Do you want to import images in WordPress? Whenever you are moving from one platform to another, WordPress provides an easy way to import all your website content.

But the problem arises for your images. Some of your images are not imported and are still linked to the old sources.

In this article, I’ll tell you how to import external images in WordPress

How to Import Images In WordPress

Here I will tell about some best practices for importing images. So, let’s see how you can easily import external images into WordPress without Advanced knowledge.

1. Using WordPress Importer

When you move from one host to another or move your content from one WordPress site to another WordPress site, this method can help you.

WordPress importers try to import images with your post. You can check your imported images by visiting Media >> Library page in your WordPress site.

But first, you have to export your old site. Log in to your old site (or move to old host), click on Tool >> Export and select All content then hit on Download Export File. You can see in screenshots below.

When you click on Download Export File, it will start downloading your file.

Now, login to your new WordPress site (again move to new host). Click on Tool >> Import and install WordPress importer.

After installing, click on Run Importer.

Now, choose your XML file to upload, then click Upload file and import.

WordPress importer will provide the option to assign authors or you can create a new account for each author’s posts.

Now check Download and import file attachments to import all the Attachments (images) that are attached to posts and pages.

It will start to import images to media library. After importing data with WordPress Importer if you have missed some of the media images. Go for the next step.

2. Import External Images in WordPress Using Auto Upload Images

First, install and activate Auto Upload Images plugin on your WordPress site.

This plugin has several features:

Automatically find images in posts and save them to your server and wp media library

Update posts with new image URLs in your server

Add images saved by the plugin to the WordPress media library

Select custom post types for excluding auto upload images

Choose exclude domain to save images from this domain address

Choose custom your base URL for images

Choose custom images file name with patterns

Choose custom image alt name with patterns

Choose max width and height for images uploaded

Once activated, click on Settings >> Auto Upload Images. The plugin allows you to set filename, image alt tag, image size, and exclude post types. You can see screenshot below.

The default settings work perfect for most users, but you can change according to your need. Once you are done, click on the Save Changes button to store your settings.

Next, you’ll need to update your post or page that contain external images. This is a manual process, you can take some time in this.

After a successful update, you can see the external image URLs are updated with the current domain target.

If you have a lot of content. You can use the WordPress Bulk Edit feature to save your time. Increase the per page count to display the maximum number of posts on a page.

3. Using Import External Images Plugin

First, install and activate import external images plugin on your site.

After activating the plugin, click on Media >> import images. Next, you need to click on import images Now button. As you can see in the screenshot below,

Image taken from – Bloggersignal

This will start importing your external images in WordPress and this process will depend on the number of your external images.

Note: Import External Images plugin imports 50 images at a time. If there is a memory exhausted error while importing images, then you have to increase your PHP memory limit. To continue, click on the “Import Image Now” button again.

4. Import Image to WordPress Manually

If the above method is not working, you can manually import external images.

First, log in to your hosting cPanel and then click on the file manager or you can connect your site to FTP.

Now navigate to root directory (public_html or www) >> wp-content / uploads /.

This is the folder that stores all the media files uploaded on WordPress. In the screenshot, we have three such folders: 2017, 2018 and 2019. Each of them contains the media files uploaded during their respective years.

Just, you need to download them to your computer. If you are using cPanel, you have to compress them and download the zip file first.

With FTP, you can download folder (2019, 2018 and 2017) without compressing.

Upload your images to your new WordPress site

In the next step, upload the folders to your new WordPress site (wp-content/uploads). For this, you will need to log in to your new site via FTP. If you have uploaded compressed files, then extract it.

If your file size is small, then you can upload via cPanel.

We’re done, and it’s now your turn! Find this article helpful? Don’t forget to share!

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