Magento 1 to Magento 2 Migration Guide 2026: How to Migrate Products, Customer, Orders & SEO

Migrating from Magento 1 to Magento 2 is more than transferring products, customers, and orders between two platforms. It’s an opportunity to modernize your ecommerce store, improve performance, strengthen security, and prepare your business for future growth. However, Magento 1 to Magento 2 migration is not a simple upgrade. It requires careful planning, compatible tools, and a reliable strategy for preserving your existing store data.

In this Magento 2 migration guide for 2026, we explain how to migrate Magento 1 to Magento 2 step by step, from preparing your store and choosing the right migration method to transferring data and validating the results. You’ll learn how the official Magento 1 to Magento 2 migration tool works, what challenges to expect when moving from Magento 1.9, and how to migrate products, customers, and orders without unnecessary data loss or downtime.

We’ll also explore how Firebear’s Improved Import & Export extension can simplify Magento 2 data migration through flexible data mapping and import workflows, and when professional Magento 2 migration services may be the better choice for complex projects.

Magento 1 to Magento 2 Migration in 2026: Why It Still Matters

Magento 1 officially reached its end of support on June 30, 2020. Yet some ecommerce businesses still operate on Magento 1.9 and other legacy installations, relying on outdated infrastructure, custom extensions, and integrations that have become increasingly difficult to maintain. In 2026, Magento 1 to Magento 2 migration is no longer simply an opportunity to modernize an online store — it’s an important step toward reducing security risks, maintaining compatibility, and supporting long-term business growth.

The biggest concern is security. Since Magento 1 no longer receives official security patches, newly discovered vulnerabilities are not addressed through regular platform updates. Although third-party security solutions and custom maintenance can mitigate certain risks, they cannot fully replace an officially supported platform. Outdated PHP versions, unsupported extensions, and aging server infrastructure introduce additional dangers, potentially affecting customer data, payment security, and regulatory compliance.

However, migrating from Magento 1 to Magento 2 offers much more than improved security. Magento 2 introduces a significantly different architecture, modern development tools, and capabilities designed for today’s ecommerce operations.

Here are the main differences:

For merchants, these differences translate into practical opportunities: faster and more maintainable storefronts, more flexible inventory workflows, improved integration with ERP and CRM systems, and greater freedom to develop new ecommerce functionality. The actual improvements depend on the Magento 2 edition, server environment, extensions, and implementation quality.

Why Magento 1 to Magento 2 Migration Is More Than a Regular Upgrade

One important distinction is that Magento 1 cannot be upgraded directly to Magento 2 in the same way as moving between minor versions of a platform. The two generations have different database structures, application architectures, extension systems, and frontend technologies.

Consequently, a complete Magento 2 migration involves several interconnected processes:

1. Data migration: Transferring products, categories, customers, orders, attributes, and other business-critical information to the new database structure.
2. Extension migration: Replacing legacy Magento 1 modules with compatible Magento 2 extensions or rebuilding custom functionality.
3. Theme migration: Recreating or redesigning the storefront using Magento 2-compatible frontend technologies.
4. Integration migration: Reconnecting payment gateways, shipping providers, ERP, CRM, PIM, and other external systems.
5. Testing and launch: Validating migrated data, checking store functionality, preserving SEO assets, and preparing the new store for production.

The good news is that you don’t have to rebuild everything manually. Adobe provides an official Magento 1 to Magento 2 Data Migration Tool, while specialized solutions such as our Improved Import & Export can assist with compatible data import, mapping, and transformation workflows. Professional Magento 2 migration services offer another option when custom development or complex integrations are involved.

Magento 1 to 2 Migration Checklist: How to Prepare Your Store

A successful Magento 1 to Magento 2 migration starts long before the first product, customer, or order is transferred. Without proper preparation, even a technically successful data migration can leave you with missing product images, incompatible extensions, broken integrations, or an incomplete order history.

The goal of this Magento 2 migration checklist is to identify potential problems before they affect your new store. Whether you’re moving from Magento 1.9 to Magento Open Source or Adobe Commerce, the following five steps will help you prepare your data, infrastructure, and migration strategy:

Now, let’s explore each of these Magento 1 to Magento 2 migration steps in more detail.

Audit Your Magento 1 Store and Existing Data

Before choosing a migration tool, establish exactly what needs to move. Magento 1 stores often contain years of accumulated information, including discontinued products, unused attributes, inactive customer accounts, abandoned integrations, and custom database tables. Migrating everything without reviewing it first can introduce unnecessary complexity into the new environment.

Start with a Magento 1 migration audit covering the following areas:

• Catalog: Products, categories, product types, configurable product relationships, attributes, attribute sets, tier prices, and product images.
• Customers: Customer accounts, addresses, groups, custom attributes, and password migration requirements.
• Sales: Orders, invoices, shipments, credit memos, transaction records, and historical order relationships.
• Store configuration: Websites, store views, currencies, tax rules, customer groups, and other settings that affect how migrated data is interpreted.
• Custom functionality: Third-party extensions, custom modules, additional database tables, API connections, and external business systems.
• SEO assets: Product and category URLs, URL rewrites, metadata, CMS pages, and existing redirects.

Pay particular attention to custom attributes and data structures. Magento 2 may handle familiar entities differently, and data created by Magento 1 extensions may require additional mapping, transformation, or custom migration logic.

This is also a good opportunity to clean up obsolete records, remove duplicates, and resolve inconsistent data. However, retain a complete copy of the original store before deleting or modifying anything.

The expected outcome: A documented inventory of data and functionality, with each item marked for migration, replacement, manual recreation, or retirement. This becomes the foundation for selecting your Magento 1 to Magento 2 migration method.

Choose Your Target Magento 2 Version: Magento Open Source or Adobe Commerce

Your destination platform determines which technologies, extensions, and migration tools you can use. In 2026, merchants should plan around an actively supported Magento 2 release rather than installing an older version simply because it resembles their legacy environment.

Start by choosing between Magento Open Source and Adobe Commerce. Both provide modern Magento 2 architecture and core ecommerce capabilities. Adobe Commerce additionally offers commercial functionality, including advanced B2B features, along with enterprise-oriented services and support options.

Next, select the exact release you want to deploy. Before committing to a target version, verify:

• System requirements: Confirm compatible PHP, MySQL or MariaDB, OpenSearch, Composer, and supporting services.
• Extension compatibility: Check that your essential modules support the exact Magento 2 version and PHP environment.
• Migration tool compatibility: Verify that your chosen data migration solution works with both the source installation and destination environment.
• Infrastructure requirements: Assess hosting capacity, storage, database performance, and the resources needed for migration and indexing.
• Support lifecycle: Prefer a release with sufficient remaining support to avoid another major upgrade shortly after migration.

For the official Adobe Data Migration Tool, its version must match the Magento 2 application version. This matters especially when preparing a new environment with a recent release.

Avoid treating PHP or database compatibility as something to fix after migration. A suitable destination environment should be selected and validated before data transfer begins.

Back Up Your Database and Media Files

Never begin Magento 1 to Magento 2 data migration without a verified backup of the original store. If a migration fails, corrupts data, or produces unexpected results, you need a reliable recovery point.

Create backups of:

1. Magento 1 database: Preserve catalog, customer, sales, configuration, and custom module records.
2. Media files: Include product images, category images, CMS uploads, and other assets stored in the Magento 1 media directory.
3. Application files: Save custom modules, themes, configuration files, and other code required to reproduce the original environment.
4. Integration configurations: Preserve relevant settings and connection details, handling API credentials and other secrets securely.
5. SEO configurations: Export or document important URL rewrites, redirect rules, and other SEO settings.

Store backups separately from the production server and verify that they can be restored. A backup that has never been tested may not provide the protection you expect.

If you’re using Adobe’s official Data Migration Tool, also create a database backup immediately after installing Magento 2. Adobe recommends preserving this initial state so the destination can be restored if the migration needs to be restarted.

Remember that database migration and media migration are separate operations. Adobe’s documentation specifies that media files stored in the Magento 1 file system must be transferred manually to the appropriate Magento 2 media directory.

Prepare Magento 2 and Review Extensions and Themes

Once you’ve selected the target version and secured your backups, create a separate Magento 2 staging environment. This is where you can test migration procedures, identify compatibility issues, and validate results without disrupting the live Magento 1 store.

Install Magento 2 with the required services and confirm that the application operates correctly before importing production data.

Then review the functionality your existing store depends on.

• Extensions and custom modules: Magento 1 modules cannot simply be copied into Magento 2. Identify compatible replacements, review custom development requirements, and determine how each extension’s data will be handled.
• Themes and storefront design: Magento 1 themes are not directly compatible with Magento 2. Plan to rebuild, replace, or redesign the storefront, including any custom layouts, templates, and frontend functionality.
• External integrations: Check payment gateways, shipping services, ERP and CRM systems, analytics, and other connected platforms. Confirm that suitable Magento 2 integrations are available and understand how they will be reconfigured.
• Data migration environment: Ensure that the migration tools can access the necessary source and destination databases, files, or API endpoints. Check connectivity, credentials, permissions, and available server resources.

If you plan to use Adobe’s Data Migration Tool, follow its prerequisites carefully.

The objective is to build a stable, compatible destination — not to reproduce every Magento 1 customization before confirming that your core data can be migrated successfully.

Plan Your Migration Timeline and Downtime

The final preparation step is to establish a realistic migration schedule. Magento 1 to Magento 2 migration is rarely a single operation, especially for stores with extensive product catalogs, years of sales history, or ongoing customer activity.

