Upload images in a ZIP
Put the images in a ZIP next to your spreadsheet, or the spreadsheet and the images in one ZIP: how names are matched, the limits and what each error means.
- 4 min read
- Updated October 13, 2026
Images travel to Content Uploader in a ZIP, through the same drop box as the spreadsheet. There are two ways, and both work with a recurring configuration.
Way 1: the spreadsheet and a ZIP of images, together#
Select (or drop) two files at once: the spreadsheet and the ZIP. Content Uploader tells which is which by content. In the spreadsheet, the image cells name files: p01.png, or a path such as summer/p01.png.
You can drop them on the configuration's card, and the file's page then says … with 06-advanced-images.zip. The example 06-advanced-articles.xlsx and 06-advanced-images.zip are a ready pair.
Way 2: one ZIP that holds both#
Put the spreadsheet and the images in one folder, ZIP the folder, and upload the ZIP alone. It must contain exactly one spreadsheet (CSV, TSV, XLSX, XLSM, XLS or ODS); macOS's __MACOSX folder and hidden files are ignored. Names in the spreadsheet are then found relative to the spreadsheet's own folder inside the ZIP as well as from the ZIP's top.
If the ZIP has none or several spreadsheets, it is refused and says which it found: The ZIP contains no spreadsheet. Add the CSV, Excel or OpenDocument file to it, or upload the spreadsheet next to the ZIP. or The ZIP contains 2 spreadsheets (a.xlsx, b.xlsx). Keep only the one to import, or upload it next to the ZIP.
If you upload a spreadsheet next to a ZIP that also contains a spreadsheet, the one you uploaded separately is used and the review says so: The spreadsheet inside images.zip (old.xlsx) was ignored; the separately uploaded new.xlsx was used.
Making the ZIP#
- Windows: select the files or the folder, right-click, Send to → Compressed (zipped) folder.
- macOS: select them, right-click, Compress.
- Linux:
zip -r images.zip images/.
Use no password. Folders inside the ZIP are fine; the folder structure is part of the name you can use in the spreadsheet (summer/p01.png).
How a name is matched#
Cell values are matched against the ZIP's entries in this order: the exact path from the ZIP's top; then relative to the spreadsheet's folder; then ignoring capital letters; then a file name that appears only once in the ZIP. So a cell p01.png finds images/p01.png as long as there is no other p01.png. A name that matches more than one file is not guessed: it is a missing image with Several files in images.zip match (a/p01.png, b/p01.png). Use the file's path inside the ZIP. (missing images).
Limits#
| Limit | Value |
|---|---|
| ZIP size | 25 MB |
| Files in the ZIP | 2,000 |
| Size when unpacked | 200 MB |
| One image | 20 MB, or the site's own limit if it is lower |
| Spreadsheet (also inside a ZIP) | 10 MB |
| ZIPs per file | one |
For a very large set of images, split the work across several files, each with its own ZIP (one per run), or put the images in the site's media library by other means and name them in the spreadsheet.
What is refused#
| Message | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ZIP files must be at most 25 MB. | Too big. Split it, or reduce the images. |
| The ZIP contains more than 2,000 files. Split it and upload the images with separate runs. | Too many files. |
| The ZIP expands to more than 200 MB. Upload fewer or smaller images. | Too large when unpacked. |
| The ZIP is password-protected. Create it without a password and upload it again. | Encrypted. |
| The ZIP is damaged. Create it again and upload it. / The ZIP could not be read. Create it again and upload it. | The file is not a readable ZIP. |
| The ZIP contains files that point outside it (such as ../ paths). Create it again from a folder and upload it. | Unsafe paths. Zip a folder from inside it. |
| Images must be uploaded as a ZIP file. | The images file is not a ZIP. |
| Upload one ZIP at a time: a spreadsheet with a ZIP of images, or a single ZIP that contains both. | A ZIP was dropped together with another ZIP. |
| Choose a spreadsheet and one ZIP of images, or a single ZIP that contains both. | More than two files, or two files without exactly one ZIP. |
Symbolic links inside a ZIP are ignored, and an archive's paths are never written to disk.
Next week#
A recurring file needs a ZIP only for new or changed images. Without one, a file name that was sent before is found among the images this configuration already sent to the site, and the item is left unchanged (reusing and replacing images). The ZIP itself is deleted after 30 days (data and retention).
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