Looking for a way to bulk import or export WooCommerce product fields, such as through a CSV file or with support for variable products, custom fields, and images?
In this guide, we'll cover the built-in WooCommerce Product CSV Importer and Exporter in detail, including what it does well, where it falls short, and how it compares to a dedicated WooCommerce Import plugin.
📑 Table of Contents
What Is the WooCommerce Product CSV Importer and Exporter?
The WooCommerce Product CSV Importer and Exporter is the built-in CSV tool that ships with WooCommerce core since version 3.1. It is not a separate plugin, and it does not require an additional purchase, license, or installation. Every store running WooCommerce has access to it from the moment the plugin is activated.
You can access the importer and exporter from Products > All Products in your WordPress admin. You'll see two buttons at the top of that screen: Import and Export. Clicking either launches a multi-step wizard that walks you through uploading a WooCommerce CSV file with product fields, mapping columns, and running the import or export.
This built-in Product CSV Importer and Exporter handles simple, variable, grouped, external, virtual, and downloadable WooCommerce products out of the box.
For a wider look at how this tool stacks up against dedicated WooCommerce import and export plugins, see our guide to the best WooCommerce product import and export plugins.
Key Features
The built-in tool covers the basics of WooCommerce product import and export competently.
- File format support. CSV (and TXT) files in UTF-8 encoding are accepted. XML, Excel, and Google Sheets are not supported natively. If your data lives in another format, you will need to convert it before importing.
- Product types supported. Simple, variable, grouped, external/affiliate, and variation rows are all handled. The importer recognizes a
Typecolumn that maps each row to its correct product type.
- Multi-step wizard. The importer runs through four steps: upload the CSV file, map columns to WooCommerce product fields, run the import, and confirm completion. The exporter runs through a single screen with column, type, and category filters.
- Column mapping with auto-detection. Known WooCommerce columns are mapped automatically. Unknown columns can be mapped manually or flagged as
meta:product fields on the mapping screen. - Custom meta support. Any column prefixed with
meta:is imported as post meta. For example, a column namedmeta:brandwrites its value to thebrandmeta key on each product. - Custom taxonomy support. The importer can write to any registered taxonomy, including hierarchical ones. Use
>to denote parent-child relationships inside a single Categories cell. - Bulk update mode. Toggling "Update existing products" on the upload screen makes the importer match each row by ID or SKU and overwrite the existing product instead of creating a new one.
- Export filters. You can filter the export by product type, product category, and whether to include custom meta columns. WooCommerce 9.9 added the ability to export only the products you have selected from the product list.
- Saved mapping preferences. Each user account stores its last column mapping. Re-importing the same CSV file later skips the mapping step.
Ease of Use
The wizard interface is the biggest reason store owners keep coming back to the built-in tool. There is no settings page to configure, and no license to manage. Everything lives in wp-admin.
The column mapping screen uses dropdowns rather than a drag-and-drop visual editor. For default WooCommerce product fields, the auto-mapping handles the work. For custom meta, you select the target product field from a list that includes every registered meta key on your products.
Advanced options sit behind a collapsed panel. CSV delimiter, character encoding, server file path, and the option to reuse a previous mapping are all hidden by default. Most store owners never need them.
Converting a simple product into a variable product requires two separate imports: one to update the parent row's Type from simple to variable, and another to add variation rows. The process works, but it is not a one-click action.
One quirk worth noting: the "Used for variations" flag on attributes has no dedicated CSV column. The importer sets this flag indirectly based on whether the attribute appears in variation rows.
How to Export and Import WooCommerce Products Using the Built-in Tool
Exporting WooCommerce Products
- Go to Products > All Products in your WordPress admin.
- Click Export at the top of the page.
- Choose which columns to export, or leave Export all columns selected.
- Pick the product types and categories to include, and decide whether to include custom meta.
- Click Generate CSV and download the file when the export finishes.
In WooCommerce 9.9 and newer, you can tick specific products in the list view and click Export X selected to export only those products.
Importing WooCommerce Products
- Go to Products > All Products in your WordPress admin.
- Click Import at the top of the page.
- Upload your CSV file from your computer, or specify a server file path under the advanced options panel.
- Toggle Update existing products if you want the importer to overwrite existing products by ID or SKU.
- On the mapping screen, confirm that each CSV column maps to the correct WooCommerce product field. Add
meta:prefixes for any custom product fields. - Click Run the Importer and wait for the progress bar to finish.
A complete log of failed or skipped rows is saved to your user profile under product_import_error_log, which is useful when debugging large product imports.
Pros
- Free and built in. No installation, no license, no renewal, and no third-party account required.
- Officially maintained. Built and maintained by the WooCommerce team, so compatibility with core updates is guaranteed.
- All standard product types covered. Simple, variable, grouped, external, virtual, and downloadable products are all supported, including variation rows.
- Custom meta support. The
meta:column prefix lets you import any plain scalar custom product field without extra setup. - Custom taxonomy support. Categories, tags, and any registered taxonomy can be imported, including hierarchical structures.
- Export-import matching. Exported product CSVs match the importer's expected schema, so re-importing the same file works reliably.
- Selective export. WooCommerce 9.9 lets you export only the products you have selected from the product list.
- Saved mapping preferences. Each user account remembers its last column mapping, which speeds up repeat imports.
Cons
- CSV only. XML, Excel, and Google Sheets are not supported natively. Drag-and-drop importers like WP All Import handle all of these formats out of the box.