Divide the project into manageable phases:

One of the biggest planning challenges is keeping Magento 1 operational while preparing Magento 2. New customers, orders, and other changes may continue to appear in the source store after the initial migration.

Adobe’s Data Migration Tool supports delta migration for certain changes made after the initial transfer. Other migration approaches may require scheduled synchronization, additional imports, or custom procedures. The availability of these options depends on the migration method and the data involved.

To minimize disruption, schedule the final cutover during a period of relatively low traffic. Establish a clear maintenance window, define which operations must be paused, and prepare a rollback procedure in case critical validation checks fail.

Before proceeding with Magento 2 data migration, you should have a complete data inventory, verified backups, a compatible Magento 2 environment, and an agreed migration plan. These preparations make it easier to choose the right migration tools and prevent avoidable problems during the product, customer, and order transfers covered later in this guide.

Magento 2 Migration Challenges and How to Avoid Them

Even with careful preparation, Magento 1 to Magento 2 migration can introduce unexpected complications. The two platforms differ in their database architecture, extension systems, and application frameworks, so data and functionality cannot always transfer without modification. What works perfectly in Magento 1 may require a completely different implementation in Magento 2.

The good news is that most migration problems are predictable. Understanding where incompatibilities occur — and choosing the right solutions early — can help you prevent data loss, avoid unnecessary development costs, and minimize disruptions to your business.

Below are five common Magento 2 migration challenges and practical ways to address them.

These challenges explain why Magento 1 to Magento 2 migration requires more than a basic data export and import. The most effective approach depends on your store’s data structures, custom functionality, and operational requirements.

Fortunately, you have several options, from Adobe’s official Data Migration Tool to specialized import and export extensions and custom migration services. Understanding how these methods differ will help you choose a solution that fits your store rather than forcing your data into an unsuitable migration workflow.

1. Data Compatibility: Different Database Structures and Attributes

One of the biggest challenges of Magento 1 to Magento 2 data migration is adapting information to a different database structure. Although both platforms support familiar entities such as products, customers, and orders, their underlying schemas and data relationships are not identical.

Common problems include mismatched product attributes, incompatible field types, missing customer information, incorrect product relationships, and broken references between orders and customers. Custom attributes and data introduced by third-party extensions can make these differences even more difficult to resolve.

How to avoid it: Use a migration solution that supports data mapping and transformation rather than attempting to copy database tables directly.

Adobe’s official Data Migration Tool uses XML mapping files to connect Magento 1 and Magento 2 database structures, including rules for renaming, ignoring, and transforming fields. Firebear’s Improved Import & Export provides a different approach, allowing you to map imported data to Magento 2 attributes, adjust values, and perform other transformations within import jobs.

Whichever method you choose, validate the resulting data and its relationships before accepting the migration as complete.

2. Extension Limitations: Magento 1 Modules Don’t Work in Magento 2

Magento 1 extensions cannot be installed directly on Magento 2. Their code, dependencies, and integration methods were developed for a different platform architecture.

This can become a serious obstacle when your store relies on extensions for payment processing, shipping, product customization, customer loyalty programs, or connections to external business systems.

Another complication is extension-specific data. Even when a Magento 2 replacement exists, it may use different database tables or field structures, preventing the corresponding information from transferring automatically.

How to avoid it: Evaluate each essential extension individually. Determine whether a compatible Magento 2 version exists, whether the functionality can be replaced by native capabilities, or whether custom development is required.

For extension-generated data, check how the source and destination structures differ. Adobe’s Data Migration Tool can transfer compatible custom tables, but structural differences may require additional mapping rules or custom migration handlers.

The priority is preserving business-critical functionality, not necessarily replicating every legacy extension.

3. Customizations: Migrating Non-Standard Data and Business Logic

Magento stores rarely remain completely standard for years. Custom modules, modified database tables, specialized pricing rules, and unique checkout workflows can become deeply embedded in daily operations.

These customizations create two separate challenges: transferring the underlying data and rebuilding the functionality that uses it.

For example, a custom Magento 1 module might store additional product information in its own database tables. Transferring those records alone will not recreate the module’s behavior in Magento 2.

How to avoid it: Treat custom data and application logic as separate migration requirements.

Identify the information that must be retained, determine how it fits into Magento 2, and establish whether it requires database mapping, import transformations, or dedicated development.

For complex customizations, use a small proof-of-concept migration to verify that the proposed solution works before processing the entire dataset.

4. Performance: Large Databases and Slow Migration Processes

Magento 2 data migration can be resource-intensive, particularly when transferring hundreds of thousands of products, customers, orders, and related records.

Large database tables, extensive order histories, complex product relationships, and unnecessary legacy data can increase processing time. Migration performance also depends on server resources, database configuration, network connectivity, and the tools being used.

Adobe recommends removing obsolete or redundant data before migration and provides performance-related configuration options for its Data Migration Tool.

How to avoid it: Benchmark the migration using representative production data rather than assuming that a small test import reflects the performance of the entire store.

Review database size, optimize the migration environment, and investigate unusually slow operations. For file-based imports, consider splitting large datasets into manageable jobs when supported by the selected tool and consistent with the required data relationships.

Also, distinguish between migration performance and Magento 2 storefront performance. A completed data transfer does not automatically guarantee fast page loads or efficient indexing in the new environment.

5. Downtime and Data Synchronization: Keeping Both Stores Consistent

One of the most sensitive challenges in migrating from Magento 1 to Magento 2 is maintaining data consistency while the existing store continues to operate.

Customers may place orders, update their accounts, or change shipping addresses after the initial data transfer. If those changes are not synchronized with Magento 2, the new store may launch with incomplete customer information or missing transactions.

Simply performing a second full import is not always a reliable solution, particularly when records have already been created or modified in the destination.

How to avoid it: Choose a migration strategy that accounts for changes occurring between the initial transfer and the final launch.

Adobe’s Data Migration Tool supports delta migration, which tracks certain changes made in Magento 1, including new orders, customer updates, and supported catalog modifications. However, not every entity is covered. For instance, newly created attributes and CMS pages are excluded from incremental migration.

Alternative import-based workflows may support recurring transfers, but their ability to synchronize changes depends on the data source, import behavior, and configuration.

Regardless of the method, establish a final synchronization procedure and verify critical

Magento 1.9 to Magento 2 Migration: Compatibility and Special Considerations

If your store still runs Magento 1.9, migrating to Magento 2 is entirely possible, even in 2026. In fact, Magento 1.9 is officially supported as a source platform by Adobe’s Data Migration Tool, alongside Magento Open Source 1.6, 1.7, and 1.8. However, support for migrating legacy data doesn’t mean that older extensions, themes, or custom functionality will automatically work in Magento 2.

The main challenge of Magento 1.9 to Magento 2 migration is bridging the technological gap between an outdated installation and a modern ecommerce platform. Older stores may depend on obsolete PHP versions, discontinued modules, heavily customized database structures, and integrations that no longer have maintained Magento 2 equivalents.

Before migrating from Magento 1.9, pay particular attention to these compatibility requirements:

• Source version and edition: Identify your exact Magento 1.9 release and confirm that the migration tool provides the appropriate configuration and mapping files. Adobe maintains separate migration configurations for Magento Open Source and Adobe Commerce editions.
• Target version compatibility: Select an actively supported Magento 2 release and use a matching version of Adobe’s Data Migration Tool. For example, a Magento 2.4.9 installation requires the corresponding 2.4.9 migration tool version.
• Legacy extensions and database modifications: Check whether third-party modules have added custom tables, attributes, or relationships. Adobe’s migration tool can handle certain compatible custom data structures, but significant differences may require custom mapping rules or migration handlers.
• Customer credentials and encrypted data: Preserve the Magento 1 encryption key, stored in app/etc/local.xml, when configuring the official migration tool. Customer password compatibility and access to encrypted information should be verified during testing.
• Store configuration and integrations: Review custom settings, payment methods, shipping rules, and external services. Some configurations can be migrated as data, while others must be recreated or reconfigured for Magento 2.

A particularly important consideration is that you don’t need to upgrade Magento 1.9 through intermediate Magento versions before migrating to Magento 2 when your exact source release is supported by the chosen migration tool. The process involves installing a separate Magento 2 environment and transferring compatible data into it, rather than upgrading the existing Magento 1 codebase.

For merchants running older Magento 1 versions, the general approach is similar, but source-version support must be confirmed before proceeding. Adobe’s official Data Migration Tool supports Magento Open Source 1.6.x–1.9.x and legacy Adobe Commerce editions 1.11.x–1.14.x.

Magento 1 to Magento 2 Migration Methods: Which Approach Should You Choose?

There is no universal solution for Magento 1 to Magento 2 migration. A relatively simple store with a standard product catalog may require a different approach than an established ecommerce business with years of order history, custom extensions, and multiple external integrations.

The most important distinction is between complete Magento data migration and selective data transfer. Some tools are designed to move interconnected databases and store settings, while others specialize in importing particular entities, transforming external data, or rebuilding custom functionality.

The following table summarizes the main differences between the available Magento 2 migration tools and services.

Let’s explore these five approaches to migrating from Magento 1 to Magento 2, their advantages, and situations where each makes the most sense in more detail.

Adobe’s Official Data Migration Tool

Adobe provides an official Magento 1 to Magento 2 Data Migration Tool designed specifically for transferring existing store information between the two platform generations.

The tool operates through the command line and uses configuration files to handle differences between Magento 1 and Magento 2 database structures. It supports three migration modes: settings migration, bulk data migration, and delta migration for certain changes made after the initial transfer.

