Importing content from WordPress, Blogger, or Tumblr

Automatically move content from other website platforms to Squarespace.

Last updated May 8, 2023

If you're moving to Squarespace from WordPress, Blogger, or Tumblr, follow this guide to import your content. This is a one-time import process, and it won’t continually sync new content between platforms.

Before you begin

You'll need a site to import your content to first. Visit squarespace.com to get started.

Here's some important information to know about specific platforms:

  • WordPress 3.2 or higher is required. To learn more, visit their FAQ for updating your WordPress site.
  • The import will only work for .xml files from WordPress. It isn't possible to import .xml files generated by other services.
  • Disable any WordPress plugins, as they may interfere with importing.
  • For more tips, visit moving from WordPress to Squarespace.
  • Your Blogger site must be public.
  • Allow Blog Feed must be set to Full in your Blogger site's Feed Settings.
  • Blogger content imports as a new blog page each time you import it.
  • Tumblr content imports as a new blog page each time you import it.
  • Tumblr's Ask/Answer posts aren't compatible with Squarespace. If your Tumblr has Ask/Answer posts, your import will fail. You can recreate Ask/Answer posts using quote blocks in new blog posts.

Before importing a Tumblr site with Ask/Answer posts, follow these steps to remove them:

  1. Go to http://yourname.tumblr.com/archive/filter-by/answer, replacing yourname with your Tumblr title. Here, you'll see all your Ask/Answer posts.
  2. In a new tab, log into your Tumblr account.
  3. Click the Account icon in the top-right corner, select your blog, then click Mass Post Editor.
  4. You'll see a list of your Tumblr posts by date. Use the /archive/filter-by/answer page you opened in the first step to find and remove all the Ask/Answer posts in your list of Tumblr posts.

What imports

Your WordPress content may import as multiple pages, depending on how your WordPress site is set up. Squarespace imports all of your:

  • Attachments
  • Blog pages, blog posts, and authors
  • Categories
  • Comments
  • Individual images
  • Site pages
  • Tags

Squarespace won't import other content, including:

  • Content from plugins.
  • Gallery images.
  • Image captions.
  • Images saved in your Media Library but not attached to any posts or pages. We recommend downloading all images in your Media Library so you have them as a backup.
  • Style or CSS. To customize your Squarespace site's design, use site styles.

Some information from WordPress will import, but won't match with how it works in WordPress. For example:

Your content will import as one blog page. Squarespace imports all of your:

  • Comments
  • Images
  • Posts

Squarespace won't import other content, including:

  • Pages.
  • Content from plugins.
  • Style or CSS. To customize your Squarespace site's design, use site styles.

Your content will import as one blog page. Squarespace imports the following posts and fields:

  • Audio
  • Chat
  • Image captions
  • Links
  • Post descriptions 
  • Quotes
  • Tags
  • Text 
  • Videos embedded from third-party services, like YouTube

Squarespace won't import other content, including: 

  • Photo posts.
  • Reblogged content.
  • Style or CSS. To customize your Squarespace site's design, use site styles.
  • Thumbnail images.
  • Videos uploaded directly to Tumblr.

Import your content

Follow the steps for your platform below. 

There are two ways to import content from WordPress.

Basic (for small WordPress sites)

This option is best for very simple WordPress.com sites. Use the advanced option instead if you have a large WordPress.com site or any WordPress.org site.

To use the basic option:

  1. Open the Import & export content panel.
  2. Click Import.
  3. Click WordPress, then click Basic.
  4. Enter your WordPress URL, Login, and Password.
  5. Click Begin Import.
  6. A "Success" message will appear after the import completes.
  7. The imported content will be in the Not linked section of the pages panel. You might need to refresh for it to appear.

