data to another site

Note: You can only import/export Collection items from within the Designer.

In this lesson, you’ll learn: 

  1. How to import Collection items from a CSV file
  2. How to export Collection items to a CSV file

How to import Collection items from a CSV file

There are a few things you’ll want to know when importing Collection items from a CSV file. We’ll cover: 

  1. How to structure your CSV file
  2. How to upload external data to Webflow
  3. How to configure fields and preview items
  4. How to import the mapped data
  5. How to troubleshoot issues with image import
Note: The number of Collection items you can import to the CMS depends on your Site plan type. The header row in your CSV file won’t count as a Collection item or count against this limit. Visit our pricing page for information about limits and pricing
Important: When importing Collection items from a CSV file, you’ll be asked if you want to create a backup of your site. If you click Yes, we’ll create a pre-import backup version of your site, which you can later restore in Site settings > Backups tab in case of any issues. However, if you have a large site with many existing Collection items, we recommend you create a backup in the Designer before starting to import Collection items via CSV, and click No to skip the backup step during import. Learn more about saving and restoring backups.
Note: When you import Collection items via CSV in your primary locale view, the items are created in all secondary locales. If you want to import items to a specific secondary locale, select that locale from the Locale view dropdown and then import your CSV file. Additionally, when you export Collection items, the exported CSV file only contains the items from the current locale view. Learn more about localizing Collection content

How to structure your CSV file

Typically, CSVs exported from other content management systems like WordPress are already structured in a way that’s compatible with Webflow. You also don’t need to worry about the CSV structure of exported Webflow Collections if you’re migrating data from one Webflow site to another. 

However, if you’re not using an existing CSV from one of the above sources, you may want to create your own CSV to import that data into a Collection. You can use tools like Google Sheets, MS Excel, or Airtable to create a spreadsheet with columns representing Collection fields and rows representing Collection items and their values. Once the spreadsheet is ready, you can save it as a CSV file.

Note: When saving a CSV file in Excel, be sure to select the CSV type “Comma Separated Values.” Other CSV extensions may not render correctly when uploaded to Webflow. To ensure CSVs with only 1 column of data import correctly, add a comma directly after the header column label (e.g., Name,). 

Supported data types

To ensure you don’t run into any errors during the import process, you’ll need to make your CSV Webflow-friendly. Some data, such as images, dates, numbers, and colors, may not be recognized without correct formatting. 

To ensure your data is formatted correctly and can be mapped to the right Collection field type, follow these guidelines when creating your own database spreadsheet: 

Collection field type CSV row content
Name field Any plain text with fewer than 256 characters
Slug field Any plain text with fewer than 256 characters
Plain text field Any plain text
Rich text field Any values can be mapped to this field. However, to import rich text, the value of this field must be written in HTML.
Image field Direct URL to image (link that ends in an image file extension). Only supported image file types will be imported to your Collection.
Multi-image field Direct URLs to images separated by semicolons (e.g., https://images.unsplash.com/bird1.jpeg; https://images.unsplash.com/bird2.jpeg; https://images.unsplash.com/bird3.jpeg)
Video field Any YouTube or Vimeo URL. Other video URLs cannot be mapped to this field.
Link field Any URL
Email field Any email address
Phone field Any phone number format
Number field Any number. Values that include letters (e.g., 100 USD), symbols (e.g., $100), or commas (e.g., 10,000) cannot be mapped to this field.
Date/time field Any supported date and time format
Switch field 2 unique values, e.g., if a column contains only “True” and “False” as values, you can import this as a Switch field type and specify which value means “Yes” during the mapping phase.
Color field Any value in web color format (i.e., color names, hex codes, RGBA). Hex codes must be preceded by the pound sign (#), e.g., #4353ff.
Option field Any value. All unique values in this column will become the options for this field (with a maximum of 100 options).
File field No data can be mapped to the file field. You can manually upload your files once you import all your data.
Reference field Plain text — no special formatting required (e.g., “Charles Dickens”)
Multi-reference field Plain text separated by semicolons (e.g., “Charles Dickens; Jane Austen; Charlotte Bronte”)
Note: If you haven’t mapped a CSV column to the default name and slug fields, the CMS will generate those for you.
Important: During import, any code in a rich text field is “cleaned up” to remove elements, classes, and attributes that aren’t supported in Webflow. Because of this cleanup process, you may want to check your rich text content after import. 

