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Before changing or deleting the Tumblr blog, create a Tumblr ZIP backup from the web account settings. The ZIP is an archive and recovery copy, not the normal WordPress migration mechanism. The practical sequence is therefore: back up Tumblr, run the WordPress importer, inspect every important post and asset, then recreate the presentation and complete your cutover.
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What you need before importing
Prepare the destination and source before you connect them. The official WordPress documentation places content importers under Tools → Import, and the WordPress.org Tools Import screen describes Tumblr as an importer for “posts & media from Tumblr using their API.”
- A destination WordPress site: You can use an active WordPress.com site or a self-hosted WordPress installation.
- Administrator access: You must be able to open the Tools menu, install an importer, and run it.
- A Tumblr account that can authorize the connection: Keep the Tumblr login available while the importer is running.
- A recovery copy: Download Tumblr’s ZIP export before migration. Tumblr retains a completed export for three days, so store the downloaded file somewhere you control.
- A presentation plan: Choose a WordPress theme and decide how your navigation, widgets, menus, categories, and static pages will be rebuilt. Content import does not copy the old design.
If the Tumblr blog is business-critical, perform the first import on a staging or otherwise private WordPress site. That lets you identify missing media, broken embeds, and formatting issues before visitors see the result. Do not close, rename, or delete the Tumblr blog until the imported copy and your backup have been checked.
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Use the official WordPress Tumblr importer
1. Open the import screen
- Sign in to your WordPress dashboard.
- Choose Tools → Import.
- Find Tumblr. If the importer is not installed, select Install Now.
- When installation finishes, select Run Importer.
The importer is a WordPress-provided connection to Tumblr’s API, rather than a process that parses a downloaded ZIP. The documentation describes its scope as posts and media; it is not a theme-cloning tool.
2. Authenticate a self-hosted WordPress site
For a self-hosted installation, the WordPress handbook says to create an application on Tumblr that supplies the connection point. Tumblr gives that application an OAuth Consumer Key and Secret Key. In the importer, enter those values and select Connect to Tumblr.
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- Copy the OAuth Consumer Key and Secret Key exactly as Tumblr displays them. Treat the secret as a credential; do not publish it in a post or send it in a support forum.
- Return to WordPress, paste the key and secret into the Tumblr importer, and choose Connect to Tumblr.
- Complete the authorization handoff. If Tumblr asks you to approve the application, approve it for the intended account and blog.
The names and layout of Tumblr’s app screens can change. The important requirement is that the importer receives the OAuth key and secret for an authorized Tumblr application; do not substitute a normal Tumblr password in those fields.
3. Authenticate through WordPress.com
WordPress.com uses a slightly different path. Its support instructions, reviewed August 12, 2026, say to open the WordPress.com dashboard and choose Tools → Import. If Tumblr is not shown, select Choose from full list, select Tumblr, install it, and run it.
- From the WordPress.com dashboard, open Tools → Import.
- Select Choose from full list if Tumblr is not already displayed.
- Choose Tumblr, then select Install or Install Now if prompted.
- Run the importer and choose Connect to Tumblr to begin.
- Approve the connection on Tumblr, then return to WordPress.com and select the blog you want to import.
This approval flow may not ask you to paste an OAuth key and secret manually. Follow the handoff shown by WordPress.com rather than trying to use the self-hosted key form on the wrong screen. The current WordPress.com workflow is documented at WordPress.com’s Import from Tumblr guide.
4. Start the transfer and record the result
After authorization, the importer lists the Tumblr blog or blogs available to your account. Select the intended source and start the import. Keep the browser session open until WordPress reports completion or an error. For a large blog, allow time for media downloads as well as post creation.
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When the process finishes, note any warnings and inspect the destination before making the source private or deleting it. The importer’s documented job is to bring posts and media through the API; it does not promise identical treatment for every Tumblr post type, private item, video, reblog, or externally hosted image. Test representative examples from your own blog.
