How to back up your store’s product images

Your product photos live on your store platform. Your product export lists them, but as links or IDs, not files. If you migrate, close the store or delete products, those links stop working and the photos go with them. A real backup is a copy of every file, organized so you can tell which photo belongs to which product.

Before you start

Your store is live and nothing has been deleted yet.
You can export products from your store’s admin (the steps for each platform are below).
You have two places to keep the backup, for example your computer and cloud storage.
You’ll keep the product export with the images: it holds the details the photos don’t.

Export productsFrom your store’s admin, every product
Save every imageEach link or ID downloaded as a file, a folder per product
Check the listmanifest.csv and the failed-downloads report
Keep two copiesWith the product export, somewhere other than the store

A backup you can check, made while everything is still live.

Where your platform keeps product images

Shopify: Products → Export. The product image column (Image Src, or Product image URL in newer files) and the variant image column hold links on Shopify’s CDN, cdn.shopify.com, one image per row.
Squarespace: Products & Services → Products → Export all. Hosted Image URLs lists each product’s gallery photos on images.squarespace-cdn.com, separated by spaces. A separate featured image or a photo set on one variant is left out unless it is also in the gallery.
WooCommerce: Products → All Products → Export, every column. Images lists each product’s image links on your own website, separated by commas; variations have their own rows and images.
Webflow: in the Designer, open CMS, choose the collection and click Export. Image, multi-image and file fields hold links on Webflow’s media server; photos inside rich-text fields aren’t in the file.
Wix: Catalog → Store Products → Products → More Actions → Export, choose All. Each photo is a MEDIA row with a Wix media ID, not a link; its address is https://static.wixstatic.com/media/ followed by the ID.

Where each platform lists product images

Platform	Export1	Image column2	Several images3
Shopify	Products → Export	Image Src, Variant Image	One image per row
Squarespace	Products & Services → Products → Export all	Hosted Image URLs	Separated by spaces
WooCommerce	Products → All Products → Export	Images	Separated by commas
Webflow	CMS → the collection → Export	Your image fields	Separated by “; ”
Wix	Store Products → More Actions → Export	media (on MEDIA rows)	One ID per row

Export is where the product export is in your store’s admin.
Image column is where the links (or Wix media IDs) are.
Several images shows how a product’s extra photos are listed: in one cell, or on rows of their own.

The free manual method

Export your products as above and open the CSV in a spreadsheet.
Collect the image links into one column, one link per line (for Wix, put the media server address in front of each ID first).
Paste the links into a bulk-download browser extension or a download script.
Sort the files into a folder per product and rename them so you can match them later; the downloaded names rarely say which product they belong to.
Count the files against the links. A failed download is easy to miss.

What a good backup contains

Every image at the size your store serves, not thumbnails
A folder per product, and file names you can match to products, such as SKUs
A spreadsheet listing each file with its product and original link
A list of anything that could not be downloaded
Two copies, for example one on your computer and one in cloud storage

Free method

Downloads/

product-export.csv

Links or IDs only. They stop working when the products or the store are gone.

Parcel

parcel-1a2b3c4d.zip

trail-mug/
- MUG-01-1.jpg
- MUG-01-2.jpg
tea-towel/
- TT-02-1.png
manifest.csv
failed-downloads.csv

Every file, a folder per product, a list of what was saved, and a report of any download that failed. Links Parcel couldn’t use are counted on screen instead.

When to back up

Before you migrate to another platform, before you delete products or close the store, and before large catalog edits. A backup made after the products are gone is too late.

The faster way: Parcel

Upload the same export to Parcel and get one ZIP: a folder per product, files named by SKU or the product’s handle, slug or name, the full-size images, an image details spreadsheet (manifest.csv) with the original link of every saved image, and a report of anything that could not be downloaded. Links Parcel can’t use, such as images hosted on another website, are counted on screen before you export; save those by hand. Parcel never asks for your store login and installs nothing. Up to 25 products is free; larger catalogs are a one-time $9, $19, or $39. No subscription.

One payment per export, no subscription. A free export can carry up to 300 MB of images; a paid one up to 1 GB.

What fits in one Parcel export

10,000images per export
20 MBlargest single image
300 MBof images, free export
1 GBof images, paid export

Files stay available for 24 hours after the export is ready.

If something goes wrong

Parcel says some links were skipped: Parcel downloads from each platform’s own image host (and, for WooCommerce, your store’s address). Images hosted elsewhere are counted on screen before you export; save those by hand.
The manifest has fewer images than the export: Two places to look. Links Parcel couldn’t use, such as images on another website, were counted and listed by site on screen before you exported; they aren’t in the ZIP. Links it tried and couldn’t download are in failed-downloads.csv with the reason. Save both kinds by hand while the store is live.
A product has no folder: First look in failed-downloads.csv: if every download for that product failed, it has no folder, and the report gives the reason. If it isn’t there, the export had no usable image for it; some platforms leave out featured, variant-only or digital-product images.
The catalog is too big for one export: One Parcel export takes up to 10,000 images. Export your products in parts, by category or filter, and back up each file separately.

Questions

Is my product export a backup of my images?

No. It lists links or IDs that point at your store platform. Once products or the store are gone, they stop working, so you need the image files themselves.

What should an image backup contain?

Every image at the size your store serves, a folder per product with names you can match to products, a list of each file with its product and original link, a list of anything that failed, and a second copy somewhere else.

How often should I back up product images?

Before any migration, deletion or store closure, and before large catalog edits. A small catalog of up to 25 products can be backed up free each time.

Does Parcel keep a copy of my images?

No. You can download the ZIP for 24 hours after the export is ready; then access ends and the stored files are deleted (deletion can be delayed if the cleanup service is interrupted). Your downloaded ZIP is the backup.

Does Parcel need my store login?

No. You export the CSV from your store’s admin and upload it. Parcel never asks for a login and nothing is installed on your store.

Export your images

Parcel is an independent tool, not affiliated with Shopify, Squarespace, WooCommerce, Webflow, Wix or Amazon.