How to import a spreadsheet, CSV or bulleted list into a Miro mind map
You have topics in a spreadsheet, a CSV export or a bulleted outline, and you want them as a mind map your team can edit on a Miro board. This guide covers what Miro does with those files, the manual and AI routes, a free route for a plain list, and an app that turns a CSV into native mind map nodes.
The short answer
Miro does not turn a spreadsheet into a mind map. Its supported file formats list xls, xlsx, csv and ods under tables and spreadsheets. The FAQ in Uploading files to boards says spreadsheets can be imported as view-only files, or used to create a Table or Grid. Neither is a mind map you can branch.
The Mind map article closes the other shortcut: sticky notes, text blocks, cards and other widgets cannot be converted into mind map nodes. You can copy their text and paste it into a node.
Option 1: build it by hand
On the Creation toolbar choose Mind map and click the board to add the parent node. The article lists the shortcuts: Tab creates a child node, Return creates a sibling, and dragging a node reassigns it to another parent. For twenty or thirty topics this is the quickest honest answer. For a few hundred rows it is an afternoon of typing, and every node is a chance for a typo.
Option 2: Miro AI
The same article describes Generate mind map: create the root node with content, click the Miro AI icon, and the map appears around it, ready to keep, retry or discard. It builds branches from the root node. It is not described as reading your rows one to one, so use it to brainstorm and check every branch against your list.
Option 3: keep it as a table
If you only need the data on the board and not a mind map, upload the file and create a Table or Grid from it, as the FAQ above describes. You get editable cells, not branches, so a hierarchy stays a set of columns.
Option 4: Mind Map I/O for Miro
Disclosure. Atesen Software, which publishes this guide, makes Mind Map I/O for Miro. The three options above work without it.
It is an app that runs inside a Miro board. It reads a file, shows a preview, and creates a native Miro mind map at the centre of your view, or shapes and connectors if you prefer. Which plan you need depends on the file:
- A plain bulleted list, free. The free plan reads Markdown outlines (headings and nested bullets) and OPML for maps up to 50 nodes. A list from a chat assistant, Obsidian or a Notion export, saved as a Markdown file, fits.
- A spreadsheet, Pro. Save the sheet as a CSV file. Pro reads CSV with one column per level, with a path column, or with parent and child columns. Indented text, with tabs or spaces, is Pro too.
- Check, then create. You see a preview first. If the file is not recognised, you can choose the format by hand in the Import tab.
- Undo. Undo removes what the app added and keeps any node a teammate has edited since.
For a larger file the free plan offers the first 50 nodes, breadth first, so the top of the map comes through. Files are read in your browser and written to the board with Miro's Web SDK; no file or board content reaches Atesen Software's servers.
Good to know. Miro marks its mind map interface for apps as experimental. Nodes hold text only, and maps are laid out left to right. If Miro changes that interface, native imports may pause until the app is updated, while the shapes-and-connectors mode keeps working. More than about 1,500 items directly under one topic are added one at a time and can take ten minutes or more; grouping them under sub-headings is much faster. The app is not listed on the Miro Marketplace and has not been reviewed by Miro.
Price. The free plan covers OPML and Markdown for maps up to 50 nodes. Pro covers every format and maps up to 3,000 nodes for one person: $6 a month or $48 a year. Pro is not on sale yet; join the waitlist on the Mind Map I/O site. For XMind, OPML and FreeMind files, see how to import XMind, OPML or FreeMind maps into Miro.
About Mind Map I/O for Miro Formats and pricing on its own site
Which route fits
- Up to a few dozen topics: Tab and Return in Miro's mind map tool.
- A rough starting point for a new topic: Miro AI, then edit.
- Data you only need to look at or sort: a Table or Grid.
- A bulleted list of up to 50 nodes: a Markdown outline in the free plan of Mind Map I/O for Miro.
- A spreadsheet or a long outline that must become real mind map nodes: a CSV in Pro.
Atesen Software is independent. Miro, XMind, FreeMind and Freeplane are trademarks of their respective owners, and this page is not affiliated with, sponsored or endorsed by them. The Miro help pages were checked on 23 October 2026; menus and options can change.
Questions about this guide: support@atesensoftware.com.