Import Your Podcast

Already running a show somewhere else? show.fm can mirror every episode, including audio, chapters, transcripts, and artwork, from your existing feed into show.fm hosting.

Importing is a paid feature

Back-catalogue import is available on paid plans. The Free plan is a taster for creating and publishing new episodes, not a long-term home for an existing catalogue. See Billing and Plans.

The two-step journey

1. Create the podcast with your show's details (a few minutes)
2. Import the back catalogue (runs in the background; you'll get an email when it's done)

Step 1: Create the podcast

1. From your dashboard, click Create Podcast
2. Choose Host with us
3. Open Import from RSS Feed ("Migrating from another host?")
4. Enter the RSS Feed URL from your current host and click Import
5. Your show's details fill in automatically. Review them, then click Create Podcast.

Where do I find my RSS feed URL?

Your current host (Buzzsprout, Transistor, Libsyn, and others) shows your RSS feed URL in its settings or distribution page.

Step 2: Import your back catalogue

1. Go to Podcast Settings and find the Back catalogue imports card
2. Click Start an import
3. On the Import your back catalogue page, check the Source feed URL and click Start import

Review the import preview and choose the episodes to bring across before confirming. Titles in the preview convert supported encoded characters, such as –, into readable text such as “–”. Existing Unicode characters and literal angle-bracket text are preserved.

The import runs in the background. Large shows take a while; you can close the tab and show.fm emails you when it's done. The progress page shows episodes as they arrive, with a resume option if the import is ever interrupted.

Imported episodes don't use your episode allowance

Episodes brought in by an import never count toward your plan's monthly episode slots. Those are only for new episodes you create.

If your feed is locked

Many hosts publish the Podcast 2.0 lock tag to prevent unauthorised moves. If your feed is locked, show.fm asks you to prove you own the show before anything is imported. You'll see This feed is locked with one of two paths:

Your feed lists an owner email

show.fm sends a 6-digit code to the owner email published on the feed:

1. Check that inbox for the code
2. Enter it in the Verification code field
3. Click Verify and start import

Use Resend code if it doesn't arrive.

Your feed hides the owner email

You'll see three options. Pick whichever your current host supports, then click Re-check my feed:

1. Turn off the lock: most hosts call this setting Copy Protection, Lock Feed, or Prevent imports. Disable it, save, re-check here, and turn it back on afterwards if you like.
2. Show your email temporarily: most hosts have an email visibility toggle (usually 12 to 24 hours). Enable it, re-check, and show.fm emails a verification code to that address.
3. Paste a verification tag (advanced): if your host supports custom feed tags, copy the verification tag shown on the page into your feed, then re-check.

Hosts republish on a delay

After changing a setting at your host, your feed can take a minute or two to update. If the re-check doesn't detect the change, wait a moment and try again.

After the import

• Your episodes appear under Episodes with their original details, audio, and artwork
• Your feed is now served by show.fm
• Set up a redirect from your old host so podcast apps follow you to the new feed. Most hosts have a "redirect feed" or "move podcast" setting. Your show's identity carries over, so subscribers and directory listings are preserved.

Refreshing from your old feed

Importing and refreshing do different jobs:

• An import adds episodes you don't have yet. Running it again skips every episode already on your podcast, so you'll see Nothing new to import if the feed has nothing new.
• A refresh updates episodes you already imported. Use it when you tidied up your feed at your old host after importing: new titles, seasons removed or episodes renumbered, new artwork, or a changed episode type.

A refresh never adds or deletes episodes. Your episodes keep their web addresses and their GUIDs (the IDs podcast apps use to recognise an episode), so subscribers see updated episodes, not new ones.

Refreshing is available to the podcast's owner and admins, on paid plans, for podcasts hosted on show.fm that have finished at least one import. A refresh doesn't count towards your monthly import allowance.

