For UK Creators
🇬🇧 UKMove your Medium archive to Substack — a complete guide for UK writers
Thousands of UK writers built their readership on Medium before its algorithm changes and Partner Programme cuts made it unviable. Here's how to migrate your full archive to Substack properly, without losing your content history or your readers.
No credit card required. Review imported drafts before publishing.
- Archive
- Bring existing Medium articles into one library
- Batch
- Review and move multiple articles together
- Editable
- Check formatting before anything is published
- 7 days
- Trial with no credit card required
The problem
The manual version gets old fast.
Writers often consider moving or republishing a Medium archive when they want a direct newsletter relationship with readers. The decision does not require abandoning Medium; many writers keep the original publication while building a separate Substack workflow.
The operational challenge is reviewing exported content, images, embeds, formatting, dates, and links before republishing. Large archives need a staged process so the writer can verify each batch instead of assuming every article will transfer cleanly.
The other problem is reader migration. Medium followers don't automatically become Substack subscribers. UK writers have to communicate the move, provide a migration path, and often accept that a significant portion of their Medium audience won't follow — especially the casual readers who never consciously chose to follow, just clicked through from the Medium homepage.
Exporting your Medium archive: what UK writers need to know
Medium allows you to export your full archive from Settings → Security and Apps → Download your information. The export includes your published articles, responses, claps data, and follower list — but the format is HTML, not a clean import-ready file.
The HTML files include Medium's own styling and layout markup which Substack's importer strips imperfectly. Articles with embedded tweets, code blocks, or custom formatting will need manual review after import. Images hosted on Medium's CDN are included as references, not as downloaded files — if Medium ever removes them, they'll break on Substack too.
For UK writers with large archives (100+ articles), the practical recommendation is to import in batches and review each category of content before the next import. Long-form essays import cleanest; articles with heavy media or embeds need the most cleanup.
- Download your Medium stats alongside your archive — you'll want to know which articles performed best so you can prioritise cleanup and promotion on Substack.
- Before importing, delete or skip any Medium articles that were responses, comments, or very short posts that won't stand alone on Substack.
- After syncing your Medium profile in Narrareach, batch-schedule your best archive pieces as Substack Notes — turning old content into new distribution.
- Do not change canonicals or remove ranking Medium URLs without checking their Search Console performance and backlinks. Decide which version should remain primary before republishing overlapping content.
Migrating your Medium readers to Substack
Medium followers are not automatically converted into Substack subscribers. Review the export options available to your account and assume that readers will need a clear, voluntary path to the new publication.
A practical approach is to publish a migration announcement on Medium, explain what readers will receive on Substack, and include a direct subscribe link. Keep useful Medium articles live when they still serve readers or receive search traffic.
Some writers also use Medium's paid membership to export their subscriber list if they ran a paid publication — paid subscriber email addresses are available for export. Free follower emails are not. If you have a paid Medium publication, export those emails and import them to your Substack subscriber list before shutting down.
- Announce the move at least 3–4 weeks before you stop publishing on Medium to give followers time to subscribe.
- Offer something specific for subscribers who follow you to Substack — a curated reading list of your best past work, early access to a new series, or a personal note about what's changing.
- Don't delete your Medium articles after migrating — they still receive search traffic and can redirect readers to your Substack. Set your Medium bio to point to your Substack URL instead.
- Use Narrareach's subscriber attribution feature to track which of your early Substack posts bring in the most new subscribers, so you can understand what's working for the migrated audience.
UK GDPR considerations when migrating subscribers
If an export contains subscriber email addresses, UK data-protection obligations apply. The appropriate lawful basis and notice depend on how the addresses were collected, what subscribers were told, and the role of each provider. Check current ICO guidance or seek advice for your specific migration.
The safest approach is to notify those subscribers before the migration: tell them you're moving to Substack, what will change, and give them an easy opt-out. This is both legally solid and practically better for list quality — subscribers who actively confirm they want to follow you convert to paid Substack subscribers at much higher rates than passive migrated lists.
Substack is GDPR-compliant and stores subscriber data on EU-compliant infrastructure. UK GDPR post-Brexit is substantively identical to EU GDPR for this purpose.
