How to bulk add dropdown options (and properties) in HubSpot

By Caner Kaya, Kayabyte

You have a list of 80 product lines, countries or lead sources in a spreadsheet, and you need them as options on a HubSpot dropdown property. Typing them in one by one is slow and easy to get wrong. HubSpot has a built-in way to paste a whole list at once, and it works on every plan, including the free CRM. This guide covers that first, then what to do when you need more than one property or more than one account.

Everything below applies to all enumeration properties: dropdown select, radio select and multiple checkboxes.

Option 1: paste the whole list with “Load options”

This is the fastest native way to add many options to one property (HubSpot guide):

1. In HubSpot, click the settings icon in the top navigation bar.
2. In the left sidebar, go to Properties.
3. Hover over the property, then click Edit. (To start a new property, click Create property, choose a dropdown field type and open Edit more options.)
4. Open the Field type tab.
5. In the options table, click Load options.
6. In the pop-up, choose to paste your own options, pick a preset list (such as months of the year), or copy the options of another enumeration property, from any object.
7. Click Load options, then Save.

Good to know:

• Existing options stay. Loading adds to the list; it doesn’t replace it. If you load options from another property, the target keeps all its old options plus the new ones. Use Merge afterwards if you end up with near duplicates.
• Internal values are set from the label. By default each option’s internal value is the same as its label. HubSpot says that once you save, internal values can’t be changed. If an integration or a form needs specific internal values (for example de for “Germany”), add those options with + Add option, where you can type the internal value before saving.
• Limits. HubSpot allows up to 5,000 options per property (or 512,000 bytes, whichever comes first), and each option can be up to 3,000 characters including its label, value and description (field types).
• Default properties. Most of HubSpot’s default properties and their options can’t be edited or deleted.
• Forms. Option changes don’t sync to existing (non-legacy) forms; you update those form fields separately.

Option 2: create the property while importing records

If you’re importing records anyway, HubSpot’s import tool can create a property for a column that doesn’t match one yet. On the mapping step, click the dropdown in the HubSpot Property column and choose Create new property, then set it up in the right panel (HubSpot guide).

This creates one property at a time, from inside an import. It doesn’t create the options for you: for dropdowns and multiple checkboxes, HubSpot says the values in your file must match the label or the internal value of options that already exist, and for multiple checkboxes the options must be created before the import (set up your import file). So set up the options with Option 1 first, then import.

Option 3: describe it to the data agent

HubSpot’s property editor has a Create with Data Agent tab. You type something like “Create a dropdown property called subscription level with options for bronze, silver, gold, and platinum”, click Generate and review, check the result and create it (HubSpot guide). It’s handy for one property with a short list. For a long list from a spreadsheet, pasting into Load options is more predictable.

Option 4: clone a similar property

If the new property should look like an existing one, hover over the existing property, click More, choose Clone, adjust the details and click Create. You can’t clone HubSpot’s default properties.

Where the built-in options stop

The native tools are fine for one property at a time. They get slow when:

• You need dozens of properties at once, for example a new client account, a migration from another CRM, or a new integration that needs its own property group and 40 fields. There’s no native screen that creates many properties, groups and their options from one file. A HubSpot product manager confirmed in the Ideas thread on bulk creating properties (June 2026) that there are no plans to build one.
• You need exact internal values for a long list. Load options sets the internal value from the label; typing custom values for 200 options by hand is where mistakes happen.
• You want to see the result before anything changes. Native edits apply when you save.
• You set up the same properties in several accounts, which agencies and consultants do all the time. That’s covered in How to copy properties from one HubSpot account to another.

Developers can also script it: HubSpot’s Properties API has a batch create endpoint.

An app that does it from a spreadsheet

Full disclosure: I make an app for this, Bulk Property Import & Export. You fill in a CSV or a Google Sheet with one row per property (object, internal name, label, type, group and options, with “Label|value” when you want a specific internal value), and the app:

• shows a preview first: what will be created, updated or left alone, with a reason for every row that has a problem, such as an invalid internal name, a duplicate option or the 5,000-option limit. Nothing is written until you click Apply;
• creates the properties, groups and options, or adds options to dropdowns that already exist. Existing options are kept unless you explicitly choose to replace the list;
• gives you a results report with HubSpot’s own message for any row that failed.

What it doesn’t do: it doesn’t import records or property values, and it can’t change the options of HubSpot’s locked default properties. It only asks for property settings permissions, so it never sees your contacts, companies, deals or tickets.

Import, export and preview are free. See the setup guide or download the CSV template.

Quick answers

Can I import a list of dropdown options into HubSpot? Not with the import tool, which imports records. Paste the list in the property editor with Load options instead.

Can I change an option’s internal value later? HubSpot says no: once saved, internal values are fixed. You can relabel the option, or add a new option and merge the old one into it.

Does loading options delete the old ones? No. Load options adds to the list.

How many options can a dropdown have? Up to 5,000, or 512,000 bytes for the whole property.

Questions or corrections: support@kayabyte.dev. HubSpot is a registered trademark of HubSpot, Inc. Kayabyte is an independent developer and is not affiliated with HubSpot.