> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.keyplar.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Importing past orders

> Backfill everything you sold before Keyplar, so returning customers find their purchases already waiting.

Import pulls your history out of a connected gateway and into your store: customers, orders,
subscriptions and — where the gateway issues them — license keys.

Run it once when you set up, and again any time you suspect something was missed.

## Before you start

The gateway must be [connected](/gateways/overview) with valid credentials. Import reads through
the gateway's API, so the same key that powers post-checkout fulfillment powers this.

## Run an import

Open **Import**. Each connected gateway has a card. Press **Start import**.

It runs in the background — you can leave the page, close the tab, and come back. The card shows
**Queued**, then **Running**, then **Last run complete**.

### What it imports, in order

<Steps>
  <Step title="Catalog">
    Products from the gateway, and their external ID mappings. Where the gateway describes
    entitlements, matching benefits are created — see the
    [Lemon Squeezy](/gateways/lemon-squeezy#catalog-sync-can-create-benefits-for-you) and
    [Polar](/gateways/polar#other-polar-benefit-types-are-recorded-not-recreated) pages for what
    each one brings across.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Orders">
    Every past purchase, with its customer. Accounts are created for buyers who have never signed
    in, so their orders are waiting when they do.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Subscriptions">
    Recurring plans, linked to the orders that paid for them.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Licenses">
    Only for gateways that issue their own keys — **Lemon Squeezy** and **Polar**. Existing keys
    are imported with their original values, so customers keep the key they already have.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Re-running is safe

Import tracks how far it got and resumes from there. Running it again picks up where it left off
rather than starting over.

Records are matched on the gateway's own order ID and updated in place, so nothing is duplicated
and no second license key is issued — however many times you run it.

### Restart from the beginning

The **Restart from beginning** toggle clears that progress and re-runs every stage from scratch.
Use it when you've fixed a catalog mapping and want old orders re-evaluated against it. It's just
as safe: same upsert, no duplicates.

## After the import

Look at **Products** first. Purchases for external IDs you hadn't mapped will have created
[placeholder products](/catalog/products#auto-created-products), each with no benefits attached.

For each one, either adopt it — attach the benefits it should grant — or
[merge](/catalog/products#merge-duplicate-products) it into the real product. Once the mapping is
right, the benefits reach those old orders too.

<Tip>
  Do a small import first if you can — connect a test-mode account, import, and see what the
  catalog looks like before running it against years of live sales.
</Tip>

## Limits and expectations

* **How far back it reaches** depends on the gateway's API, and some go further than others.
  Import takes what's available.
* **It's throttled on purpose** so it doesn't trip your gateway's rate limits. A large history
  takes a while; that's normal.
* **Nothing is charged and nothing is emailed.** Importing an order doesn't notify the customer.
* **A failed run isn't lost work.** The card shows the error, and starting again resumes from the
  last completed point.

Import is available on every plan.