Turning your archive into a Substack growth engine
The mistake most writers make after migrating is treating their archive as static content. A well-written article from three years ago is still valuable — especially if it covers a topic that's evergreen and you're now writing for a Substack audience that hasn't seen it.
Narrareach can use an archived article as context for a draft Substack Note. Review the draft for accuracy, voice, and current facts before adding it to a publishing queue.
Many UK writers who've migrated from Medium find they have 50–200 articles worth repurposing. Spread as Substack Notes over six months, that archive becomes a constant source of new subscriber touchpoints.
- Connect your Medium profile to Narrareach, sync your session, then select your top 20 articles by views and repurpose each one as a Substack Note.
- Schedule repurposed archive Notes between new content — don't flood subscribers with old material, but weave it in as background reading.
- Update the key facts in older articles before repurposing — a 2021 article about a technology that has changed significantly needs current data to be genuinely useful.
How Narrareach solves it
Keep the publishing system close to the writing.
Bulk article import — Import up to 50 articles at a time from your Medium export, rather than copying and pasting one by one.
AI content repurposing — Select any imported article and Narrareach generates a Substack Note from it — turning your archive into a scheduling queue.
Scheduled re-publication — Queue repurposed archive content to publish as Notes throughout the week, automatically, without manual posting.
Subscriber attribution — Compare republished archive pieces with subscriber movement to identify content worth promoting and testing again.
Cross-posting to LinkedIn and X — When you re-publish a great older piece on Substack, automatically cross-post it to LinkedIn and X to reach your broader audience.
Cloud-based publishing — Schedule a month of repurposed content in one session — Narrareach posts it automatically without you needing to be at your desk.
Import your Medium archive and start building on Substack
No credit card required. Review imported drafts before publishing.
Questions UK creators ask
Can I import all my Medium articles to Substack at once?
Medium's export gives you a zip file of HTML articles. Substack's native importer handles this but can struggle with large archives. Narrareach supports bulk import and can process articles in batches of up to 50, which is more reliable for writers with 100+ articles.
Will my Medium articles keep their original publication dates on Substack?
You can set the publication date manually on each imported article in Substack. For bulk imports via Narrareach, you can preserve original dates or set new ones depending on whether you want the content to appear as historical archive or fresh content.
Does moving from Medium to Substack affect my Google search rankings?
Republishing can change which version Google selects, especially when two URLs contain substantially similar content. Keep existing ranking URLs stable while you audit clicks, backlinks, canonicals, and internal links. There is no guaranteed transfer timeline, so handle valuable articles individually rather than applying a sitewide migration rule.
Can I export my Medium followers to Substack?
Medium doesn't export free follower email addresses — only usernames. If you had a paid Medium publication, you can export paid subscriber emails. The practical approach is to publish migration announcements on Medium and invite followers to subscribe directly on Substack.
Is migrating email addresses from Medium to Substack GDPR-compliant?
For paid subscriber emails, the migration is generally covered under legitimate interest or contract performance, since subscribers signed up to receive your content. Notify subscribers before migrating and give them a clear opt-out. Free follower usernames without emails don't present GDPR issues as you're not processing email data.
What happens to my Medium Partner Programme earnings if I stop publishing?
Any accumulated Partner Programme earnings owed to you will be paid out on the normal monthly schedule even if you stop publishing. Check Medium's current minimum threshold — amounts below it roll over but are paid once you hit the minimum. After migrating, you can leave articles live on Medium to continue earning small amounts from existing traffic.
How do I turn my Medium archive into Substack Notes?
Narrareach's AI repurposing feature takes any article URL and generates a Substack Note from it. You can then schedule these Notes to publish over time — turning a static archive into an ongoing content queue. This is one of the fastest ways to build a publishing rhythm on Substack without writing new content immediately.
Is Narrareach free to use for the Medium to Substack migration?
Narrareach offers a 7-day trial with no credit card required. Audience Builder starts at $19/month after the trial and includes imports, Substack scheduling, Medium, LinkedIn Articles, and core analytics.
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