How to upload external data to Webflow 

Let’s walk through how you can upload external data to your Webflow Collection. We’ll cover the following steps in this process: 

  1. How to upload a CSV file
  2. How to specify the header row
  3. How to choose which items to import

How to upload a CSV file

To upload your CSV file to a designated Collection in Webflow: 

  1. Open the CMS panel
  2. Choose the Collection to which you want to import your Collection items
  3. Click Import
  4. Drag in your CSV file, or browse your computer for the file
Note: You can upload a maximum CSV file size of 4MB.

How to specify the header row

After you’ve chosen your CSV file, you’ll be prompted to specify a header row. Usually, the header row of a CSV file contains column labels defining the type of content contained in each column (i.e., a header row might have labels for “Name,” “Date,” etc.). 

Once you upload the CSV file, you’ll be shown a preview of your CSV file and be prompted to confirm whether the first row is a header. To mark the first row as the header row and exclude it from import, choose “Yes, this is the header,” or “I’m not sure.” To include the row in the import, choose “No, this is an item.” The values of the header row will be set as field labels for the Collection items in the field configuration step. 

After you drag your CSV into the Upload CSV modal you are asked to determine the header row of your CSV.

No matter what choice you make at this stage, you can go to the first Collection item and check or uncheck the “Header row” box in the next step. 

How to choose which items to import 

After you choose your header row, you’ll receive confirmation that your CSV file has finished processing. The confirmation message will also tell you whether any of your newly uploaded CSV items match or don’t match any current items in your Collection.

Note: If you haven’t chosen a header row or indicated that you were unsure whether the first row is a header row, you’ll move directly to field configuration, without the choice to update existing matching items. Essentially, Webflow defaults to creating new Collection items for you, because it’s not possible to map to a Collection item ID column or Collection field column without a specified header row. 

If you have matching items (i.e., existing Collection items and CSV data that share the same ID), you can choose to: 

  • Update matching items, which matches and updates existing items in your Collection to items in your CSV upload
  • Import all items as new items, which uploads the matching items in your CSV as new items in your Collection 

Choosing “Update matching items” is an excellent way to quickly make changes to existing items in your Collection. For example, if you’ve made updates to select items’ data in a CSV file, uploading just the updated items lets you quickly overwrite old content in your Collection items with your new data. 

Note: Regular CMS items are matched based on the “Item ID” field, which is included in a CSV export from a Collection. Please also keep in mind that if you perform a site restore from backup, all CMS Collection and item IDs will refresh. Learn more about saving and restoring backups

Once you choose to either update matching items or import all items as new items, you can configure and map your CSV data to your Collection fields. If you didn’t have any matching items, you’ll also proceed to this step. 

Note: Updating items via CSV import does not apply to Ecommerce items. Learn more about importing Ecommerce products and variants

How to configure fields and preview items

Configure fields

After you’ve uploaded your CSV file, its columns will be available as fields that you can configure in the Field configuration pane under Imported items. If specified, column headers will appear as Collection field labels. 

Note: If your CSV header names match your existing Collection field names, they’ll automatically map to each other and save you a configuration step. 

The values in the input fields are pulled from the selected row. Each row translates to a single Collection item. You can preview different items in the Item preview pane on the right. 

In this step, you’ll configure Collection fields by choosing which CSV columns to map and which to leave out. There are a few options for each column and field: 

Do not import

If there are columns in your CSV that you don’t want to map to CMS fields, choose Do not import from the dropdown. 

Create new field

If a Collection field doesn’t already exist, you can create one and map it to a column: 

  1. Choose Create new field from the dropdown
  2. Choose the field type from the dropdown. Field types that don’t support the content in the column won’t be available and will be grayed out
  3. Add a new field label in the New field label field, or keep the suggested label
  4. (Optional) Add Help text to appear below the label 

You may have other options to set depending on the field type you select. A new option field will be populated by all unique values from that column (note that these values are case sensitive). For a new switch field, you can specify which value maps to “No.” 

Map to existing field

You can map each column to an existing field in the Collection: 

  1. Choose Map to existing field from the dropdown
  2. Choose the field you want to map this column to from the dropdown. Fields that don’t support the content in the column won’t be available and will appear grayed out
Note: A green “dot” icon next to a column label indicates that the column has been mapped.

For a new switch field, you can specify which value maps to “No,” or you can click Swap to map a value to “Yes.”

Good to know: You can’t map a column to existing fields that are already in use. If you need to map a column type, you can create a new field.

Preview items

You can preview the fields and values of each item to be imported in the Item preview pane on the right. 

