Why a bulk‑import feature matters

If you’ve ever tried to move your short links from Bitly, Rebrandly, or even a messy Excel sheet to a new URL‑shortener, you know the drill:

Export a CSV (or copy‑paste a thousand rows).
Spend an hour figuring out which column is the “destination URL” and which is the “slug.”
Manually recreate each link, praying you didn’t miss a typo.
End up with a few broken links that tank your campaign tracking.

We’ve been there too. That’s why Links Import was one of the most‑requested features in our user surveys and support threads. It’s not just a convenience—it’s a way to remove the friction that keeps teams stuck on legacy tools, waste time on repetitive work, and risk losing valuable click‑data.

Below is a plain‑English, no‑fluff walkthrough of exactly how the import works inside CutMe Short, plus a few pro‑tips we’ve learned while testing it ourselves.

Where to find the import tool

Log into your CutMe Short dashboard.
On the left‑hand navigation, you’ll see the Links tab. Right next to it (same level) is the Imports section.
Click Imports – you’ll land on a clean screen with a big “Drag & drop or upload your CSV file” zone.

Tip: If you don’t see the Imports tab, make sure you’re on a plan that includes the feature (it’s available on all paid plans and the free trial).

Step‑by‑step: Importing your links

1. Grab the CSV template (recommended)

Even if you already have a CSV, downloading our template guarantees the column order CutMe Short expects:

Click Download CSV template (a small link just below the upload box).
Open the file in Excel, Google Sheets, or any spreadsheet editor.
You’ll see four columns with the exact headers:

Long URL	Short URL	Custom Domain	Link Title

Why use the template?
It eliminates guesswork—just fill in the rows under the correct headings and you’re good to go.

2. Prepare your data

Long URL: The full destination you want the short link to point to (e.g., https://www.notion.so/workspace/project‑guide).
Short URL: Your short url with the custom domain (e.g., https://sampletest.cme.sh/ref-0200)
Custom Domain: One of your verified domains (e.g., cme.sh, sampletest.cme.sh, test321.cutmeshort.com).
Link Title: Optional label that shows up in your links list (helpful for searching later).

Common pitfalls to avoid

No trailing spaces in any cell.
Don’t include the https:// prefix in the Short URL column—just the slug.
If you leave Short URL blank, the system will create a random 6‑character slug for you.
Keep the file UTF‑8 encoded; most spreadsheets do this by default.

3. Upload or drag‑drop your file

Either click the upload box and select your CSV, or drag the file straight from your file explorer onto the dotted zone.
You’ll see the file name appear (e.g., my‑links‑import.csv) and a quick preview of the first few rows.

4. Preview & validate

Hit the Preview button.
CutMe Short will run a quick validation:
- Checks that the Long URL is a valid web address.
- Ensures the Short URL (if provided) doesn’t contain illegal characters (/, ?, #, spaces, etc.).
- Verifies the Custom Domain belongs to your account.
Any rows with problems are highlighted in red, with a tooltip explaining the issue (e.g., “Missing Long URL on row 7”).
You can either fix those rows in your spreadsheet and re‑upload, or click Ignore to skip them (the import will continue with the valid rows).

5. Start the import

Once the preview looks good (green checkmarks on all rows you want to keep), click Import.
A small toast pops up: “Import started – you’ll see progress in the Links section.”

6. Watch the progress (optional)

Navigate back to the Links tab.
At the top of the links list you’ll notice a banner: “Importing… 12/45 links processed.”
The number updates in real‑time; you can keep working elsewhere while the import runs in the background.
For large files (several thousand rows) the process usually finishes in under a minute—much faster than doing it manually.

7. All done!

When the banner disappears, refresh the Links page (or just wait a couple of seconds).
Every successfully imported link now appears in your main links list, complete with its short URL, long URL, custom domain, and title (if you supplied one).
You can edit, delete, view analytics, or add UTM parameters just like any other link created manually.

Pro‑tips & best practices

Situation	What to do
You want to keep your existing slugs	Fill the Short URL column with the exact short url you used before (e.g., https://cme.sh/`blog‑post‑123`). CutMe Short will preserve it as long as it’s not already taken in your account.
You have a massive list (>10 k rows)	Split the file into chunks of 2‑3 k rows. Import each batch; it’s faster and makes it easier to spot any issue early.
You want to track which links came from the import	Add a consistent prefix or suffix to the Link Title (e.g., `[Import‑Oct2026] Blog Post`). Then you can filter by title later.

Troubleshooting quick‑reference

Symptom	Likely cause	Fix
“Invalid Long URL” on many rows	Missing `http://` or `https://` prefix, or extra spaces	Add the protocol and trim spaces.
Short URL column shows `Error: Slug already taken`	The slug you specified exists elsewhere in your account	Either change the slug or leave the column blank to let CutMe Short generate a new one.
No preview appears after upload	File not saved as UTF‑8 or uses a weird delimiter (tab, semicolon)	Re‑save the CSV as UTF‑8 comma‑delimited (most spreadsheets do this by default).
Import finishes but you see fewer links than expected	Some rows were silently ignored due to validation errors	Re‑open the preview, look for red‑highlighted rows, fix them, and re‑import.
Progress bar stays at 0% for a long time	Very large file on a slow connection	Wait a bit longer; if it’s >5 minutes, cancel, split the file, and try again.

If you hit something not covered here, just reply to this post or drop us a line at support@cutmeshort.com —we’re monitoring the import queue closely and will jump in to help.

Wrapping up

Moving your short‑link library shouldn’t feel like a bureaucratic nightmare. With Links Import, we wanted to give you a single, predictable flow:

Download the template (or use your own).
Fill four simple columns.
Upload → Preview → Import.
Refresh and see your links ready to go.

It’s the kind of feature that pays for itself the first time you avoid a midnight scramble to fix a broken campaign link. And, most importantly, it was built because you told us it was needed.

Give it a try today, and let us know how it saves you time. If you love it, a quick reaction or comment helps us know we’re on the right track—if something feels off, we’re all ears.

Happy linking!