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How to Import and Export Navigation Menus in WordPress

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Do you want to import and export navigation menus in WordPress?

The default WordPress import/export feature allows you to move menus from one website to another as part of a full site transfer. However, it doesn’t allow you to import and export menus by themselves.

In this article, we will show you how to easily import and export navigation menus in WordPress without doing a full site transfer.

How to import and export navigation menus in WordPress

Why Import and Export Navigation Menus in WordPress?

Every WordPress website has built-in import and export features. You can find them by going to Tools » Import and Tools » Export in your WordPress dashboard.

The Import and Export options under the Tools menu in the WordPress dashboard

If you go to the Export page, then you will see the default options.

Here, you can choose to export all content or export only your posts, pages, or media.

The built-in Export options in WordPress

If you select ‘All content,’ then WordPress will export all your pages and posts, plus your comments, custom fields, terms, custom post types, and navigation menus.

However, sometimes, you may only want to export the navigation menu. For example, you might be creating a sister website for a new product and want to keep the same menu layout and design.

With that in mind, let’s see how you can copy a navigation menu to a new WordPress blog without exporting the rest of your content.

How to Export and Import Navigation Menus in WordPress

Before going any further, make sure you are happy with the menu you plan to export.

You can find your site’s menu by going to Appearance » Menus in the WordPress dashboard.

Editing your navigation menu in the WordPress dashboard

For more information on how to change the menu, please see our detailed guide on how to add a navigation menu in WordPress.

Next, you need to install and activate the WPS Menu Exporter plugin. For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you need to go to Tools » Export in your WordPress admin dashboard.

You will see a new option to export navigation menu items. This will include the menu itself, plus all the content that’s linked in the menu. The plugin will also export any comments left on the linked posts.

The Export Navigation Menu Items option in the Export tool

To export this content, simply select the ‘Navigation Menu Items’ radio button and then click the ‘Download Export File’ button.

This downloads the navigation menu, plus all its linked pages and comments.

All this content is stored in an .xml file with the name site.wordpress.yyyy-mm-dd, where “site” is the name of your website, and “yyyy-mm-dd” is the date you created the download.

An example of an exported WordPress navigation menu file

Importing Your WordPress Menu to Your New Site

Now, you can import the .xml file using WordPress’s standard Import feature.

Before you begin, check that the destination website doesn’t have any pages with the same name as the new menu, including any pages in the trash. If you skip this step, then the import tool may not import those pages correctly.

After that, log in to the website, blog, or online store where you want to import the navigation menu. Then, head over to Tools » Import.

At this point, you may need to install the WordPress importer by finding the ‘WordPress’ heading and clicking on its ‘Install Now’ button.

Installing the WordPress import tool

After installing the WordPress importer, you should see a new ‘Run Importer’ link.

You can go ahead and click on this link.

Click the link to run the WordPress import tool

On the Import WordPress screen, click the ‘Choose file’ button and choose the .xml file you downloaded earlier.

After that, go ahead and click the ‘Upload file and import’ button.

Upload your .xml file and click the button to import it to your new site

On the next screen, WordPress will ask you to assign the imported content to an author.

If you run a multi-author WordPress blog, then you can open the ‘assign posts to an existing user’ dropdown and choose a username from the list.

Selecting an author from the dropdown list to assign the pages to

Another option is to add a new user or author for this content by typing a login name into the ‘create new user…’ field.

If you are importing pages along with the menu, then you will also want to check the ‘Download and import file attachments’ box to make sure any images are included in the import.

When you are happy with how the import is set up, click on the ‘Submit’ button.

After a few moments, you should see a message saying that the import was a success.

The success message after importing the navigation menu

Viewing Your Imported Menu and Pages

To take a look at the imported menu, just go to Appearance » Menus. Here, you can make sure that everything is set up correctly.

Imported menus

You can also click on the Pages tab in your WordPress dashboard to check that any linked pages, comments, and images were imported along with the menu.

We hope this article helped you learn how to import and export navigation menus in WordPress. You might also like to see our guide on how to create a free business email address or see our expert picks for the must-have WordPress plugins for business websites.

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Editorial Staff

Editorial Staff at WPBeginner is a team of WordPress experts led by Syed Balkhi with over 16 years of experience in WordPress, Web Hosting, eCommerce, SEO, and Marketing. Started in 2009, WPBeginner is now the largest free WordPress resource site in the industry and is often referred to as the Wikipedia for WordPress.

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Reader Interactions

6 CommentsLeave a Reply

  1. Syed Balkhi says

    Hey WPBeginner readers,
    Did you know you can win exciting prizes by commenting on WPBeginner?
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    • WPBeginner Support says

      Not at the moment but you could import the menu on the same site for a method to achieve that.

      Admin

  2. Val Archer says

    Hi – you left out the last step. After importing you must go into Appearance / Menus then select each menu individually, and check the box under “Menu Settings” that it applies to, then Save Menu — and only then do the menus display correctly on the new site

  3. Tilak Conrad says

    Hi

    Would this be a tool to use to migrate an entire site from one domain & host to another domain at a different host?

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