Import from Substack

Substack is an online publishing platform for subscription newsletters. Using the steps in this guide, you can import your existing Substack posts and subscribers to WordPress.com.

In this guide

1. Move Your Content From Substack
   1. Export Your Substack Posts
   2. Import Substack Posts to WordPress.com
2. Move Your Subscribers From Substack
   1. Export Your Substack Subscribers
   2. Import Substack Subscribers to WordPress.com

Move Your Content From Substack

The following sections describe how to move your content from Substack to WordPress.com.

Export Your Substack Posts

You can obtain a copy of your content on Substack by following these steps:

1. Log into Substack.
2. Select “Settings” in the Dashboard menu.
3. Select “Exports” in the lefthand Settings menu, or scroll down to the “Exports” section.
4. Select “Create a new export” next to “Export your data.”
5. Once your export has been completed, select “Download” next to the export with today’s date and time:

For more, see the How do I export my posts? guide from Substack.

Import Substack Posts to WordPress.com

Now that you have exported your posts from Substack, follow the steps below to import them into your WordPress.com website:

1. From your site’s dashboard, navigate to Tools → Import:

2. Select the Substack importer.

If you do not have the specific importer in the list, look for the option to use WordPress.com’s guided importer located at the top of your screen.

3. Upload the exported file you downloaded from Substack (in a ZIP format) by dragging and dropping the file or clicking to select it from your device’s files. Once selected, choose “Upload” to import your ZIP file.
4. Add your Substack Newsletter URL in the box provided to import your comments and author information.

5. If multiple authors are detected on your Substack site, you will be presented with an option to assign each author’s content to the equivalent users on your WordPress site. Otherwise, your Substack content will be automatically assigned to your WordPress.com account user:

6. Click “Start Import” to begin the import process. When complete, you can click either the “Import Substack subscribers” button (described in the next sections of this guide) or “View imported content” to review your imported posts in WordPress.

⚠️

Please note that the following types of content from Substack are not currently supported and will not be imported:

• Paid posts
• Paid subscribers
• Podcasts

Move Your Subscribers From Substack

The following sections describe how to move your subscribers from Substack to WordPress.com.

Export Your Substack Subscribers

You can download your subscriber list from Substack by following these steps:

1. Log into Substack.
2. Select “Subscribers” in the Dashboard menu.
3. Scroll down to the “All subscribers” section and select “Export” from the menu.
4. When prompted, select “My entire email list” under “Export Statistics for” and “All columns” under “For each subscriber“. Then select “Export“.
5. When your export has completed, click the “Download last export” button:

For more, see the guide to How do I export my email list on Substack?

Import Substack Subscribers to WordPress.com

Now that you have exported your email list from Substack, follow the steps below to import it into your WordPress.com website:

1. Visit your WordPress.com dashboard.
2. On the left side, navigate to Users → Subscribers (or Hosting → Subscribers if using WP-Admin).
3. Click the “Add subscribers” button in the upper right-hand corner.
4. Click on the “upload a CSV file” link. (Alternatively, you can manually add email addresses in the boxes provided.)
5. A box will appear for you to select the subscriber list you downloaded earlier.

6. Once your CSV file is attached to the import, click the “Add Subscribers” button to complete your subscriber import.

Visit our Import Subscribers guide for more information about this process.