Bulk upload posts from a CSV

How it works#

Bulk upload turns a spreadsheet into posts. Each row of the file becomes a draft for every account in the posting group you choose, on the networks that can take that row. Heropost downloads the photos and videos from the links in the file.

Nothing is published straight away. After the import, you open the drafts, check them and schedule them. Bulk upload is part of every plan and doesn't use AI actions.

Before you start#

• A posting group with the accounts the posts are for. Create one under Post Groups: see Posting groups. For several clients, make one group and one file per client.
• A CSV file, saved from Excel, Google Sheets or Numbers as comma-separated values (CSV UTF-8). Up to 100 posts per file.
• Public links to your media. Each link must open the file itself, without signing in. Test one in a private browser window.

The columns#

The first row must contain exactly these eight column names, spelled and capitalized as shown, separated by commas without spaces:

CopyCaption,Media,Title,Date,Link,Thumbnail,Type,Comment

Every row needs all eight columns. Leave a cell empty when you don't need it, but don't delete the column.

Press Sample CSV in the upload window for a working example. Here's another:

CopyCaption,Media,Title,Date,Link,Thumbnail,Type,Comment
"New menu, new season!",https://example.com/photos/menu.jpg,Autumn menu,10/15/2026 10:00 AM,,,Image,Which dish do you try first?
Our summer in pictures,https://example.com/a.jpg|https://example.com/b.jpg|https://example.com/c.jpg,Summer carousel,10/16/2026 14:30,,,Carousel,
Behind the scenes,https://example.com/videos/bts.mp4,BTS video,10/17/2026 9:00 AM,,,Video,
Read our latest blog post,,Blog promo,10/18/2026 11:00 AM,https://example.com/blog/post,,Link,

Text with a comma, a quotation mark or a line break must be wrapped in double quotes, like the first caption above. Spreadsheet apps do this for you when they save as CSV.

Types#

• Letter case doesn't matter: video works too. Any other value, such as Text, is read as Carousel.
• Every row needs media, except Link rows. There's no text-only type.
• Networks that can't take a row are left out of that post. If none of the group's networks can, the row isn't imported.

What each network takes from a Carousel row:

Media links#

• Separate several links with a vertical bar, for example https://example.com/1.jpg|https://example.com/2.jpg. Up to 10 links per row; any more are ignored.
• Use direct links to the files, ideally ending in the file name, such as .jpg or .mp4. Heropost reads the ending to tell photos from videos. For a link without one, it asks the website what the file is.
• Share pages don't work. A Google Drive, Dropbox or OneDrive page that shows the file, or asks you to sign in, isn't the file itself. Use a direct-download link (on Dropbox, a link ending in dl=1), or host the files on your own website.
• Sizes: photos up to 20 MB and videos up to 5 GB per link. Each network's own limits apply when you schedule: see Character limits and media specs.
• Formats: JPG or PNG photos and MP4 or MOV videos work everywhere. Other formats may import but be refused by the networks when you schedule.

Dates#

Write dates month first, then the time, in one of these forms:

• Times are in the workspace's time zone.
• A date in any other form (day first, a 2-digit year, seconds, a month name) isn't read, and the draft has no date. Spreadsheet apps sometimes change dates when they save: open the CSV in a text editor to check.
• A date doesn't schedule the post. It only fills in the draft's Schedule field.

Upload the file#

• See Media Requirements in the window reminds you of the networks' file limits.
• Once the window shows "Processing bulk upload...", the import keeps running even if you close the window or the browser. Check Content → Drafts before uploading the same file again: each upload creates a new set of drafts.

After the upload: check and schedule the drafts#

To schedule many at once, you can ask Hero_Agent on Home, for example: "Schedule my drafts from today's import at their saved dates." It lists them and asks for your approval before anything is scheduled. Scheduling doesn't use AI actions.

If it doesn't work#

When a row can't be imported, the window shows a message starting with "Row {N}:" (row 1 is the first row under the column names). Only the first problem is shown, and the other rows are still imported: check Content → Drafts to see which made it, then fix the row and upload a file with only the missing rows.

Questions#