Create a Tumblr ZIP backup first
Tumblr’s own backup route is useful even when you intend to use the WordPress importer. Tumblr describes it as a ZIP containing the content you created for a blog. Start the export on the Tumblr website, not in the Tumblr mobile apps.
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- Open Tumblr’s web account settings.
- Select the blog you are moving.
- Scroll to Export.
- Select Export [blog name].
- Wait while Tumblr prepares the archive.
- When processing is complete, select Download backup and save the ZIP in at least one additional location.
Each blog must be exported separately. Tumblr says completed backups are retained for three days and allows four exports per blog per month. These limits make it safer to download the file promptly rather than assuming the online download will remain available.
What the ZIP can contain
The archive is broader than the WordPress importer’s documented API scope. Depending on the blog, it can include:
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors| ZIP item | What Tumblr documents | Why it matters during migration |
|---|---|---|
| Posts folder | An HTML file for each post, including reblogs, drafts, private posts, flagged posts, and other hidden posts. | Provides an offline record for items that may require special checking in WordPress. |
| Media folder | Uploaded images, video, and other media, with formats such as JPG, GIF, PNG, and MP4. | Gives you original files to recover or re-upload if an API import leaves an asset out. |
| Comments CSV | A CSV file containing comments. | Lets you retain a separate comment record even if comments do not appear as WordPress comments. |
| Messaging and post HTML | HTML representations of messaging conversations and posts. | Useful as an archive for material that is not part of your public post flow. |
| Liked posts | Not included in the export. | Do not treat the ZIP as a complete record of every Tumblr account activity. |
See Tumblr’s instructions at Export Your Blog for the current account-settings labels. The ZIP is a recovery and reference archive; the WordPress-specific route remains the Tumblr importer described in the WordPress documentation.
What moves to WordPress, and what you must rebuild
| Element | Documented behavior | Your action |
|---|---|---|
| Posts | The Tumblr importer is intended to import posts through Tumblr’s API. | Check titles, body text, dates, authors, post types, and visibility after import. |
| Uploaded media | Media is part of the importer’s stated “posts & media” scope. | Open image and video URLs in the WordPress Media Library and in the published posts. |
| Theme and visual design | Not transferred by a content import. | Select and configure a WordPress theme separately. |
| Plugins and theme features | Not transferred by a content import. | Recreate required functions with WordPress settings or compatible plugins. |
| Menus, widgets, and navigation | Not included in the documented Tumblr content scope. | Build menus, sidebar blocks, footer links, and archive navigation manually. |
| Every Tumblr post variant | No complete compatibility matrix is provided for private items, reblogs, drafts, video, or externally hosted images. | Test samples from each variant and use the ZIP as a reference for anything missing. |
Learn WordPress states that transferring content to a new website does not include the site’s design, themes, or plugins. Its guidance is available in Tools: Import and Export. Treat the move as a content migration followed by a separate WordPress build, not as a one-click visual clone.
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Importer or ZIP: which route should you use?
| Decision point | WordPress Tumblr importer | Tumblr ZIP export |
|---|---|---|
| Primary purpose | Bring Tumblr posts and media into WordPress through the API. | Create an offline backup and archive of Tumblr content. |
| Convenience | Automated after authentication. | One download, followed by manual inspection or recovery work. |
| Authentication | OAuth app key and secret on many self-hosted installations; WordPress.com approval handoff on the hosted service. | Authenticated Tumblr web account; no WordPress connection is required. |
| Content breadth | Documented scope is posts and media. | Can include post HTML, hidden and private items, media, comments CSV, and messaging HTML. |
| Design transfer | No themes, plugins, or design transfer. | No WordPress site is created; the archive contains files, not a finished WordPress design. |
| Recovery considerations | Requires post-import checking and the source blog should remain available until verification. | Download within Tumblr’s three-day retention window; liked posts are excluded. |
For a real WordPress site, use the importer. For protection against mistakes, use the ZIP as a separate backup. Using both gives you an automated migration path and a source archive without confusing the archive with an import package.
Verify the migrated WordPress site
Do not judge the result from the post count alone. Sample the different kinds of material your Tumblr blog contains and check the rendered pages as a visitor would.