Key advantages:

• Designed specifically for Magento 1 to Magento 2 database migration.
• Supports products, customers, orders, store configurations, and other supported data.
• Includes integrity checks, mapping rules, and migration logs.
• Supports incremental synchronization of certain changes during migration.

Limitations: The tool requires command-line access, database configuration, and technical expertise. Custom extensions may require additional mapping or development, while themes, media files, and some administrative data must be handled separately.

Best for: Comprehensive Magento 1 to Magento 2 migrations where preserving existing database relationships, store configurations, and order history is essential.

We’ll examine the official Data Migration Tool in greater detail in the next section.

Native Magento Import and Export

Another approach is to export information from Magento 1 and import it into Magento 2 using the platforms’ built-in data transfer functionality.

Magento 2 provides native CSV-based import tools for products, advanced pricing, customers, customer addresses, and other supported entities. However, Magento 1 and Magento 2 use different data structures, so files exported from the older platform generally require preparation before import.

Key advantages:

• No additional third-party Magento 2 import extension is required.
• Suitable for transferring individual supported entities.
• Useful for relatively small catalogs or selective data migration.
• Allows merchants to review and modify information before importing it.

Limitations: Native import/export does not provide a complete Magento 1 to Magento 2 migration workflow. Data structures must match Magento 2 requirements, and standard imports do not cover every entity, including historical orders. Complex relationships and custom attributes may require additional preparation.

Best for: Small, relatively simple migrations or merchants who only need to transfer specific supported data, such as products and customer records.

Third-Party Magento Migration Extensions

Third-party solutions extend native Magento import and export capabilities, offering additional flexibility when transferring information between platforms.

For example, Firebear’s Improved Import & Export for Magento 2 supports advanced import workflows with attribute mapping, value transformation, additional file formats, multiple data sources, and automated jobs.

These features can be particularly useful when Magento 1 export files do not match the expected Magento 2 structure or when data comes from several systems.

Key advantages:

• More flexible data mapping and transformation.
• Support for additional data formats and external sources, depending on the extension.
• Broader entity coverage than native Magento import/export.
• Automation for repeatable imports and supported synchronization workflows.

Limitations: Third-party extensions differ considerably in their capabilities. Not every solution supports complete Magento 1 database migration, custom module data, customer password migration, or incremental synchronization. Compatibility with the target Magento 2 release and availability of Magento 1 data extraction tools must also be verified.

Best for: Selective or complex data transfers that require flexible mapping, additional entities, automation, or integration with external systems.

Custom Migration Development

Some Magento 1 stores have data structures or business requirements that standard migration tools cannot handle.

In these cases, developers can create custom migration scripts, database transformations, API-based integrations, or extensions that transfer information into the appropriate Magento 2 structures.

For example, custom development may be necessary when migrating information generated by discontinued Magento 1 modules or adapting legacy data to a completely redesigned business process.

Key advantages:

• Full control over migration logic and data transformations.
• Ability to handle proprietary database structures and unusual requirements.
• Flexibility to combine data migration with custom integrations.

Limitations: Custom development requires experienced Magento developers, extensive testing, and ongoing maintenance. It can also increase project costs and introduce unnecessary complexity when an existing tool already covers the required functionality.

Best for: Heavily customized Magento stores, non-standard data structures, and migration scenarios that cannot be addressed through existing tools.

Professional Magento 2 Migration Services

Not every merchant has the technical resources to manage a migration internally. Magento 2 migration services provide an alternative by combining migration tools, development expertise, and project management into a coordinated process.

A professional migration project may include store analysis, database migration, extension replacement, custom development, storefront reconstruction, integration setup, testing, and production deployment.

For instance, Firebear Studio offers Magento 2 data migration services for businesses that need assistance transferring products, customers, orders, and other store information, including projects with custom data requirements.

Key advantages:

• Technical expertise for complicated migration scenarios.
• Coordinated handling of data, customizations, and integrations.
• Testing and validation as part of the migration process.
• Reduced demand on the merchant’s internal development resources.

Limitations: Professional migration requires an additional service budget, and the project scope, deliverables, timeline, and responsibilities should be clearly agreed upon before work begins.

Best for: Established ecommerce businesses, highly customized stores, and merchants who need a managed migration rather than a do-it-yourself solution.

Which Magento 2 Migration Method Is Right for Your Store?

For most merchants planning a comprehensive migration from Magento 1 to Magento 2, Adobe’s official Data Migration Tool is a sensible starting point. It was built specifically for this purpose and can transfer interconnected data and configurations that native CSV imports cannot handle on their own.

However, the official tool does not eliminate every migration challenge. If your project requires extensive data transformation, selective entity transfers, or importing information from external systems, a specialized solution such as Improved Import & Export may provide a more practical workflow.

These approaches are not necessarily mutually exclusive. A migration project can use Adobe’s Data Migration Tool for core database migration and additional import tools or custom scripts for data that requires special handling. Professional services can coordinate these activities when the project exceeds your internal resources.

The right choice is the method — or combination of methods — that preserves your business-critical data while minimizing unnecessary development, migration risks, and operational disruption.

Adobe Data Migration Tool for Magento 2 Explained

Adobe’s Data Migration Tool is the official command-line solution for transferring data from Magento 1 to Magento 2. Unlike basic CSV imports, it is designed to handle differences between the two platforms’ database structures while preserving supported relationships between products, customers, orders, and other entities.

The tool supports migrations from Magento Open Source 1.6–1.9 and legacy Adobe Commerce 1.11–1.14, provided the selected migration path and target release are supported. It is particularly useful for merchants who need to transfer an established store’s core data and configuration rather than import individual entities separately.

Although the Magento 1 to Magento 2 migration tool automates many complicated database operations, it requires technical knowledge, server access, and appropriate configuration. Understanding how it works will help you determine whether it is suitable for your project.

How the Magento Data Migration Tool Works

The Adobe Data Migration Tool runs within the Magento 2 environment and connects to both the Magento 1 source database and the Magento 2 destination database. It uses XML configuration and mapping files to identify differences between their schemas and determine how the information should be transferred.

Its migration workflow involves three primary operations:

1. Integrity checks: The tool compares source and destination database structures, identifies missing tables or fields, and checks whether the configured migration rules can handle the differences.
2. Data transfer: It moves supported records into Magento 2, applying mapping rules and transformations where necessary.
3. Volume checks: It compares record counts to help identify discrepancies between the source and destination databases.

These operations are organized into migration steps, allowing the tool to process different types of data systematically. It also generates logs and tracks progress, helping developers diagnose errors and resume interrupted migrations.

For example, if Magento 1 and Magento 2 use different field names, the migration configuration can specify how those fields correspond. When an extension introduces custom database tables, additional mapping or migration handlers may be required.

The tool is distributed as a Composer package, magento/data-migration-tool. Its version must match the installed Magento 2 version exactly, and the configuration must provide the required database connection details and Magento 1 encryption key.

Settings, Data, and Delta Migration

Adobe divides the Magento 1 to Magento 2 data migration process into three modes that must be executed in the following order.

1. Settings Migration

The process begins with transferring store configuration. This includes website and store-view structures, along with supported system settings. Developers can use mapping rules to rename, ignore, or transform configuration values that differ between Magento versions.

Not every configuration is migrated automatically, so the resulting settings should be reviewed in the Magento 2 Admin.

2. Data Migration

Next, the tool processes the main database records. It transfers supported business entities, performs compatibility checks, and uses XML mapping rules to account for differences between Magento 1 and Magento 2.

During this stage, the tool also creates change-tracking tables and database triggers in Magento 1 to support subsequent delta migration.

If an error interrupts the process, the tool can resume from its last successfully completed stage. Restarting from the beginning requires additional care to avoid duplicating previously migrated data.

3. Delta Migration

The final mode transfers supported changes made in Magento 1 after the initial migration. This is particularly important for active ecommerce stores that continue receiving orders and customer registrations while Magento 2 is being prepared.

Adobe’s delta migration tracks certain storefront activities and Admin changes, including supported updates to orders, products, and categories. However, it does not cover every type of data. Newly created attributes and CMS pages, for example, are excluded.

Delta migration is designed to run continuously until it is stopped for the final cutover. This reduces the amount of outstanding data that needs to be transferred when switching to Magento 2, although it does not eliminate the need for a controlled launch procedure.

Limitations of the Official Magento Migration Tool

Despite its extensive capabilities, Adobe’s Magento Data Migration Tool is not a complete store migration solution. It focuses primarily on database information and supported configuration data, leaving several important tasks outside its scope.

The main limitations include:

• Technical complexity: Installation, configuration, migration mapping, and troubleshooting require command-line access and Magento development knowledge.
• Custom extensions: Data from third-party modules may require additional migration rules or custom handlers, particularly when database structures have changed.
• Themes and frontend customizations: Magento 1 themes, templates, layouts, and frontend code cannot be transferred directly into Magento 2 as working storefront components.
• Media files: Product images, category images, and other media stored in the file system must be transferred separately.
• Admin accounts and permissions: Administrative users, access control lists, and API credentials must be recreated or reconfigured.
• Incomplete incremental synchronization: Delta migration covers supported changes but does not automatically synchronize all custom entities, extension-generated data, or newly created CMS content.
• Limited flexibility for external data sources: The tool is designed specifically for Magento database migration, not for importing arbitrary supplier feeds, Excel spreadsheets, or data from ERP and PIM systems.