Use the left and right “arrow” buttons at the top of the preview pane to navigate through Collection items. Click the Display item dropdown menu in the top bar to view a list of all the items that will be imported. With the Display item dropdown menu open, you can click the name of any item to jump to its preview. You can also type text into the search bar to search for specific items.

Hovering anywhere over a mapped or created field in the left panel will highlight the corresponding field in the preview item. Preview items update in real time as you configure the field.

If you need to manually edit a field value for a given item, you can do so before you configure the field, or by selecting Do not import in the dropdown.

You can also choose to skip importing specific items into your Collection: 

  1. Locate the item you don’t want to import in the preview pane (i.e., use the arrows, dropdown menu, or search bar to navigate to the item) 
  2. Toggle “on” Skip import 

Skipped items are indicated at the top of the Item preview pane and in the Display item dropdown menu with a “Skip import” icon.

Fields with requirements/validations

If a cell within one of your CSV columns is mapped to a required reference field and is empty or does not contain any values that exist in that referenced Collection, you’ll receive a warning that your item doesn’t exist. As a required field, the item for that row will be imported as a Draft, and the reference field will be left blank. 

If the mapped reference field is not required and a cell within that column is empty or does not contain any values that exist in that referenced Collection, then the Collection item for that row will be set to Staged for publish once imported, and the reference field will be left blank.

How to import the mapped data

After you’ve fully configured your Collection fields and CSV data, click Import to add the data to your Collection. 

Important: When importing Collection items from a CSV file, you’ll be asked if you want to create a backup of your site. If you click Yes, we’ll create a pre-import backup version of your site, which you can later restore in Site settings > Backups tab in case of any issues. However, if you have a large site with many existing Collection items, we recommend you create a backup in the Designer before starting to import Collection items via CSV, and click No to skip the backup step during import. Learn more about saving and restoring backups.

Make sure to remain in the Designer until all items are imported. If some or all of your items weren’t imported to your Collection, you’ll receive a list of the items that weren’t imported, the cause for the failed import, and a link where you can download a detailed error report summary.

How to troubleshoot issues with image import

If you have broken image links in your CSV file, you won’t be able to map those URLs to image fields in your Collection. You can use a bulk URL checker like HTTP Status Code Checker to find and replace the broken links. 

To check and fix broken links in your CSV file: 

  1. Open your CSV file 
  2. Copy the “URLs” column
  3. Paste the content of the “URLs” column into the bulk URL checker
  4. Review the status codes to determine which URLs, if any, are broken — a 200 status code indicates the URL has no errors
  5. Locate the URLs that return an error status code and replace or remove the link in your CSV file 
  6. Save your CSV file and retry importing it to your Collection

How to export Collection items to a CSV file

You can export Collection items to a CSV file in 1 of 2 ways: 

  1. Export an entire Collection (including archived items) 
  2. Selectively export individual Collection items

When exporting Collection items to a CSV file, make sure you understand how Collection fields are exported

Note: When you export Collection items, the exported CSV file only contains the items from the current locale view. Learn more about localizing Collection content

Export an entire Collection 

To export the content of an entire Collection (including archived items) to a CSV file: 

  1. Go to the CMS panel 
  2. Click the name of the Collection you want to export
  3. Click Export

Learn how Collection fields are exported.

Selectively export individual Collection items

To selectively export individual Collection items to a CSV file: 

  1. (Optional) Search, filter, or sort your Collection items
  2. Click Select to bulk select or individually select the items you want to export 
  3. Click Export to create and download a CSV file 
Pro tip: You can export individual Collection items to a CSV file, make changes to those items in your CSV file, and re-import just the updated Collection items into your Collection to overwrite old content with your new updates. Learn more about updating matching Collection items with CSV import

Learn how Collection fields are exported.

How Collection fields are exported

Most Collection field content, including reference fields, are exported as strings of plain text or URLs. Multi-reference fields are exported as a comma separated list of text. Rich text fields are exported as HTML. Images and files are exported as Webflow-hosted URLs. 

Important: Image field and file field URLs are associated with the site from which you’ve exported the Collection. This means that if you delete this original site, those assets will also be deleted, and the links in your CSV file will break. The same is true for images in rich text fields. Unless you’re migrating your Collection to a new Webflow site, make sure to keep your original site as a backup or download each of your images and files manually. 
Note: When you import an exported Collection into another Webflow site, images mapped to an image field are imported as new images in the new site. Currently, file field data cannot be imported to a new site and must be uploaded manually. 

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