WordPress import error: "This does not appear to be a WXR file" or invalid XML
Last reviewed 2026-09-19
A WordPress export (WXR) is an XML file. The importer refuses it when the file is not valid XML or is missing the WXR version and namespace declarations. Files edited by hand, cut by a server timeout or produced by a migration plugin often break in one of those ways.
Messages you might see
- “Sorry, there has been an error. This does not appear to be a WXR file, missing/invalid WXR version number.”
- “The uploaded file could not be parsed as XML”
- “Invalid file type”
Why it happens
- An unescaped & or < in a post, or an HTML entity such as that XML does not define.
- The export was cut off by a timeout, leaving unclosed tags.
- The wxr_version tag or xmlns declarations are missing.
Try this first (free, no tool needed)
- Re-export from the source site (Tools > Export) and split very large exports by content type or date.
- Open the file in a text editor and check that it ends with </rss>.
- If the file is very large, raise upload and memory limits or import in parts.
If that didn't work
These tools run in your browser. Your file is read and repaired on your own device and is never uploaded.
Corrupted WordPress Export Repair
Fixes unescaped ampersands and less-than signs, HTML entities like that XML doesn't know, unclosed tags and illegal control characters, and adds the xmlns declarations and wxr_version the importer requires. CDATA content is left untouched. It cannot recover posts that were never written to the file.
Open Corrupted WordPress Export RepairCommon questions
Is my site content uploaded?
No. The file is repaired in your browser. You then upload the repaired file to your own WordPress.
Is my file uploaded anywhere?
No. The tool runs as a program inside your own browser, so the file is read and repaired on your device and never sent to a server.