These limitations do not make the official tool unsuitable for migration. Rather, they define its intended purpose: transferring supported Magento 1 database information into Magento 2, not rebuilding every part of an ecommerce business.

For a relatively standard Magento installation, the Data Migration Tool can provide a strong foundation for the migration process. More complex stores may need additional solutions for custom data, extension-specific entities, and ongoing integrations.

This is where specialized import and export tools can complement the official workflow. For example, Firebear’s Improved Import & Export for Magento 2 provides additional data mapping, transformation, and import automation capabilities that can help process information from legacy exports and external systems. We’ll examine these capabilities in the next section.

Magento 1 to Magento 2 Data Migration with Improved Import & Export

Adobe’s official Data Migration Tool is designed to transfer Magento 1 databases to Magento 2, but not every migration fits a standard database-to-database workflow. Legacy product attributes may require additional transformations, external systems may use incompatible file formats, and some merchants only need to migrate selected entities rather than an entire store.

This is where Firebear’s Improved Import & Export extension for Magento 2 offers a different approach. Instead of relying exclusively on direct database migration, it lets you import supported Magento 1 data into Magento 2 through configurable jobs, with flexible attribute mapping, data transformations, and multiple file formats and sources.

Whether you’re performing a Magento 1 to Magento 2 product migration, transferring customer information, or importing historical orders, Improved Import & Export can simplify the preparation and processing of compatible legacy data.

How Improved Import & Export Simplifies Magento Data Migration

One of the main advantages of Improved Import & Export is its ability to manage data transfers through the Magento 2 Admin rather than relying entirely on command-line operations.

The extension introduces configurable import jobs where merchants can select the target entity, connect a data source, define import behavior, validate incoming records, and execute the transfer. This makes it particularly useful when migration data has already been exported from Magento 1 or prepared by an external system.

Improved Import & Export helps streamline Magento 1 to Magento 2 data migration in several ways:

• Selective entity migration: Import specific supported entities, including products, categories, customers, orders, and CMS content, instead of transferring an entire legacy database.
• Flexible import configuration: Create separate jobs for different data types, each with its own source, mapping rules, and import behavior.
• Data validation: Check incoming files and review error logs to identify issues before or during processing.
• Complex product support: Import configurable, grouped, and bundle products while handling the required attributes and product relationships.
• Repeatable workflows: Save import configurations for additional testing, corrected data transfers, or ongoing integration tasks.

For example, a merchant migrating from Magento 1.9 may choose to export the legacy product catalog and import it into Magento 2 through a dedicated product import job, preparing the data automatically in a mapping interface. Customer and order transfers can then be handled separately using their corresponding supported entity types.

This modular approach provides greater control over individual datasets, particularly when some information must be cleaned, transformed, or imported in a specific sequence.

While Improved Import & Export runs on the Magento 2 side of the migration, you still need a reliable method of extracting the required information from Magento 1, and it’s the extension’s version for Magento 1.

Magento 1 to Magento 2 Attribute Mapping and Data Transformation

One of the most valuable features of Improved Import & Export is attribute mapping, which helps adapt legacy Magento 1 data to the structure expected by Magento 2.

Although the platforms share familiar concepts such as SKUs, product names, prices, and attribute sets, their import formats and data requirements are not identical. Attempting to import an unchanged Magento 1 CSV file into Magento 2 can result in rejected records, missing values, or incorrect product configurations.

Improved Import & Export provides several tools for resolving these differences directly within an import job.

• Attribute mapping connects columns in the source file to the appropriate Magento 2 attributes. For example, if an exported file uses product_code instead of sku, you can map that column to the correct destination field without manually renaming it in the original CSV.
• Attribute value mapping helps standardize values when the source and destination systems use different conventions. For example, a legacy product feed might identify availability as Available and Unavailable, while the destination expects different values.
• Data transformations provide additional flexibility through operations such as find-and-replace, default values, and other supported modifications. These can help correct inconsistent information or prepare existing records for the new environment.
• Mapping presets can further simplify migration by applying predefined field relationships. For instance, you get a Magento 1 product mapping preset that automatically associates supported legacy fields with Magento 2 attributes.

These capabilities are particularly useful when migrating custom attributes, product specifications, manufacturer information, or data originating from legacy integrations.

For more complex catalogs, Improved Import & Export also supports attribute-related import workflows, reducing the need to recreate every attribute manually. However, the required attribute sets, options, and relationships must still be prepared or generated appropriately for the selected entity and import configuration.

The result is a more flexible Magento 1 to Magento 2 data migration process, where the destination format can be achieved through configurable mappings and transformations instead of extensive manual file editing.

How Improved Import & Export Addresses Official Magento Migration Tool Limitations

Improved Import & Export and Adobe’s Data Migration Tool solve different problems. The official tool specializes in transferring supported Magento 1 database structures and relationships. Our extension focuses on configurable import/export operations, including data mapping, file transformations, external sources, and supported entity transfers. Consequently, Improved Import & Export can address several limitations of the official migration workflow, but it does not replace every capability of Adobe’s tool.

This comparison highlights four situations where Improved Import & Export may be especially useful.

First, selective data migration. If you only need to transfer a product catalog, customer dataset, or supported order history, a configurable import job may be more practical than migrating an entire database.

Second, complex data transformations. When legacy exports use inconsistent attributes, values, or structures, our mapping capabilities can reduce the amount of manual preparation required.

Third, external data consolidation. If important information is stored outside Magento 1, Improved Import & Export can help bring compatible records from spreadsheets, feeds, and connected systems into the new store.

Fourth, post-migration integration. After the initial transfer, the extension remains useful for scheduled imports, exports, inventory updates, and other supported data exchange workflows.

There are also important boundaries to consider. Improved Import & Export does not automatically rebuild Magento 1 themes, migrate application code, recreate unsupported extensions, or guarantee customer password compatibility. These tasks may require Adobe’s migration tools, custom development, or additional services.

If your legacy store contains unusual data structures or business-specific requirements, we also offer professional Magento 2 migration services to help determine which information can be transferred through standard import jobs and where custom migration work is necessary.

In the following sections, we’ll focus on the practical side of this approach, starting with Magento 1 to Magento 2 product migration and then examining customer and order transfers.

What Data Can You Migrate from Magento 1 to Magento 2?

Magento 1 to Magento 2 data migration involves much more than moving a product catalog. A typical ecommerce store contains customer accounts, order histories, product attributes, categories, pricing rules, CMS content, and configuration settings — all of which may be essential for keeping the business running after migration.

The good news is that most core Magento 1 entities can be transferred to Magento 2. However, not every type of Magento 1 data can be migrated in the same way. Some records transfer through standard migration procedures, others require mapping or dedicated import functionality, and certain elements must be recreated manually.

Magento 1 to Magento 2 Data Migration: Supported Entities

The following table outlines the main types of data you can migrate from Magento 1 to Magento 2, along with the available migration approaches.

Which Magento 1 Data Should You Migrate First?

When using individual import jobs instead of Adobe’s complete database migration workflow, the order in which you transfer Magento 1 data matters.

For example, Magento 2 products depend on correctly configured attributes, attribute sets, websites, and other catalog structures. Configurable products also require valid parent-child relationships, while customer and order imports may depend on previously established records.

A practical sequence for selective Magento 1 to Magento 2 migration is:

1. Prepare store structures and attributes. Ensure that the necessary websites, store views, attribute sets, and product attributes exist in Magento 2.
2. Migrate categories and products. Transfer the catalog, product relationships, prices, and associated images.
3. Migrate customers and addresses. Import customer accounts, groups, and contact information while addressing password compatibility.
4. Migrate orders and sales records. Transfer historical transactions and preserve relationships with customers and products where required.
5. Import additional entities. Process reviews, promotional rules, CMS content, URL rewrites, and other supported data.
6. Validate the results. Compare important record counts, relationships, and business data with the Magento 1 source.

This sequence is a general recommendation for entity-based imports, not a substitute for Adobe’s prescribed settings, data, and delta migration stages. The exact order may change depending on your migration tools and data dependencies.

What About Custom Magento 1 Data During Migration?

One of the most challenging aspects of migration from Magento 1 to Magento 2 is transferring information that doesn’t belong to standard Magento entities.

For example, your legacy store may contain custom product specifications, loyalty program records, additional customer attributes, or tables created by discontinued extensions.

Adobe’s Data Migration Tool can transfer compatible custom database tables, but structural differences may require mapping rules or custom migration handlers. Improved Import & Export offers another option when custom information can be transformed into a supported Magento 2 entity structure.

However, importing the records alone does not restore the functionality of the original extension. The corresponding Magento 2 modules, data models, and business logic must also be available.

The takeaway: Most essential Magento 1 business data can be preserved during migration, but the appropriate transfer method depends on the entity and its structure. For a complete database migration, Adobe’s official tool provides a broad foundation. For selective transfers, data transformations, and supported additional entities, Improved Import & Export offers a more flexible import-based approach.

Next, we’ll examine the three most important Magento 2 data migration workflows in detail: products, customer, and orders.

Magento 1 to Magento 2 Product Migration: Step-by-Step Guide

Magento 1 to Magento 2 product migration involves more than transferring product names, SKUs, and prices. A typical Magento catalog includes categories, custom attributes, images, inventory records, and relationships between different product types. All of these elements must be correctly represented in Magento 2 to preserve your catalog’s structure and functionality.

The challenge is that Magento 1 and Magento 2 use different product import formats. Although Magento 1 provides native CSV export functionality, the resulting files often require adjustments before Magento 2 can process them.