Advanced (recommended for most WordPress sites)

This option works best for most WordPress sites. To use the advanced option:

  1. Log into your WordPress site.
  2. In your My Home dashboard sidebar menu, click Tools, and then Export.
  3. In Export Content, click Export all to download all content from your site or click the drop-down menu on the right to select specific WordPress content you want to export.
  4. Click Export selected content, then Download to export the WordPress .xml file to your computer.
  5. Log into your Squarespace site.
  6. Open the Import & export content panel.
  7. Click Import.
  8. Click WordPress, and then click Advanced.
  9. Drag your .xml file into the XML Export Upload box, or click Add a File to upload it from your computer.
  10. If you used Textile or Markdown markup language in your WordPress content, choose that option in the Processor drop-down menu. Otherwise, leave it as Standard WordPress.
  11. Click Begin Import. A progress bar will show that your content is importing.
  12. A "Success" message will appear after the import completes.
  13. The imported content will be in the Not linked section of the pages panel. You might need to refresh for it to appear.

To import content from Blogger:

  1. Open the Import & export content panel.
  2. Click Import.
  3. Click Blogger.
  4. Enter your blog's subdomain in Blogspot URL. Your subdomain is the first part of your blog's URL. For example, if your blog's full URL is myblog.blogspot.com, enter myblog.
  5. Click Begin Import. A progress bar will show that your content is importing.
  6. A "Success" message will appear after the import completes.
  7. The imported content will be in the Not linked section of the pages panel. You might need to refresh for it to appear.

To import content from Tumblr:

  1. Open the Import & export content panel.
  2. Click Import.
  3. Click Tumblr.
  4. Enter your Tumblr URL and click Begin Import. A progress bar will show that your content is importing.
  5. A "Success" message will appear when the import completes.
  6. The imported content will be in the Not linked section of the pages panel. You might need to refresh for it to appear.

Troubleshooting failed imports

If an imports stalls, an "Import was interrupted" message appears in the Import & export content panel. We'll automatically retry stalled imports every 30 minutes and make five tries.

Larger imports can take more time to process. Most interrupted imports complete successfully in six hours.

If an import stalls on all five tries, a "Failed" status appears in the import/export panel. To troubleshoot, review the information below:

Basic imports

If a basic WordPress import fails:

  1. Ensure your URL is correct and loads your WordPress site.
  2. In WordPress, disable settings or plugins that block access to the site's root directory.
  3. Reset your WordPress password.
  4. Try the import again.
  5. If the import still fails after these steps, try the advanced import option.

Advanced imports

If an advanced WordPress import fails:

  1. Ensure you're using WordPress 3.2 or later. If not, update your site.
  2. In WordPress, disable all third-party plugins.
  3. If your site has a lot of pages or posts, your export file might be too large for our system to import. Try exporting smaller .xml files from specific date ranges, and upload them one by one.

Error message: "[filename] is an attachment without a parent"

If you're missing images after a successful import, check the Import & export content panel for the error message "[filename] is an attachment without a parent."

If you see this error:

  1. Check your WordPress Media Library for the missing images. Images only in the library, and not on specific pages and posts, don't import.
  2. In WordPress, create a page or post for all the images that are only in the library.
  3. Export your site, and import the file again.
  4. Use image search to add the images to other pages or posts on Squarespace.

If you're missing images but the error doesn't display, it's possible you transferred your domain before importing. Our system can't find files from WordPress unless the domain is pointing to your WordPress site. Point your domain back to WordPress and retry the import.

Images disappear when editing imported content in Squarespace

If you imported a page or blog post with over 100 images, the images will disappear when you edit the content. This happens because our system imports each image in its own block, and pages and posts on Squarespace can only hold around 100 blocks. Keep in mind, we recommend adding no more than 60 blocks to any page or post.

To fix this, do one of the following:

  • Try importing again - Edit the page or post in WordPress so it includes less than 100 images. Then, import your WordPress site again.
  • Rebuild the pages in Squarespace - Delete the page or post, then create a new page or post on Squarespace and add the images to galleries by uploading the images from your computer or using image search.

If you're still having trouble, contact us, and we'll be happy to help. If you're using advanced import, attach the .xml file so we can review it and test it for you.

If your Blogger import fails:

If your Tumblr import fails:

  • Review your URL to ensure it's correct.
  • Remove any Ask/Answer posts from your Tumblr before importing.

Next steps

When you content finishes importing, you can:

Footer Image
  • Get help from our community

  • Get help from our community on advanced customizations.

  • Hire a Squarespace Expert

  • Stand out online with the help of an experienced designer or developer.

Importing content from WordPress, Blogger, or Tumblr