Merge or replace
Updated October 26, 2026
Each item is imported with Merge unless you tick Replace for it.
Merge
Merge sets the settings that the file holds and keeps every other setting of the item.
- A group of settings in the file is merged setting by setting.
- A list, such as the rows of a repeatable field, is replaced as a whole. ConfigPort never mixes rows of two sites.
- A setting whose type changes, for example from a single value to a list, is replaced.
Replace
Replace makes the settings of the item equal to the settings in the file. Settings that the item has and the file does not are removed. The preview lists them under Replace removes these settings.
For a file from an older Joomla major version, keep Merge unless you have a reason. Replace removes the settings that only the newer version has. See Importing older Joomla exports.
What both keep
Merge and Replace both keep this site's value in these places:
- Settings the file left out. A file leaves out values that look secret, and values the person who exported it chose to leave out.
- Settings on this site that look secret, such as passwords and keys, unless the file holds a value for them. A value the file holds is written as it is, an empty one included: a file exported with Include from a site where a password is empty empties that password here.
- Permissions. ConfigPort never imports permissions.
The preview lists the settings the file left out under the item.
Conflicts
Sometimes this site's value cannot be kept. For example, this site has a password in the first row of a list, and the file holds a different list. Moving the password to a row of the new list could pair it with the wrong server. ConfigPort doesn't do that. The item goes to the group Cannot be imported as they are, and the message names the setting.
When this site keeps a secret inside a group of settings while the file changes the other settings of that group, the preview says so. For example, this site keeps its SMTP password while the file sets a new SMTP host. Check that they still belong together.