Start a refresh

1. Go to Podcast Settings and find the Back catalogue imports card
2. Under Refresh from source feed, click the Refresh from source feed button
3. Check the Source feed address. It's the feed you imported from; change it only if your old host gave the same show a new address.
4. Click Compare with the feed

If an import preview tells you there's Nothing new to import, click Refresh existing episodes to close that import and start a refresh from the same feed.

If nothing has changed, you'll see Everything already matches your source feed and nothing else happens.

Review the changes

Nothing changes on your podcast until you apply. The Review changes from your source feed page compares each episode with the feed. Episodes are matched by their GUID, never by title, so an episode you renamed at your old host still matches.

For each episode you can choose any of:

Change	Ticked to start with (unless you changed it in show.fm)?
Title, description and show notes	Yes
Season and episode number	Yes
Episode type (full, trailer or bonus)	Yes
Artwork	Yes
Explicit	Yes
Publication date	No. Only offered for published episodes, and never a date in the future.
Audio	No. Only offered when the feed has a different audio file.

Some details follow the feed exactly:

• A season removed at the source is removed here. If your old feed no longer has seasons, the refresh clears the season rather than keeping the old one.
• Episode numbers from titles. If the feed gives an episode no number but its title starts with one, the Take episode numbers from titles switch decides whether to use it, as it does when you import.

Use Choose what to update to switch a kind of change on or off for every episode at once, then adjust single episodes below it.

Your show's details are listed too: Show artwork, Show title, Show description, Author, Category, Explicit and Show type. A category is only offered if it's one Apple Podcasts lists.

Changes you made in show.fm

If you changed something in show.fm after importing it, such as rewriting a title or uploading new artwork, the refresh marks it Edited in show.fm and leaves it unticked. Tick it only if the feed's version should replace yours.

Can't compare means show.fm can't tell whether you changed it, so it's also left unticked. On your show's first refresh this always applies to the show artwork, because show.fm can't compare its copy with the feed's image. Check the two pictures side by side. If you leave a show's artwork unticked, the refresh won't offer that same image again until your old host changes it.

Replacing audio

Audio is never replaced unless you tick it for that episode. When you do:

• The episode gets a new audio file address, which podcast apps can take a while to pick up
• Listeners who already downloaded the episode keep the old audio
• A published transcript is removed from your feed until you publish it again, because its timings belonged to the old audio
• If the feed's new address doesn't return an audio file (for example your old host shows a sign-in page, or the address points at a video), the episode keeps its current audio and the refresh tells you

See Replace Files for more about how replacements reach podcast apps.

Apply and check the results

1. Click Apply with the number of changes shown (or Finish without changes if nothing is ticked). Discard refresh asks you to confirm, then closes it without changing anything.
2. The progress page shows each episode as it's updated. Artwork and audio are copied to show.fm first, so this can take a few minutes.
3. Each episode lists what was updated. If something was edited in show.fm after you reviewed it, that change is kept and the page says so.

If an artwork or audio copy fails, the episode's other changes are still applied and the episode is marked Needs attention. Click Retry this item to try the copy again, or use the retry button at the top to retry every failed episode at once.

Your feed and player pick up the changes within a few minutes. Podcast apps update the next time they check your feed.

Episodes the refresh doesn't change

• New episodes in the feed are listed but never added by a refresh. Once it finishes, click Import the new episodes to run an import, which adds only the episodes you don't have.
• Episodes not in the feed are listed for information. The refresh leaves them exactly as they are.

Locked feeds

If the feed is locked by its owner, you can only refresh from the same address you imported from. To use a different address, unlock the feed at your host first.

Keeping your current host instead?

If you'd rather leave your audio where it is and use show.fm for booking, automation, collaboration, and analytics, choose Connect existing feed when creating your podcast. See Externally Hosted Shows. You can upgrade to show.fm hosting later without losing anything.

What's Next?

• Get your show listed everywhere with directory submissions
• Set up starter automations for guest emails
• Understand your analytics as downloads start flowing