Below, we’ll explain how to migrate products from Magento 1 to Magento 2 using Improved Import & Export, including the additional steps required for configurable and bundle products.

How to Export Products from Magento 1

The first step is to create a complete export of your Magento 1 product catalog.

Magento 1 provides two export methods:

• Default Export: Available under System → Import/Export → Export.
• Dataflow Export: Available under System → Import/Export → Dataflow – Profiles.

Both can generate product CSV files, but they use different export structures. For this migration, we recommend Default Export, which provides a convenient starting point for preparing data for Magento 2.

Follow these steps:

1. Log in to your Magento 1 Admin.
2. Navigate to System → Import/Export → Export.
3. Select Products in the Entity Type dropdown.
4. Choose CSV as the export format.
5. Apply filters if you want to export only specific products. Otherwise, leave the appropriate filters empty to export the complete catalog.
6. Click Continue to generate and download the CSV file.

The exported file contains product information such as SKUs, names, prices, descriptions, attributes, and other available catalog data. Depending on product type and export configuration, it may also include additional fields for product relationships.

Keep an unchanged copy of the original export. You’ll use a separate working file to adapt the data to Magento 2 requirements.

Sample Product CSV for Magento 1 to 2 Migration

To streamline your process, Firebear Studio provides a ready-made Magento 1 product export CSV template via Google Sheets. This Master Table includes all importable product entities, attribute explanations, sample values, and instructions. It’s designed specifically for Magento 1 to Magento 2 product transfers.

→ Access the Magento 2 Google Sheets Master Table

For a deeper dive into how to use this resource, check out our comprehensive Magento 2 Google Sheets Master Table overview.

Prepare Magento 1 Product Data for Magento 2

Magento 1 product CSV files cannot always be imported directly into Magento 2 because field names, accepted values, and data structures differ.

Start by comparing your exported file with a Magento 2 product import sample. You can obtain one from System → Data Transfer → Import in Magento 2 by selecting Products and clicking Download Sample File. Firebear also provides sample files and a Google Sheets Master Table for supported import entities.

Pay particular attention to these fields:

With Improved Import & Export, many column differences can be resolved through attribute mapping rather than manually editing the CSV.

For example, Firebear provides a Magento 1 mapping preset that can match supported legacy product fields with their Magento 2 equivalents. In the Map Attributes section of an import job, select the Magento 1 preset and use Load Map Attributes where available.

Review the resulting mappings carefully, especially for custom fields and product-specific attributes. A mapping preset simplifies preparation but does not guarantee that every legacy value or relationship is compatible.

Also, remember that exporting image paths does not transfer the images themselves. Make the original media files available to Magento 2 or configure a supported external image source before importing the catalog.

Migrate Configurable, Bundle, and Other Complex Product Types

Simple products are relatively straightforward to migrate because most of their information is stored in individual product records. Configurable, grouped, and bundle products require additional preparation because they depend on relationships between multiple SKUs.

Configurable products represent products with variations such as size or color. Each variation is typically associated with a separate simple product.

When migrating configurable products, preserve the parent product, child SKUs, variation attributes, and attribute values. Magento 2 uses fields such as configurable_variations and configurable_variation_labels to represent these relationships in its product import format.

Grouped products combine several individual products into one listing. Their associated product SKUs must be correctly connected to the grouped product in Magento 2. The corresponding import structure uses fields such as associated_skus.

Bundle products require special attention because their export data may not contain all the information needed to reconstruct Magento 2 bundle options.

Magento 2 uses the following bundle-specific attributes:

For example, if your Magento 1 export contains a legacy price_type field, you must adapt it to the corresponding Magento 2 bundle configuration. More importantly, the bundle_values field must accurately represent the bundle’s components and options.

Improved Import & Export supports complex product imports and can help map source data to the required Magento 2 structure. However, missing bundle selections or configurable relationships may still require additional data preparation.

Before importing the entire catalog, test at least one product of each type. Confirm that variations can be selected, bundle components appear correctly, and the resulting prices and inventory behavior match the original store.

Prepare Magento 2 Attributes and Attribute Sets

Product attributes determine how Magento stores and displays information such as manufacturer, material, size, and color. Attribute sets organize these fields into groups associated with different kinds of products.

Before migrating the catalog, ensure that Magento 2 contains the necessary attributes, values, and attribute sets.

You can create an attribute manually under Stores → Attributes → Product or manage attribute sets under Stores → Attributes → Attribute Set.

For larger catalogs, Improved Import & Export provides dedicated attribute import functionality, allowing you to create supported attributes in bulk rather than configure each one individually.

Pay particular attention to:

• Attribute codes and input types: Confirm that custom fields use appropriate Magento 2 definitions.
• Dropdown and multiselect options: Preserve the values required by existing products.
• Configurable attributes: Ensure that attributes such as size and color are correctly configured for configurable products.
• Attribute sets: Assign the required attributes to the sets used by your products.
• Store-view values: Account for translated labels and store-specific product information.

For example, if your Magento 1 catalog uses an attribute named season with values such as Summer, Winter, and All Season, the corresponding Magento 2 attribute and options must be available or created through a supported import workflow.

Avoid importing products before resolving essential attribute dependencies. Magento 2 may reject unknown attributes or fail to apply the intended values.

How to Import Magento 1 Products into Magento 2

Once your product data, images, and attributes are prepared, you can create an import job with Firebear’s Improved Import & Export extension.

Follow these steps:

1. Open your Magento 2 Admin and navigate to System → Improved Import/Export → Import Jobs.
2. Click Add New Job and enter a descriptive name, such as Migrating products from my Magento 1.
   
3. Configure the general settings, including the appropriate store locale.
4. Under Import Settings, select Products as the entity type.
   
5. Under Import Behavior, choose Add/Update to create new products and update matching existing records.
   
6. In Import Source, select CSV and upload your prepared file, or choose another supported source such as FTP/SFTP or Google Sheets.
   
7. Click Validate File to check the incoming data.
8. In Map Attributes, apply the Magento 1 preset if available, then review and complete any necessary custom mappings.
   
9. Save the job and click Save & Run. Confirm the operation to start the import.
   

The extension processes the file according to the selected settings and generates execution logs containing the import results and any reported errors

After the import, open Catalog → Products in Magento 2 and verify that the expected SKUs, names, prices, attributes, and images are present.

Check complex product relationships separately. A successfully imported parent product does not necessarily mean that every configurable variation or bundle selection was reconstructed correctly.

For more advanced cases, consult our Magento 2 product import and export guide, which explains the relevant product attributes and import configurations in greater detail.

With the product catalog successfully transferred and validated, you can proceed to the next major stage of Magento 1 to Magento 2 data migration: customer accounts and addresses.

How to Migrate Customers from Magento 1 to Magento 2

After transferring your product catalog, the next step is to migrate customers from Magento 1 to Magento 2. Customer migration involves preserving account details, email addresses, customer groups, billing and shipping addresses, and other information necessary for customers to continue using the new store.

Although Magento 1 and Magento 2 share many customer attributes, their import structures are not identical. Password compatibility, website assignments, and customer addresses require particular attention.

Here’s how to transfer customer records using Improved Import & Export while avoiding common account migration problems.

Magento 2 Customer Data Structure and Migration Requirements

Magento 2 provides three customer import entities, each designed for a different type of data transfer:

For a typical Magento 1 to Magento 2 customer migration, the combined Customers and Addresses entity is a convenient option because it reduces the need to perform separate imports.

Before proceeding, ensure that your Magento 2 environment contains the required websites, store views, and customer groups.

Important customer attributes include:

• email — The customer’s email address, used to identify the account within its website scope.
• firstname and lastname — Customer identification fields.
• _website and _store — Website and store assignments.
• group_id — Customer group assignment.
• password_hash — An existing password hash, where a compatible migration method supports it.
• Address fields — Street, city, region, postal code, country, telephone, and default billing or shipping indicators.

The exact column names depend on the selected customer import entity.

Pay particular attention to websites and customer groups. Their identifiers may differ between Magento 1 and Magento 2, so copying legacy IDs without verifying their destination values can produce incorrect assignments.

Export Customer Data from Magento 1

Magento 1 includes native customer export functionality, which provides a starting point for preparing your Magento 2 customer import file.

Follow these steps:

1. Log in to your Magento 1 Admin.
2. Navigate to System → Import/Export → Export.
3. Select Customers in the Entity Type dropdown.
4. Choose CSV as the export format.
5. Apply any necessary filters or leave the appropriate fields empty to include all customers.
6. Click Continue to download the customer data.

The resulting file contains customer information available through the selected export method. Review whether billing and shipping addresses are included and how they are represented.

If the export doesn’t contain all the required address information, obtain the missing records separately using a supported export method or custom data extraction.

Next, compare the Magento 1 CSV with the Magento 2 customer import sample. Ensure that customer email addresses, names, groups, website assignments, and address fields match the expected structure.

Unlike product migration, customer data also contains personally identifiable information. Store migration files securely, restrict access, and remove temporary copies when they are no longer required.

Import Magento 1 Customers and Addresses into Magento 2

Once your customer data is prepared, create a dedicated import job in Improved Import & Export.

1. Open Magento 2 Admin and navigate to System → Improved Import/Export → Import Jobs.
2. Click Add New Job and name it M1 customer migration.
   
