Which gallery field should I use when importing WooCommerce variation images?

Which implementation owns this variation gallery?

Start with the installed WooCommerce version and active gallery implementation. In 11.1, core enables variation galleries for all stores, removes the experimental toggle, and deactivates the standalone Additional Variation Images extension. Earlier installations need their own implementation check. See the WooCommerce 11.1 developer advisory.

Do not infer the owner from a populated legacy column: retained extension metadata stops syncing after core takes over. Record the version and current owner before preparing a file. An unfamiliar third-party gallery plugin requires its own documentation; these two fields do not describe every gallery extension.

Match the documented CSV field to your importer

The official CSV guidance specifies these columns:

Product CSV Import Suite is a separate import/export extension, not the core gallery feature. WooCommerce recommends manually configuring a variation and exporting that product with the Suite as a starting template. Confirm your actual importer and version: this table is not a promise that the built-in importer or every third-party CSV tool accepts these headers unchanged.

For the Suite, use its separate variations CSV rather than editing the parent-products row. Keep the export's quoting and cell structure intact. An attachment ID is not an image URL or filename. A familiar header alone does not confirm that the row targets a variation, or that the importer maps the value into the current gallery.

Use a reference variation without copying its image ownership

Illustrative exercise, not an executed import: Asset A is SKU RED-TEE, with an approved primary image and two additional images. Asset B is SKU BLUE-TEE, a separate disposable test variation with its own blue-shirt images. Use a staging copy; leave A and the original export unchanged.

1. Record A's variation identifier, parent identifier, gallery header, attachment-ID format and order. Separately identify its primary image representation.
2. Prepare B's row using A's structure but B's own identifiers and intended attachment IDs. Do not copy A's red-shirt IDs into B merely because the row format matches.
3. Check that the importer is updating B rather than its parent product or A. If its identifier mapping is unclear, resolve that before importing.
4. Import only the isolated test target through the confirmed workflow. Preserve the input and result for comparison; an accepted import message is not the acceptance check.

The proposed test passes only when B owns its intended images, the expected order is retained where supported, and A remains unchanged. Wrong variation ownership, missing images, or unintended primary-image changes stop expansion to the remaining file.

Read back the native gallery after migration and import

Check pending migration work at WooCommerce > Status > Scheduled Actions, group woocommerce-db-updates. Existing native galleries are not overwritten by migration. Reactivating the retired extension after migration is blocked; it is not a recovery branch. See migration and reactivation guidance.

Read back the same variation's current gallery, not its preserved old value:

The storage and REST distinctions come from the developer advisory. These are alternative inspection routes for an authorized store owner or developer, not API calls performed for this guide. If data is correct but presentation fails, use the separate theme and gallery zoom diagnostic instead of repeatedly changing CSV fields.

Choose a next step from the evidence

• Native owner, matching export and correct readback: retain the tested mapping for comparable records, after checking the remaining variation identifiers and media.
• Only a legacy column appears: inspect export selection and importer support against the recorded owner. Do not rename the column as a migration shortcut or assume an old value still controls display.
• Migration remains pending: let the scheduled work complete before treating the whole catalog as checked. Preserve any already populated native gallery for review rather than forcing an overwrite.
• Neither expected field appears, or readback is wrong: stop, verify the variation assignment and importer mapping, then make a fresh reference export. Keep the failed test evidence; do not expand the file.

Fill in one variation record before scaling up

This is a blank handoff record to fill from your own staging exercise. No WooCommerce export, import, migration or storefront test was performed for this article.

The record and acceptance branches are Itemlume's proposed workflow. Official documentation supports the product behavior, not a claim that this unexecuted exercise succeeded or works with every version, theme or importer.