Makes local copies of all the linked images and pdfs in a post, adding them as gallery attachments.
As of April 2026, Import external attachments is a WordPress photo plugin with 2.0K+ active installations and a 4.3/5 rating from 26 reviews. It has been downloaded 24K+ times in total. Requires WordPress 3.2+ and PHP false+. Available on WordPress.org since 2016. Last updated 9 years ago — may have compatibility concerns. Downloads are up 30% this week. Top alternative: Firelight Lightbox.
Makes local copies of all the linked images and pdfs in a post, adding them as gallery attachments.
Source & support:
https://github.com/ryanpcmcquen/import-external-attachments
This plugin is based on the work done in the “Import External Images” plugin by MartyThornley.
https://github.com/MartyThornley
HTTPS support added by IvanDoomer:
https://github.com/IvanDoomer
PDF support added by bengreeley:
https://github.com/bengreeley
Most of the JavaScript was rewritten from the original plugin, to reduce the
number of global variables.
Плагин выполняет свои функции с классическом редактором, но замораживается процесс, когда попадается статья, с неработающей внешней картинкой. Предварительно лучше избавиться от нерабочих картинок
This worked for me in 2023. All I had to do was install Classic editor and make sure the post pages wern’t using any third party page builders. To import the missing attachments, I then opened the edit page for each post one by one and followed the instructions in the right sidebar. Once done, simply uninstalled classic editor and this plugin. Awesome. Thank you.
Works with 5.3.2
I import the images from the posts of a blog migrated from Blogger into WordPress. Works great.
Brilliant plugin. Works great for PDFs.
| WordPress | 3.2+ requiredTested up to 4.4.34 |
| PHP | false+ required |
.doc and .docx files.$_GET['post'] but casting it to int.Plugin data sourced from WordPress.org. Analysis and metrics by PluginSift.