- No scheduled imports. Every import must be triggered manually from the wizard. There is no cron option, no recurring sync, and no way to run an import on a schedule.
- No remote sources. Files can only be uploaded from your computer or pulled from a local server path. FTP, SFTP, and URL imports are not available.
- No update-only mode. The importer always combines "create new" with "update existing." A weekly stock refresh CSV that does not perfectly match every SKU can create duplicate products instead of just updating prices and stock.
- Variable products are unforgiving. Strict CSV row ordering is required. Misordered rows can leave a parent product in draft or flatten variations into simple products.
- Shallow custom field support. Scalar text meta works. Serialized arrays, JSON structures, and plugin-specific data formats (such as quantity-tier pricing or role-based price tables) cannot be reconstructed from a flat product CSV file. WP All Import handles this gap with a drag-and-drop field mapping screen that reconstructs serialized arrays and repeater fields directly.
- Limited third-party plugin compatibility. Data from extensions like Subscriptions, Bookings, Product Vendors, and Brands is not mapped.
- Minimal error reporting. Failed imports produce silent skips with little detail about which rows failed and why.
- No bulk deletion tool. Clearing a catalog before re-importing requires a separate workflow.
- No image ZIP export. Product images are referenced by URL only, not bundled into the export file.
User Reviews and Ratings
Because the WooCommerce Product CSV Importer and Exporter ships with WooCommerce core, it does not have its own listing on WordPress.org or a marketplace review page. Ratings and sentiment come from community forums, GitHub issues, and user feedback threads rather than a centralized review platform.
Sentiment in the WooCommerce community is mixed. The tool is widely used for one-time catalog migrations and occasional bulk updates, and it does these jobs reliably. The most common complaints, as documented in the WooCommerce GitHub repository, center on variable product behavior: variations failing to attach to parent products after the export and import.
WP All Import handles variable products and variations more reliably, with explicit configuration for parent-child relationships and a visual drag-and-drop mapping interface.
Pricing
The WooCommerce Product CSV Importer and Exporter is free. It ships with WooCommerce core and does not require a separate purchase. The only cost is the WooCommerce plugin itself, which is open source.
For most stores that need scheduled imports, remote file sources, or reliable handling of large variable product catalogs, a dedicated plugin like WP All Import is the better investment. WP All Import's WooCommerce add-on covers all of these cases and is sold as a lifetime license.
Who Should Use It
The built-in WooCommerce Product CSV Importer and Exporter fits a specific profile:
- Stores with simple or moderately complex catalogs of standard product types
- One-time catalog migrations from one WooCommerce site to another
- Stores that need a free, no-installation solution and are comfortable working within WooCommerce's CSV schema
The built-in WooCommerce Product CSV Importer and Exporter is not well suited to scheduled supplier feeds, remote file imports, complex third-party plugin data, serialized custom fields, or large variable product catalogs with hundreds of variations. WP All Import's WooCommerce add-on handles all of these cases: it maps product fields through a drag-and-drop interface, reconstructs serialized and structured custom field data, supports scheduled and remote imports, and manages variable product catalogs at scale. See the full comparison in WP All Import vs WooCommerce Product CSV Importer and Exporter.
Final Thoughts - WooCommerce Product CSV Importer and Exporter
The WooCommerce Product CSV Importer and Exporter is the right starting point for most WooCommerce stores. It's free, it's built in, and it handles standard product types without any extra setup. For a one-time catalog migration or an occasional bulk update, it does the job.
The limits show up as soon as a store moves beyond simple catalogs. There is no scheduling, no remote file sources, no XML or Excel support, no drag-and-drop mapping, and variable product imports require careful CSV structure to behave predictably. Custom product field support stops at scalar text meta, which rules out serialized pricing rules, role-based tables, and other structured data.
For stores that need any of those features, the upgrade path is not the Product CSV Import Suite. The Suite addresses some third-party plugin compatibility gaps, but it has its own variable product issues and a 2.8 out of 5 marketplace rating.
A purpose-built importer like WP All Import covers the ground the built-in tool cannot: scheduled imports, remote files, XML and Excel support, drag-and-drop mapping, and reliable handling of variable products at scale. Product field mapping is one of the clearest gaps: the built-in importer's meta: convention only covers scalar values, while WP All Import maps any product field, including structured and serialized data, through its Automatic Setup and drag-and-drop screen.
Frequently Asked Questions - WooCommerce Product CSV Importer and Exporter
To import products in WooCommerce without a plugin, go to Products > All Products in your WordPress admin and click Import at the top of the page. Upload a UTF-8 encoded CSV file that matches the WooCommerce Product CSV Import Schema, map your columns to product fields on the next screen, and click Run the Importer.
To export products from WooCommerce, go to Products > All Products and click Export at the top of the page. Choose which columns, product types, and categories to include, decide whether to export custom meta, and click Generate CSV. The exported file follows the same schema the importer expects.
To import WooCommerce products with images, add an Images column to your CSV and list the image URLs there. The first URL is treated as the featured image, and any additional URLs are added to the product gallery. Images are pulled from the URLs at import time and added to your WordPress media library.
Yes. WooCommerce includes a built-in CSV file importer and exporter that has been part of the plugin since version 3.1. It is accessed from Products > All Products in your WordPress admin and does not require any additional plugin or purchase.
For scalar text fields, the built-in importer's meta: prefix is sufficient. For serialized data, structured pricing rules, or product fields from third-party plugins, WP All Import's Automatic Setup and drag-and-drop mapping handles product fields the built-in tool cannot reconstruct from a flat CSV file.
