How to Bulk Import Terms to the SharePoint Term Store
When you need to populate a term set with hundreds of values, manual entry isn’t practical. CSV import handles bulk loading in one go.
What it is
The Term Store accepts a CSV import that lets you load an entire taxonomy in one operation. You download a template, populate it (one row per term, with hierarchy, descriptions, and synonyms), and import. SharePoint reads the CSV, validates the structure, and creates the terms in bulk. Hundreds or even thousands of terms become a five-minute job instead of a five-day one.
This is the right approach when you’re migrating a taxonomy from somewhere else (an Excel spreadsheet of product codes, an existing SharePoint site, a legacy system), or when you’re seeding a new term set that already has a defined structure. Use cases include client lists, project codes, industry classifications, location hierarchies, and product catalogues.
The CSV format is unforgiving. Headers must be exact, hierarchy is implied by the order and indentation of rows, and special characters in term names will cause silent failures. Test with a small sample first — five or ten terms — and verify the import worked before loading thousands.
When to use this
- When migrating an existing taxonomy from another system into the Term Store.
- When seeding a new term set with hundreds of values.
- When loading client lists, product catalogues, code tables, or industry classifications.
- Not for ongoing maintenance — manual entry is fine for ones and twos.
How to do it
- Open the Term Store and navigate to the target term set (or create a new one).
- Download the CSV template.
- Populate the CSV: one row per term, with columns for name, description, synonyms, hierarchy.
- Validate in Excel — check for typos, special characters, duplicate names.
- Test with a small sample (10 rows) first.
- Import the full CSV through the Term Store interface.
- Verify the terms appear correctly in the hierarchy.
- Mark them ‘available for tagging’ if not done by the import.
Best practices
- Strictly follow the template format. The Term Store is unforgiving about column headers and row structure.
- Test small before going big. 10 rows first. Verify. Then load 1000.
- Keep the source CSV as a backup. Your taxonomy is now in two places — Term Store and CSV.
- Document the import. Date, source, who did it, what was added.
Common mistakes
- Special characters that break the CSV. Apostrophes, quotation marks, ampersands. Test carefully.
- Duplicate names within a set. The Term Store rejects duplicates silently — some rows just don’t import.
- No backup of the original CSV. If the taxonomy gets corrupted, you have no source of truth to reload from.
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How do I import a CSV into the SharePoint Term Store?
In the Term Store, select a term group, click Sample import file to download the official template, populate it with your terms (following the exact format), then use Import term set on the group and upload the CSV. SharePoint creates the term set with all terms in seconds. Always test with a small sample (5-10 terms) before the full import.
What format does the Term Store CSV need?
The CSV must follow the official template exactly: a header row, then columns for term set name, description, language, and up to seven hierarchy levels (Term Level 1, Term Level 2, etc.). Deviating from the format — different column names, different order, missing required fields — causes silent import failures. Download the template, don’t rebuild it from scratch.
Can I import a hierarchy of terms via CSV?
Yes. The template supports up to seven hierarchy levels. For a Department hierarchy like Operations → Logistics → Warehousing, you’d put ‘Operations’ in Level 1, ‘Logistics’ in Level 2, and ‘Warehousing’ in Level 3 of the row for the warehouse term. SharePoint reconstructs the hierarchy on import. Plan the hierarchy before you import — moving terms around afterwards is more painful.
Why did my Term Store CSV import fail with no error?
Three usual culprits: file encoding (save as UTF-8, not Excel’s default ANSI); duplicate term names at the same level within a parent (SharePoint silently rejects rows); and extra columns or rows outside the template structure. Open the CSV in a plain text editor to verify the format before re-uploading.