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Content and metadata checks
- Open recent, old, and high-traffic posts.
- Compare titles, body text, publication dates, authors, tags, and visibility with the Tumblr originals.
- Check reblogs, drafts, private posts, flagged posts, and other unusual variants separately; official documentation does not establish identical handling for all of them.
- Look for truncated text, lost line breaks, converted HTML, missing captions, and formatting that depends on Tumblr-specific markup.
Media checks
- Open representative JPG, GIF, PNG, and MP4 files in the WordPress Media Library and in the published post.
- Check images embedded more than once and posts that contain several media types.
- Compare externally hosted images with the Tumblr original. An image that still displays may remain externally hosted rather than being copied into WordPress.
- Use the ZIP’s Media folder to locate files that the importer did not bring across, then decide whether to upload them manually.
Links, embeds, and layout
- Click internal links and links between older and newer posts.
- Inspect embeds, captions, galleries, and video players on desktop and mobile widths.
- Recreate menus, widgets, category or tag navigation, and any sidebar or footer elements you relied on in Tumblr.
- Choose a WordPress theme whose typography and content widths suit your posts, then adjust templates and blocks where the imported HTML needs a different presentation.
Visibility and ownership
- Confirm that posts intended to be public are public and that material requiring privacy is not accidentally exposed.
- Check that imported authors are assigned as intended and that your WordPress administrator account retains control.
- Keep the Tumblr blog and the downloaded ZIP unchanged until you have finished this review.
Troubleshoot common import problems
Tumblr is not listed in Tools → Import
On WordPress.com, select Choose from full list; Tumblr may not appear in the shortened list. On a self-hosted site, install the Tumblr importer before trying to run it. The WordPress.org documentation describes this install-then-run sequence on the Tools Import screen.
The connection asks for credentials you do not have
A self-hosted import may require the Tumblr OAuth Consumer Key and Secret Key from a Tumblr application. A WordPress.com import normally uses the Connect to Tumblr to begin approval handoff instead. Use the flow that matches your destination; a Tumblr account password is not a replacement for an OAuth key and secret.
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The wrong blog appears after authorization
Review the Tumblr account currently signed in and select the intended blog in the importer’s blog list. If you manage several blogs, stop before importing until the selected name and destination are both correct. Export each blog separately if you need independent backup files.
Some posts or files are missing
First determine whether the item is a post variant or media type for which the official documentation provides no complete compatibility matrix. Compare the WordPress result with the Tumblr ZIP’s Posts and Media folders. Preserve the original HTML and media files, then recreate or upload individual items only after confirming what is absent.
Formatting looks different
That is expected when Tumblr-specific presentation is moved into a different content system. Inspect the imported HTML, select a WordPress theme, and adjust blocks or templates. A content transfer does not bring Tumblr’s theme, widgets, or plugins, so visual differences require WordPress configuration rather than another authentication attempt.
The import stops or reports an error
Record the message, leave the Tumblr source intact, and avoid deleting the backup. Verify that the WordPress account still has administrator access and that Tumblr authorization has not expired or been revoked. Correct the reported authentication or selection issue, then run the documented importer again while monitoring the result. If a particular post repeatedly fails, use the ZIP to preserve it and handle that item separately instead of risking the rest of the source archive.
Finish the cutover safely
- Complete the content, media, link, formatting, and visibility checks on the WordPress site.
- Rebuild the theme, menus, widgets, and other presentation elements that were not part of the import.
- Store the Tumblr ZIP outside the WordPress server and keep it with your other backups.
- Publish the WordPress site only after representative posts work for visitors on desktop and mobile.
- Keep Tumblr available until you are satisfied that the migration is complete. Tumblr’s export download is time-limited, so do not rely on being able to generate the same archive immediately later.
The result should be treated as a new WordPress publication populated with Tumblr content, not as an identical copy of the old Tumblr site. The official importer handles the core posts-and-media transfer; your review and WordPress rebuild handle everything that makes the site look and behave like the publication you want to keep.
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