3. Under Import Settings, select Customers and Addresses (single file) as the entity type.
   
4. Under Import Behavior, choose Add/Update to create new customer accounts or update matching existing records.
5. In Import Source, choose CSV and upload your prepared customer file. Alternatively, select another supported source.
6. Click Validate File to check the data structure and identify potential errors.
7. Review attribute mapping and apply additional rules if the Magento 1 fields differ from their Magento 2 equivalents.
8. Click Save & Run and confirm the operation to begin importing customers.

If your customer accounts and addresses are stored in separate files, you can instead create individual jobs for Customers Main File and Customer Addresses.

Once the import finishes, navigate to Customers → All Customers in Magento 2 to review the imported records.

Open several accounts and check their email addresses, customer groups, website assignments, and billing and shipping addresses. Verify customers with multiple addresses separately, ensuring that default address assignments remain correct.

If you encounter duplicate or missing address records, check the customer association fields and import behavior before rerunning the job.

For additional configuration examples, see our Magento 2 customer and address import guide.

Customer Password Migration and Account Verification

One important complication of Magento 1 to Magento 2 customer migration is preserving access to existing customer accounts.

Magento 1 and Magento 2 use different password hashing and authentication implementations. Therefore, copying customer records or importing a password_hash column does not automatically guarantee that existing passwords will work.

There are two general approaches.

Preserve compatible customer password data.

Adobe’s official Data Migration Tool is designed to handle supported legacy customer data as part of a complete database migration. Its configuration also requires the Magento 1 encryption key, although this key should not be confused with a universal password-conversion mechanism.

If you’re using a file-based migration, verify that your chosen import method supports the original Magento 1 password hashes and the authentication behavior of your target Magento 2 version.

Improved Import & Export supports customer imports with password-related fields, but compatibility must be tested rather than assumed.

Require customers to reset their passwords.

When preserving existing passwords isn’t supported or practical, import the customer accounts and implement a secure password reset process.

This allows merchants to retain customer profiles and other supported account information without relying on incompatible password hashes.

After migration, test customer authentication thoroughly. Verify that existing accounts can sign in using the intended method, password reset emails work, and customers can access their saved addresses and associated order history.

Customer migration is complete only when the imported accounts are usable, not merely when their records appear in the Magento 2 database. Once this is confirmed, you can proceed to transferring historical orders.

How to Migrate Orders from Magento 1 to Magento 2

Migrating orders from Magento 1 to Magento 2 is one of the most important stages of preserving your store’s business history. Unlike products or customers, orders contain interconnected information about purchased items, customer accounts, payment details, shipping methods, taxes, discounts, invoices, and shipments.

Magento 2’s native CSV import functionality does not include historical orders as a standard import entity. Adobe’s official Data Migration Tool can transfer supported sales data, while Firebear’s Improved Import & Export provides a dedicated Orders import entity for file-based migration.

If you choose the latter approach, the process involves exporting your Magento 1 orders, preparing a compatible dataset, and importing the records into Magento 2.

Export Orders from Magento 1

Unlike products and customers, Magento 1 does not provide a standard order export option under its native System → Import/Export → Export interface.

To obtain order data, you need an additional export solution or a custom extraction procedure. We previously released a free Magento 1 Improved Import extension that added order export functionality. The module is available in the Firebear Magento 1 GitHub repository. Since it is a legacy tool, verify its compatibility and maintenance status before installation.

If your Magento 1 environment already uses this module and its order export functionality is working correctly, follow these steps:

1. Log in to your Magento 1 Admin.
2. Navigate to System → Import/Export → Export.
   
3. Under Entity Type, select Orders, an option introduced by the Firebear module.
4. Choose CSV as the export format.
5. Click Continue to generate the order export file.
   

The resulting CSV can serve as the source for the Magento 2 order import.

Before proceeding, inspect its contents and confirm that all required information has been included.

Pay particular attention to the following records:

• Order identifiers: Original order numbers, including increment_id, and any identifiers needed to preserve relationships.
• Customer information: Customer email addresses, guest checkout details, and account associations.
• Order items: Product SKUs, quantities, names, prices, and discounts.
• Financial information: Subtotals, grand totals, taxes, shipping charges, and currency values.
• Order status: Current state, historical status information, and creation dates.
• Related sales records: Invoices, shipments, credit memos, payment information, and tracking details.

If the original export doesn’t contain everything needed for the required order history, additional extraction or transformation may be necessary.

Important: Preserve the original order numbers whenever possible. If new order numbers are generated during migration, existing ERP, accounting, and customer service systems may no longer recognize historical transactions without additional mapping.

Import Magento 1 Orders into Magento 2

Sinceour Improved Import & Export extension supports a dedicated Magento 2 order import workflow, you can process historical sales data through a configurable import job. Unlike native Magento imports, which focus on products, customers, and other supported entities, this functionality handles order information and its associated data structures.

To migrate Magento 1 orders to Magento 2 using Improved Import & Export, follow these steps:

1. Open your Magento 2 Admin and navigate to System → Improved Import/Export → Import Jobs.
2. Click Add New Job and enter a descriptive name, such as Magento 1 order migration.
   
3. Under Import Settings, choose Orders as the entity type.
   
4. Set Import Behavior to Add/Update for the prepared migration dataset.
5. Under Import Source, select CSV and upload the order export file, or connect another supported source such as Google Sheets or FTP/SFTP.
6. Click Validate File to check the structure of the imported data.
7. Review the field mappings and confirm that order identifiers, customer information, totals, and related attributes correspond to the expected Magento 2 format.
8. Click Save & Run, then confirm the execution to start the import.

The extension also supports importing order-related information such as tracking details and configuring the generation of invoices or shipments in applicable workflows. However, if you’re using another Magento 1 export tool, additional field mapping or transformations may be required.

Also, for historical migration, distinguish between preserving existing sales documents and generating new ones. Recreating invoices or shipments incorrectly can produce duplicate records or inconsistent order histories.

Review these settings carefully, and avoid triggering unnecessary customer notifications, payment collection, or fulfillment operations during migration.

For detailed entity requirements, see our Magento 2 order import guide.

Verify Invoices, Shipments, and Order History

A successful order import should preserve the information your business needs for customer service, accounting, reporting, and historical recordkeeping.

After migrating your orders, navigate to Sales → Orders in Magento 2 and compare the imported records with the Magento 1 source.

Use the following checklist:

Don’t rely exclusively on the total number of imported orders. Two databases can contain the same number of orders while having different financial totals, statuses, or related sales documents.

Instead, compare representative records across several dates, customer groups, order statuses, and payment methods. For larger migrations, automated comparisons can help identify discrepancies in record counts and monetary totals.

Also, check whether migrated orders appear in the correct customer accounts. This is particularly important for registered customers who expect to view their previous purchases after signing in to Magento 2.

If orders are missing related information, review the import logs, field mappings, and original source data before attempting another import.

Finally, remember that Magento 1 to Magento 2 order migration is not necessarily finished after the initial import. If the Magento 1 store continues accepting orders during the transition, you’ll need a final synchronization procedure to capture the remaining transactions before launch.

With products, customers, and historical orders transferred and verified, the core data migration is substantially complete. However, launching your new Magento 2 store also requires preserving SEO data, checking storefront functionality, validating integrations, and coordinating the final cutover.

Magento 1 to Magento 2 SEO Migration: How to Preserve Rankings and URLs

Magento 1 to Magento 2 SEO migration is just as important as transferring products, customers, and orders. Even if your new store works perfectly, changes to product URLs, category paths, metadata, and internal links can disrupt search engine indexing and reduce organic traffic.

The safest approach is to preserve existing SEO assets wherever possible and create permanent redirects when URLs must change. This is especially important for established Magento 1 stores with years of search visibility, indexed pages, and backlinks.

Fortunately, Improved Import & Export for Magento 2 can help migrate much of this information without manually recreating every URL or SEO field. The extension supports dedicated import entities for Products, Categories, URL Rewrites, and CMS Pages, allowing you to transfer different types of SEO-related data through familiar import jobs.

The workflow is essentially the same for every supported entity: Navigate to System → Improved Import/Export → Import Jobs, create a new job, select the corresponding entity under Import Settings, configure your file format and data source, apply mapping rules if necessary, validate the file, and run the import. What changes is the data structure and the entity you select.

Let’s explore how to use this approach to preserve your Magento 1 store’s SEO when migrating to Magento 2 or Adobe Commerce.

Preserve Product and Category URLs for Magento Migration from 1 to 2

Product and category URLs are among the most valuable SEO assets in an established ecommerce store. They may already rank for commercial keywords, attract backlinks, and appear in search results. Changing them unnecessarily can complicate the migration and create additional redirect requirements.

During Magento 1 to Magento 2 product migration, pay particular attention to the url_key attribute. It defines the SEO-friendly part of a product’s URL and helps Magento generate its final storefront address.

For categories, both the URL key and category hierarchy matter. Moving a category under a different parent can change its full URL path, even when the category’s own URL key remains unchanged.

Improved Import & Export supports both Products and Categories as separate import entities. This allows you to preserve and update URL keys together with the corresponding catalog data.

For example, if your Magento 1 store uses running-shoes.html, you can retain the same URL key when importing the product into Magento 2, provided it is compatible with your destination URL configuration.

However, preserving URL keys alone is not always enough. The resulting URLs also depend on:

• Product and category URL suffix settings, such as .html.
• Category paths and product-to-category assignments.
• Store views and website-specific URL configurations.
• Magento’s URL rewrite generation and existing rewrite records.

Compare the actual Magento 1 and Magento 2 storefront URLs before launch rather than relying exclusively on imported attribute values.

The goal is to preserve existing URLs whenever practical, especially for high-traffic products and categories. When the new catalog structure requires different addresses, prepare redirects to their corresponding destinations.

