Product Export/Import not working

Resolved

(@robinking)

Hi,

I have been struggling to use the product CSV exporter/importer, I'll give you an overview of what I've been experiencing. I've tried to submit this question via the Woocommerce support forums, but get the following message each time (I've tried multiple browsers and cleared cache, but with no luck): 

"Something went wrong and we couldn't submit your ticket! Please try again."

So here's the issue I'm having:

I do a product export from our Woo installation, and have tried the following:

- Immediately try and import this back into the site, after first deleting all the products
- I map all the default columns correctly, and then choose "Import as Meta" for all the others - total fields approx 2.3K
- This results in products called either Import Placeholder or Product

I've also tried:

- Escaping all commas with \,
- Used previous column mapping references

This always results in "Product" for product names, and no descriptions etc

and:

- Importing the original export with column mappings as before
- Only the ID field is shown available to map

Here's the spreadsheet where I have tried exporting from different sheets (as a Google Sheet, provided here as an XLS):
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/38allfo12xub96jb99g2e/Woo-Product-Exports.xlsx?rlkey=2oxm0sqtoznnrifng98qlf7uc&dl=0

Here are some screenshots of the issues;

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/aem05ob641otsa14z9l5m/Screenshot-2025-06-12-at-08.34.21.png?rlkey=owccwtp4okujzxtagrput3heb&dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/fcn4u6u2xdzndxm3uvqcl/Screenshot-2025-06-12-at-08.40.04.png?rlkey=dfwvj4kmwrh5778b8l2b1gh62&dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/kq9dv5pfoma9jpp2ejmte/Screenshot-2025-06-12-at-09.08.09.png?rlkey=i58a1vvbhpzh7rr2jr87631it&dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/rb2zfem36g1sel7qr0t6e/Screenshot-2025-06-12-at-09.09.21.png?rlkey=76kaajo3zo42kbunav41mbc2n&dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/tgvhcve0zhmeu6qydeklh/Screenshot-2025-06-12-at-09.16.48.png?rlkey=z813tnrfgpfa4gj9k8jbx86si&dl=0

I've updated WordPress, and all plugins that can be updated.

This topic was modified 8 months, 1 week ago by robinking. Reason: Added note about trying to submit via support ticket first

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

Plugin Support shahzeen(woo-hc)
(@shahzeenfarooq)

8 months, 1 week ago

Hi there!

Thank you for providing the screenshot of the file you’re trying to import.

I noticed that the file you’ve shared is not in CSV format. Could you please confirm if you’re using any third-party plugin to export the Excel file?

Also, please save your file as a CSV (Comma Separated Values) file and then try importing it again. From the screenshot you’ve shared, it also looks like you’re not selecting the correct mapping fields for the custom columns you’ve added.

When you upload a file and click “Continue,” you’ll reach a page where you need to map each column from your file to the corresponding WooCommerce fields, For more details you can use this guide: https://woocommerce.com/document/product-csv-importer-exporter/#adding-new-products

Please make sure you select the correct field for each column. For example, for the Description column, you should map it to the Description field.

Let me know how it goes!

Thread Starter robinking
(@robinking)

8 months ago

Hi,

Sorry, I probably wasn’t clear in my original post – I shared the Excel to show the columns that I’m exporting/importing, but for the import, I’m using a CSV file. Even when using an untouched exported CSV file – https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/qvf4vyosgmye9rjiy874u/Woo-Product-Exports-ics-development-wc-native-untouched.csv?rlkey=oe13vhhad0uasxeb58qb9xlc8&dl=0 and mapping the columns as below..

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/d2jcu3ry8wvknolkhubmd/Screenshot-2025-06-12-at-14.36.30.png?rlkey=pirlz7xcnsuqhwgdxk3ybzscz&dl=0

…it fails to map correctly. I have also tried escaping the commas so that categories and tags aren’t confusing things, but the result is the same.

Many thanks,
Rob

Moses M. (woo-hc)
(@mosesmedh)

8 months ago

Hi @robinking,

Thank you for getting back to us and for sharing the untouched CSV export. I also appreciate your patience while we reviewed this. We tested the file on our side without making any changes and were able to reproduce the same issue — all product names appeared as “Product.”

On closer inspection of the CSV in Google Sheets, we noticed that the first row was empty. After deleting that empty row and re-importing, the process worked correctly, and the product names displayed as expected.

Could you please try the same on your end? Upload the untouched CSV to Google Sheets, delete the first empty row, download the updated file as a CSV, and then try importing it again.

Looking forward to your response.

Plugin Support LovingBro (woo-hc)
(@lovingbro)

7 months, 3 weeks ago

Hi there,

As there’s been no follow-up, I’ll consider this resolved for the time being. We’re happy to jump back in if anything comes up!

If WooCommerce has been useful for your store and you appreciate the support you have received, we’d truly appreciate it if you could leave us a quick 5-star review here: https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/woocommerce/reviews/#new-post