Worth knowing before you run a large catalog, because it catches people out and it isn't a problem with the file.

WooCommerce doesn't just record image URLs — it downloads every image during the import and generates several thumbnail sizes for each one. A catalog of four thousand products with six images each means twenty-four thousand downloads plus resizing, all inside a single PHP request. On shared hosting that reliably hits 'max_execution_time' or the 'memory_limit', and the run stops partway, leaving a half-imported catalog that's more work to clean up than an empty one.

Three things help, in order of how much effort they take:

• Import in smaller pieces. Split the CSV into files of a few hundred products and run them in sequence. Slower to start, far more predictable.

• Raise the limits. 'max_execution_time' and 'memory_limit' in PHP, plus any timeout your host enforces above that. Your host can usually tell you what's actually in effect.

• Use an importer built for volume. Such tools process in background batches rather than one request, which sidesteps the problem entirely.

We deliver the file; how it goes in is your call. Tell us if you'd rather receive it split into several files and we'll size them however you ask.