Configure 301 Redirects and Canonical URLs for Magento Migration from 1 to 2

Not every Magento 1 URL can remain unchanged after migration. Products may move between categories, URL structures may be simplified, and outdated pages may be consolidated.

When a URL changes permanently, a 301 redirect helps direct visitors and search engines from the original address to the new destination.

Magento 2 includes native URL rewrite management under Marketing → SEO & Search → URL Rewrites. However, its standard Admin functionality does not provide a dedicated bulk CSV import for URL rewrites.

Improved Import & Export addresses this limitation with a dedicated URL Rewrites import entity. Instead of manually creating redirects one by one, you can import prepared rewrite records in bulk.

The extension supports the following important fields:

For a Magento 1 to Magento 2 migration, prepare a mapping between old URLs and their new equivalents, then import the redirects using the URL Rewrites entity.

Since Magento 1 and Magento 2 may assign different internal IDs to products and categories, do not copy old rewrite records blindly. The destination paths, entity references, and store assignments must correspond to the new installation.

Also, avoid redirecting every discontinued product to your homepage. Whenever possible, use the closest relevant replacement or category page.

Canonical URLs require a different approach. While redirects send users and search engines to another address, canonical tags identify the preferred version of a page when similar or duplicate URLs exist.

Magento 2 provides native settings for product and category canonical tags under Stores → Configuration → Catalog → Catalog → Search Engine Optimization.

Review these settings after migration, particularly if products appear under multiple categories or several URLs lead to similar content.

Improved Import & Export can help manage the underlying product URLs and rewrite records, but canonical tag configuration and frontend output must be verified separately.

For additional information, see our Magento 2 URL Rewrites Import and Export Guide.

Migrate Metadata and Other SEO Elements Between Magento 1 and 2

Preserving URLs is only part of Magento 2 SEO migration. Your Magento 1 store may also contain years of optimized product descriptions, page titles, meta descriptions, category content, and CMS pages that contribute to its search visibility.

Recreating this information manually would be time-consuming, especially for stores with thousands of products.

Improved Import & Export lets you transfer many SEO-related attributes through the corresponding entity imports.

For products and categories, important fields include:

These attributes can be included in product and category import files and processed through Improved Import & Export. If your Magento 1 export uses different field names, the extension’s attribute mapping functionality can help adapt them to Magento 2.

For CMS pages, Improved Import & Export provides a separate import entity. This is useful for preserving informational content, landing pages, and other pages that attract organic traffic.

Remember that SEO migration also involves elements beyond importable database fields. Internal links within descriptions and CMS content may still reference Magento 1 URLs, while structured data, canonical tags, and other technical SEO elements may depend on the new theme or installed extensions.

Consequently, review the rendered Magento 2 pages after importing the underlying data.

Avoid rewriting all your existing SEO content during migration. Unless there is a specific reason to improve it, preserving well-performing titles, descriptions, and landing-page content makes it easier to identify whether later traffic changes result from the migration itself.

Monitor SEO Performance After Magento 2 Migration

Even a carefully planned Magento 1 to Magento 2 SEO migration can produce temporary fluctuations in search visibility. Google needs time to recrawl the updated website, process redirects, and evaluate the new URLs and page content.

Improved Import & Export can help you correct problems discovered after launch. For example, you can update product metadata, revise category URL keys, or import additional 301 redirects through the same entity-based import workflow.

However, monitoring rankings and indexing requires dedicated SEO tools rather than import jobs.

Use Google Search Console, Google Analytics, and your preferred SEO monitoring platform to track the following indicators:

• Organic traffic and search visibility: Compare impressions, clicks, rankings, and landing-page performance before and after migration.
• Page indexing: Identify important product, category, and CMS pages that are no longer indexed or cannot be crawled.
• Redirects and broken links: Detect 404 errors, incorrect destinations, and unnecessary redirect chains.
• Canonical URLs: Check that search engines can identify the intended primary version of important pages.
• XML sitemaps: Generate and submit updated Magento 2 sitemaps containing the correct canonical, indexable URLs.
• Technical performance: Monitor Core Web Vitals, mobile usability, and other changes that could affect search visibility or user experience.

Before launching the new store, verify that staging restrictions, including temporary noindex directives or crawling blocks, have been removed from the production environment.

It’s also worth retaining your original Magento 1 URL inventory and search performance reports. These provide a baseline for identifying missing pages, unexpected redirects, and traffic losses after migration.

The main objective of Magento 1 to Magento 2 SEO migration is continuity. By preserving existing URLs and metadata, importing redirects through Improved Import & Export, and monitoring the new storefront after launch, you can reduce migration-related SEO risks without manually rebuilding every SEO element.

No migration tool can guarantee unchanged rankings, but careful URL management and post-launch validation give your Magento 2 store a stronger foundation for maintaining and improving its organic visibility.

Magento 2 Post-Migration Checklist: Testing, Validation, and Launch

Completing Magento 1 to Magento 2 data migration doesn’t automatically mean your new store is ready for customers. Products may have incorrect prices, customer accounts may be missing addresses, and historical orders may contain inconsistent information. Even when all records are transferred successfully, checkout, shipping, payment integrations, and other essential functionality still need to work correctly.

That’s why Magento 2 post-migration testing is a critical stage of the migration process. Before switching to the new storefront, you need to verify data integrity, test real purchasing scenarios, synchronize recent changes, and prepare the production environment.

The following Magento 2 post-migration checklist covers the essential tasks for launching your new store with confidence, whether you used Adobe’s official Data Migration Tool, Improved Import & Export, or a combination of both:

• Products, categories, customers, and orders have been migrated and validated.
• Product variations, inventory, images, and prices are displayed correctly.
• Customer accounts, addresses, and authentication work as intended.
• Checkout, payments, shipping, taxes, and discounts have passed testing.
• External integrations and scheduled data transfers are functioning.
• Supported incremental changes have been synchronized with Magento 2.
• URL redirects, metadata, and other essential SEO elements have been checked.
• Indexers, cron jobs, and caching are configured correctly.
• Backups and a rollback procedure are available.
• The production storefront is operating normally, and critical errors are being monitored.

Now, let’s be more specific.

Validate Migrated Products, Customers, and Orders in Magento 2

The first step is to confirm that your Magento 2 database contains the expected information and that the imported records behave correctly.

Start by comparing Magento 1 and Magento 2 data. Adobe’s Data Migration Tool performs integrity and volume checks during migration, while Firebear’s Improved Import & Export provides import validation, execution history, and error logs. However, neither approach eliminates the need for checking the resulting data.

Use the following checklist to review your most important entities:

A successful import status doesn’t guarantee that every relationship has been reconstructed correctly. For example, a configurable product may exist in the catalog while some variations remain unavailable because of incorrect attribute or inventory assignments.

For larger stores, use automated comparisons to identify discrepancies in record counts, product SKUs, customer email addresses, and order totals. Pay particular attention to historical sales amounts, since matching order counts alone cannot establish that financial data was preserved correctly.

If you migrated data using Improved Import & Export, open the corresponding import job and select View History to review previous executions and download their logs. Where necessary, adjust the import file or mapping rules and perform a controlled corrective import.

The objective is not simply to confirm that data exists in Magento 2, but to verify that it is accurate, complete, and usable.

Test Checkout, Payments, Shipping, and Integrations after Magento 2 Migration

Once your migrated records are validated, it’s time to test how the new Magento 2 store operates.

A database migration can be successful while important customer-facing functionality remains broken. This is especially common when replacing Magento 1 extensions, upgrading payment integrations, or rebuilding custom checkout processes.

Start by testing a complete purchase journey in a staging environment:

1. Open a product page and select the required options.
2. Add a product to the cart and proceed to checkout.
3. Apply a coupon or promotional rule, if applicable.
4. Enter shipping and billing information.
5. Select available shipping and payment methods.
6. Place a test order using the payment provider’s sandbox or test mode.
7. Verify the order confirmation, order status, and related notifications.

Repeat the process for guest customers and registered users. If your store operates across multiple websites, store views, or currencies, include representative scenarios for each configuration.

Next, verify integrations with external systems:

• Payment gateways: Confirm that supported payment methods, callbacks, refunds, and transaction statuses work as expected.
• Shipping providers: Test available delivery methods, rates, labels, and tracking functionality.
• ERP, CRM, and PIM systems: Check whether product, inventory, customer, and order data can be exchanged correctly.
• Email services: Verify order confirmations, password resets, and other transactional notifications.
• Tax and promotional rules: Check tax calculations, discounts, coupons, and customer-specific pricing.

Test transactions should be clearly separated from real business activity to avoid accidental charges, shipments, or customer notifications.

Don’t overlook integrations that operate automatically. Scheduled imports, exports, inventory updates, and other background processes may appear functional in the Admin while failing to exchange data with connected systems.

If you plan to continue using Improved Import & Export after migration, test the relevant scheduled jobs and verify that their source connections, mapping configurations, and execution results are correct.

Perform Delta Migration to Magento 2 and Final Store Cutover

One of the biggest challenges during Magento 1 to Magento 2 migration is keeping the new database synchronized while the original store continues receiving orders and customer activity.

Even after the main transfer is complete, customers may register new accounts, place orders, or modify their information on Magento 1.

Adobe’s official Data Migration Tool addresses this problem through delta migration, which tracks and transfers certain changes made after the initial migration.

Delta migration supports selected updates, including new orders, customer profile changes, and supported catalog modifications. However, it doesn’t automatically synchronize every entity. Newly created attributes, CMS pages, and some third-party extension data require additional handling.

