Move a self-hosted Community database to Odoo Online.

This guide shows how to move a self-hosted Odoo Community database, such as one still on Odoo 16, to Odoo Online with its records and attachments, instead of rebuilding it from spreadsheets. The short answer: there is no self-service import. Odoo moves an on-premise database onto Online through a support ticket, and only accepts one that is on a supported version and contains Odoo's own apps only. An Odoo 16 Community database also has to change edition, which Odoo's upgrade service does not include, so the work is to clean a copy, settle the edition and version with Odoo, test, then go live.

It is for owners and operations managers who run their own server. It was checked against Odoo's version 20 hosting, upgrade and support documentation and the upgrade site on 24 October 2026, with uninstall behaviour checked in the Odoo 19 source.

Before you start

• Terms: Community is the free edition you install yourself. Enterprise is the paid edition sold by subscription. Odoo Online is Odoo's cloud service, which runs Enterprise with Odoo's own apps only.
• A subscription: the transfer ticket asks for your subscription number, and the upgrade site asks for an Enterprise subscription code. As listed on odoo.com in October 2026, the Standard plan covers Odoo Online hosting.
• Server access: the database manager on your server and its master password, the password that protects database operations.
• A module list: every installed module that did not come from Odoo, such as in-house modules or ones downloaded from elsewhere. Odoo calls these non-standard apps.
• More terms: the filestore is the folder on the server that holds uploaded files, attachments and images, separate from the database itself. A dump is a backup file of the database.

Why Odoo 16 cannot go straight across

• Version: Odoo's support table lists Odoo 16 as out of standard support since September 2025 and not supported on Odoo Online. In October 2026 Online supports 18.0, 19.0, 20.0 and its own interim releases.
• Upgrade reach: a database can be upgraded from any version to a major version still in standard support, or one that left it less than six months ago, so Odoo 16 can go to 18, 19 or 20 in one upgrade. On 24 October 2026 the upload form on upgrade.odoo.com offered 17.0, 18.0 and 19.0 as targets.
• Edition: Odoo's upgrade documentation says an upgrade does not switch editions or change the hosting type. Its on-premise instructions convert Community to Enterprise by installing the Enterprise module set on the database and then entering the subscription code. Odoo does not document who does that step for a move to Online, so ask.
• Apps: Online is not compatible with non-standard apps, which must be uninstalled from a duplicate before the transfer.

What carries over and what does not

A dump with its filestore holds everything stored by Odoo's standard apps, so products, variants, barcodes, prices, contacts, orders, invoices, stock and Point of Sale history travel with it, together with attachments and images. The upgrade service converts that standard data to the new version.

Data owned by a module you uninstall does not survive. Uninstalling deletes the tables, fields and records the module created, including values in extra fields it added to standard records such as products. The confirmation window lists the apps to uninstall and the documents that will be deleted, with a count for each. The upgrade service also does not clean up old data, convert modules that have no maintenance contract, or train staff.

How to prepare and request the move

1. On your server, open the database manager at your server address followed by /web/database/manager. Click Duplicate next to the live database, enter the master password and a new name. The live database keeps running.
2. Sign in to the copy, open the Apps app, and list the installed modules. For each non-standard one, note what data it holds.
3. If you need values from those modules, open the list where they appear, select the records, and use Export from the action menu to save them to a spreadsheet.
4. Uninstall each non-standard module in the copy. Read the list of documents to be deleted before you confirm.
5. Back in the database manager, click Backup for the copy, choose the zip format and make sure the filestore is included.
6. Open a support ticket on odoo.com before sending anything. State that the database is Odoo 16 Community on your own server, that you want Odoo Online, and ask Odoo to confirm in writing who changes the edition and upgrades it to a supported version.
7. For the transfer itself, give Odoo your subscription number, the address you want (for example company.odoo.com), the dump as an attachment or a link (a link is required above 60 MB), the hosting region, the database name, its version, the administrator's login email, and when the live database should go online, with the time zone.
8. Ask for a first test deployment. Odoo strongly recommends it, especially if third-party apps were ever installed. Odoo checks compatibility before putting the database online.

A dump is a snapshot, so anything entered in the old database after the final dump will not reach Odoo Online. Stop using it from that point.

Check that it worked

1. In the test deployment, compare totals with the copy: the number of products and variants, contacts, open purchase orders, and stock on hand for a few products.
2. Open several product images and attachments on old records. If they load, the filestore came across.
3. Run a full cycle: buy a product, receive it, sell it, deliver it, invoice it and issue a credit note. Then sell through Point of Sale.
4. If the database was upgraded, users in the Administration / Settings group find an upgrade report in the Discuss app.
5. Report problems on Odoo's support page before you confirm the live date.

Upgraded test databases are neutralized: scheduled actions do not run, outgoing email is switched off, and payment providers and carriers use their test mode, so missing emails during the test are expected.

Steps verified on Odoo 19 and 20. Menus and labels can differ on other versions.

Common questions

Can I restore an Odoo Community backup into Odoo Online myself?

No. Odoo moves on-premise databases onto Odoo Online through a support ticket, after checking that the database is compatible. You send a dump with its filestore and Odoo puts it online.

Can an Odoo 16 database be moved to Odoo Online?

Not as it is. Odoo 16 is not supported on Odoo Online, so the database first has to reach a supported version such as 18.0 or 19.0, and a Community database also has to change edition.

What happens to custom modules when moving to Odoo Online?

They have to be uninstalled from a copy before the transfer, because Odoo Online does not run non-standard apps. Uninstalling deletes the data those modules created, so export anything you need first.

Does the Odoo upgrade service convert Community to Enterprise?

No. Odoo's upgrade documentation excludes switching editions and changing hosting type. Ask Odoo in your support ticket who will handle the edition change.