Import your publication

Bring your posts and subscribers to Paragraph from Substack or another platform.

Copy MarkdownOpen

Already publishing somewhere else? You can bring your writing and your subscriber list with you. Nothing gets locked in on the way out of your old platform, and nothing gets locked in here either. On Paragraph, your list is yours, and you can export it any time.

Before you start

Export your data from your current platform. Most platforms (including Substack and Beehiiv) let you download:

• A subscriber list as a CSV file of email addresses.
• A post archive, usually as a file containing your published posts.

Grab both before you begin. If your platform buries the export option, its help docs will point you to it.

Import your subscribers

Check your CSV

Your file needs a column of email addresses. If your export includes extra columns (names, signup dates, and so on), that's fine.

Upload it

Open Chat, attach the CSV, and ask your agent to import the subscribers from it. CSV files can be up to 10 MB. The agent starts the import in the background, so you can keep working while it runs.

Confirm the results

Once the import finishes, your subscribers appear in Subscribers. Spot-check the count against your old platform to make sure everyone made it over.

Only import lists of people who signed up to hear from you. Purchased or scraped lists hurt your deliverability and aren't allowed.

Import your posts

Your agent can help you migrate your content. Share your export file, or tell it where your old publication lives, and ask it to bring your posts over. It helps carry your writing across so you don't have to rebuild your archive by hand.

After the import, skim a few posts to check formatting, especially images and embeds. If something didn't survive the trip, your agent can help clean it up.

On the Scale plan, migration help from our team is included. We'll help move your publication over with you.

After you import

• Point your domain at Paragraph. If your old publication used a custom domain, set it up here so old links keep working. See custom domains.
• Tell your readers. Send a short post letting subscribers know where you've moved. Email delivery continues from Paragraph, so most readers won't need to do anything.
• Check your SEO basics. See SEO to keep search traffic flowing to your new home.

Need help?

If an import misbehaves, or your old platform's export is in an odd format, email support@paragraph.com. We've moved a lot of publications and we're happy to help with yours.