If you’re migrating with Improved Import & Export instead, recurring import jobs can help process updated source files. However, scheduled imports should not be confused with Adobe’s database-level delta tracking. You must ensure that the source supplies the necessary changes and that the configured import behavior handles them correctly.

Once synchronization is working and the new storefront has passed its tests, prepare the final cutover.

The recommended go-live sequence includes:

1. Activate maintenance mode on Magento 1. Prevent new storefront activity from creating additional records during the final switch.
2. Complete and stop incremental migration. Confirm that all supported changes have been transferred before stopping Adobe’s delta process.
3. Start Magento 2 cron jobs. Restore scheduled operations required for indexing, notifications, and other background tasks.
4. Reindex the necessary Magento 2 data. Adobe specifically recommends reindexing stock data during cutover. Check the status of other indexers as well.
5. Warm up the storefront cache. Preload important pages to reduce the impact of cold caches immediately after launch.
6. Perform final verification. Confirm that essential products, customer accounts, checkout, and integrations still behave correctly.
7. Switch production traffic to Magento 2. Update the appropriate DNS, load balancer, or routing configuration.

For projects using Improved Import & Export without Adobe’s delta migration, replace the incremental synchronization stage with your tested final import procedure.

Before making the switch, create a verified recovery point and confirm that your team can execute the rollback plan if critical problems occur.

The final cutover should be a controlled operation, not an opportunity to introduce untested changes. Major catalog restructuring, extension updates, and new integrations should be completed and validated beforehand.

Monitor Errors and Performance After Launch

After your Magento 2 store goes live, the migration enters its final stage: monitoring real-world activity and resolving issues that weren’t detected during testing.

Start with the most important business operations. Confirm that customers can browse products, sign in, place orders, receive confirmation emails, and complete payments.

Then monitor the following indicators:

Magento writes important application information to logs such as var/log/system.log and var/log/exception.log. These can help developers identify errors that aren’t immediately visible on the storefront.

If you use Improved Import & Export, monitor import and export job history as well. The extension provides detailed execution logs, including information about completed jobs and errors encountered during processing. Depending on the extension version, additional logs are available under var/log/firebear.

Also, verify that Magento’s indexers and cron jobs are operating correctly. Problems with indexing can lead to outdated prices, incorrect stock availability, or missing products in catalog and search results.

Performance monitoring is equally important. Magento 2 introduces a different technology stack, so server resources, caching configuration, and integrations may behave differently from the original Magento 1 environment.

Compare performance against your pre-launch benchmarks and investigate significant changes rather than assuming that a new platform automatically guarantees a faster storefront.

Finally, keep a record of Magento 1 to 2 migration-related issues and their resolutions. This will help distinguish temporary launch problems from ongoing infrastructure or integration issues.

Magento 2 Migration Cost and Timeline: What to Expect

How much does migration from Magento 1 to Magento 2 cost, and how long does it take? These are among the first questions merchants ask when planning a move to a newer ecommerce platform. Unfortunately, there is no universal answer. Migrating a small product catalog is considerably different from rebuilding an established store with custom extensions, multiple storefronts, and years of customer and order data.

The overall Magento 2 migration cost depends on the scope of your project, the condition of your legacy store, and whether you handle the process internally or hire professional developers. Similarly, migration timelines depend on more than database size: development, testing, integration compatibility, and the final launch can require substantially more time than transferring the data itself.

Understanding these factors will help you estimate the required budget and choose a realistic migration strategy.

What Determines Magento 2 Migration Costs?

The first distinction is between data migration costs and complete store migration costs.

If you only need to transfer products, customers, and orders into an existing Magento 2 installation, you may be able to complete much of the work using Adobe’s official Data Migration Tool or a specialized solution such as Improved Import & Export.

However, a full Magento 1 to Magento 2 migration also involves replacing incompatible extensions, adapting custom functionality, rebuilding the storefront, and reconnecting external systems.

The following factors have the greatest impact on your migration budget:

One often-overlooked expense is legacy data cleanup. Years of unused attributes, obsolete products, duplicate records, and abandoned extension tables can increase migration complexity. Cleaning up unnecessary data before migration may reduce the amount of information that needs to be processed.

Another important consideration is the cost of fixing problems after launch. Investing in proper testing and validation upfront is generally preferable to discovering incorrect order histories, missing customer data, or broken checkout functionality in production.

For an accurate Magento 1 to 2 migration cost estimate, define which entities, extensions, integrations, and storefront features must be preserved before requesting a quote.

How Long Does Migration from Magento 1 to Magento 2 Take?

The duration of Magento 1 to Magento 2 migration depends primarily on the project’s complexity and the work required beyond the initial data transfer.

A limited data-only migration may take days or weeks once the destination environment is ready. A complete Magento 1 to Magento 2 replatforming project may require several weeks to months, particularly when it includes custom development, frontend redesign, and extensive integration testing. These are broad planning expectations rather than guaranteed delivery times.

It’s important to distinguish between the time required to run the migration tool and the time required to complete the migration project.

Adobe’s official documentation provides a benchmark in which migrating a database containing 177,000 products, 355,000 orders, and 214,000 customers took approximately nine hours for the bulk data transfer, excluding URL rewrites. However, this is an illustrative test performed on older infrastructure, not a reliable performance estimate for a modern Magento 2 installation or an entire migration project.

In practice, the overall schedule also includes:

• Preparation: Reviewing the existing store, identifying compatibility requirements, and setting up Magento 2.
• Development: Replacing extensions, rebuilding custom features, and preparing integrations.
• Data migration: Transferring the required entities and resolving compatibility issues.
• Testing: Validating business data, checkout, customer accounts, and connected systems.
• Cutover: Synchronizing the latest changes and switching production traffic to Magento 2.

It is highly recommended to complete a full migration rehearsal in a staging environment before production deployment. This is particularly useful for estimating processing time and identifying bottlenecks.

Store downtime is not necessarily equal to the total migration duration. With Adobe’s supported delta migration workflow, the original Magento 1 storefront can continue operating while the initial data transfer and certain incremental updates are processed. The final downtime occurs during the controlled cutover.

If you’re using Improved Import & Export for selective migration, you can similarly test individual import jobs to estimate processing time. However, recurring imports do not automatically provide Adobe’s database-level delta migration capabilities, so final synchronization must be planned separately.

DIY Migration vs. Professional Magento Migration Services

Should you migrate Magento 1 to Magento 2 yourself or hire a professional team? The answer depends on your technical resources, migration requirements, and tolerance for operational risk.

DIY Magento 2 migration can be a reasonable option if you have an experienced Magento developer, a relatively standard store configuration, and sufficient time for testing.

Adobe’s official Data Migration Tool can handle supported database transfers, while Improved Import & Export offers configurable import jobs, attribute mapping, and data transformations for supported entities. These tools can reduce manual work, but they still require technical understanding and careful validation.

Professional Magento 2 migration services become more attractive when the project involves complicated data structures, custom extensions, ERP integrations, multiple storefronts, or business-critical operations that cannot tolerate prolonged disruption.

Working with a migration provider can help you:

• Define a realistic project scope and budget.
• Identify compatibility problems before migration.
• Develop custom data transformations and migration logic.
• Coordinate data transfers with extension and integration development.
• Validate results and manage the production cutover.

However, professional services should be evaluated based on their actual scope. Some providers specialize in data migration, while others offer complete replatforming, including frontend development, extension replacement, and post-launch support.

Firebear Studio offers Magento 2 data migration services tailored to individual projects, using Improved Import & Export and additional development where necessary. Our service can cover products, customers, orders, custom entities, and external integrations. Pricing is discussed individually after reviewing the store’s requirements.

If you’re unsure which approach fits your project, begin by determining whether you need a complete Magento 2 migration or only selected data transfers.

The most cost-effective migration isn’t necessarily the one with the lowest initial quote. It’s the approach that meets your business requirements, preserves essential data, and avoids unnecessary redevelopment or costly corrections after launch.

If you have any questions, contact Firebear Studio for a Magento 2 migration assessment. Our team can evaluate your migration requirements, recommend an appropriate data transfer strategy, and provide a project-specific estimate.

Final Words: Plan Your Migration from Magento 1 to Magento 2 in 2026

Magento 1 to Magento 2 migration is more than leaving an outdated platform behind. It’s an opportunity to rebuild your ecommerce infrastructure around modern technologies, improve everyday store management, and prepare for future growth. However, a successful transition requires more than moving records between databases. Product relationships, customer accounts, order histories, extensions, integrations, and SEO assets all need careful attention.

As this Magento 2 migration guide demonstrates, there is no single approach that fits every store. Adobe’s official Data Migration Tool provides a foundation for transferring supported legacy data, while Firebear’s Improved Import & Export extension offers additional flexibility through attribute mapping, data transformations, multiple file formats, and automated import/export workflows. Whether you’re migrating from Magento 1.9 or another legacy installation, choosing the right combination of tools can simplify the process and reduce unnecessary manual work.

If your project involves complex databases, custom entities, or integrations that standard tools cannot handle, Firebear’s Magento 2 migration services provide professional assistance tailored to your requirements.

Ready to migrate from Magento 1 to Magento 2? Explore Improved Import & Export to streamline your data transfers, or contact Firebear Studio to discuss your migration project. We’ll help you find a practical path to Magento Open Source or Adobe Commerce without losing sight of the data and functionality your business depends on.

Magento 1 to Magento 2 Migration FAQ