How do I import content into the Webflow CMS?

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

When you create Collections in the Webflow CMS, you can add Collection items manually or import them in bulk with a comma separated values (CSV) file. This lets you bring in hundreds or thousands of items from an external source, map CSV content to reference fields, and selectively update existing items without editing each one by hand.

You can also export the content of any CMS Collection as a CSV file. This is useful for backing up your Collection items, importing them into another Webflow site, or moving them to another platform. Learn more about migrating your CMS data to another site.

Import Collection items from a CSV file

Structure your CSV file

CSVs exported from other content management systems, like WordPress, are typically already structured in a way that's compatible with Webflow. The same goes for CSVs exported from one Webflow site that you're migrating into another.

If you're not starting from one of those sources, you can build your own CSV using a tool like Google Sheets, Microsoft Excel, or Airtable. Set up columns to represent Collection fields and rows to represent Collection items and their values, then save the spreadsheet as a CSV file.

Supported data types:

To avoid errors during import, format your CSV so Webflow can recognize each type of data. Some content, like images, dates, numbers, and colors, needs specific formatting to map correctly. Use the table below as a guide when building your spreadsheet:

When you import items with reference or multi-reference fields, Webflow automatically converts the plain text value into a slug (e.g., "Charles Dickens" becomes charles-dickens) and tries to match it to a Collection item's slug. If the item has a custom slug, like charles-d, Webflow won't find a match and won't import that field's value. Add the custom slug to your CSV instead to avoid this.

If you don't map a CSV column to the default name and slug fields, the CMS generates those for you automatically.

Upload your CSV file to Webflow

To upload your CSV file to a Collection:

1. (Optional) Choose a locale from the Locale view dropdown to set where you want to import items
2. Open the CMS panel
3. Choose the Collection you want to import items into
4. Click Import
5. Drag in your CSV file, or browse your computer for it
6. Confirm whether the first row in your CSV file is the header row (the row of column labels defining the content in each column, e.g., "Name" or "Date")
7. Click Continue
8. (Optional) Choose whether to import items to all locales or just the current locale
9. Click Continue

The values in your header row become the field labels for your Collection items in the next step. If you skip choosing a header row, Webflow moves straight to field configuration and creates new Collection items for everything, since it can't map to an item ID or field column without one.

Choose which items to import:

After you confirm your header row, Webflow processes your CSV and tells you whether any of the uploaded items match existing items in your Collection.

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

• Link and update matching items and import remaining as new — matches and updates existing items to the data in your CSV, and creates new items for anything that doesn't match
• Import all as new items — uploads every row in your CSV as a new item in your Collection

Link and update matching items is a quick way to make bulk changes to existing items. For example, if you've updated a handful of items in a CSV file, uploading just those rows overwrites the old content with your new data. This is also how you link Collection items across locales when importing a translated version of an exported CSV.

Once you choose to update matching items or import everything as new, you'll move on to configuring and mapping your CSV data to Collection fields. If you don't have matching items, you'll land here directly. Note that updating items through CSV import doesn't apply to Ecommerce items; learn more about importing Ecommerce products and variants.

Configure fields and preview items

Configure fields:

After you upload your CSV file, its columns become fields you can configure in the field configuration pane, under Imported items. Column headers, if specified, appear as your Collection field labels.

The values shown pull from the row you're viewing, and each row becomes a single Collection item. Preview different items in the Item preview pane on the right.

For each column, choose whether to map it to a field or leave it out:

Do not import: If a column in your CSV doesn't need to map to a CMS field, choose Do not import from the dropdown.

Create new field: If a Collection field doesn't exist yet, create one and map it to a column:

1. Choose Create new field from the dropdown
2. Choose the field type from the dropdown (types that don't support the column's content are grayed out)
3. Type in a new field label in the New field label field, or keep the suggested one
4. (Optional) Type in Help text to appear below the label

Depending on the field type, you may have other options to set. A new option field is populated with every unique value from that column (values are case sensitive). For a new switch field, you can choose which value maps to "No."

Map to existing field: Map each column to a field that already exists in the Collection:

1. Choose Map to existing field from the dropdown
2. Choose the field to map the column to (fields that don't support the column's content are grayed out)

For an existing switch field, choose which value maps to "No," or click Swap to map a value to "Yes" instead. You can't map a column to an existing field that's already in use elsewhere; create a new field if you need to.

Preview items:

Preview the fields and values for each item in the Item preview pane on the right. Use the left and right arrow buttons at the top of the pane to move between items, or click the Display item dropdown menu to jump to a specific one or search for it by name.

Hovering over a mapped or created field in the left panel highlights the matching field in the preview, and previews update in real time as you configure fields. If you need to edit a field value manually, do so before configuring the field, or choose Do not import for that field instead.

To skip importing a specific item:

1. Locate the item in the preview pane, using the arrows, dropdown menu, or search bar
2. Toggle on Skip import

Skipped items show a "Skip import" icon at the top of the Item preview pane and in the Display item dropdown menu.

Fields with requirements and validations: If a cell mapped to a required reference field is empty, or doesn't match any item in the referenced Collection, that row imports as a Draft with the reference field left blank. If the field isn't required, the item is set to Staged for publish instead, with the reference field left blank.

Import the mapped data

Once you've configured your Collection fields and mapped your CSV data, click Import to add the data to your Collection. Stay in the Designer until all items finish importing. If some or all items fail to import, Webflow shows you the list of affected items, the reason each one failed, and a link to download a detailed error report.

Troubleshoot issues with image import

If your CSV has broken image links, those URLs won't map to image fields in your Collection. Use a bulk URL checker, like HTTP Status Code Checker, to find and fix them.

To check and fix broken links in your CSV file:

1. Open your CSV file
2. Copy the "URLs" column
3. Paste it into a bulk URL checker
4. Review the status codes to find broken URLs (a 200 status code means the URL has no errors)
5. Replace or remove any URLs that return an error status code
6. Save your CSV file and retry the import

Export Collection items to a CSV file

Before exporting, check how Collection fields are exported so you know what to expect in the file.

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 export specific 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

Learn how Collection fields are exported.

How Collection fields are exported

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

When you import an exported Collection into another Webflow site, images mapped to an image field import as new images on the new site. File field data currently can't be imported this way; upload files manually on the new site instead.