Summary
The listing details you keep in Host Tools are sent to Airbnb when you save them, as long as content sync is on for the listing. That covers your listing name, how many guests it sleeps, the property type, your bedrooms and other rooms, which room each photo is in, your amenities and accessibility features, and how guests get in, along with your photos, descriptions, policies and fees. Content sync also updates the listing on VRBO when it is connected there.
Before anything is sent, a Review changes page shows what is on Airbnb now and what Host Tools expects to send, and nothing changes until you confirm. With content sync off, changes you save stay in Host Tools and Airbnb keeps what it has.
Turning on content sync
Click Listings in the main navigation and open the listing.
Click the Settings tab.
Under Listing Status, turn on Sync Listing Content.
Click Save. The Review changes page opens and shows what the first send will change on each channel.
Check the changes and click Save and send.
⚠️ Important: The first send replaces whatever differs on Airbnb with your Host Tools content, apart from anything listed under Won't be sent to Airbnb. Read the review before you confirm.
You can also reach the switch from the Content sync box at the top of the Listing Content page, through the Turn on in Listing Settings link.
Reviewing changes before they're sent
With content sync on, saving the Listing Content page opens the Review changes page instead of saving straight away. For each channel it shows:
Now on Airbnb: what the channel has at the moment.
What we'll send: what Host Tools expects to send, grouped under the same sections as the listing editor, such as Basic Info, Images, Rooms and bathrooms, Photos in rooms and Amenities.
Won't be sent to Airbnb: anything the channel can't take, such as a fee it can't charge the way you set it up.
Nothing is saved or sent until you click Save and send. To keep editing instead, use the back link at the top of the page.
⚠️ Important: If a save would delete photos or rooms on a channel, a red banner at the top of the review lists them. Deleted photos and rooms can't be brought back.
The review is a forecast. Host Tools reads the listing on each channel again when it sends, so the result can differ slightly if something changed on the channel in between. If Host Tools can't read the listing on a channel, the page says so and offers Try again. You can still save and send without the preview.
Checking whether your changes were sent
The Content sync box at the top of the Listing Content page shows whether content sync is On or Off and, for each channel, how the last send went:
Sending your changes… while the update is on its way.
All changes sent, with the time, once it has finished.
Not everything was sent, with the reason, when the channel turned something down.
Needs reconnecting or Won't be updated, with what to do, when Host Tools can't update the listing on that channel at all.
What gets sent to Airbnb
When you save a listing with content sync on, Host Tools sends Airbnb whatever it has a confident value for:
Listing name — the Airbnb name on your listing
Guest capacity — the number of guests the place sleeps
Property type
Bedrooms and bathrooms
Other rooms — bathrooms, kitchen, living room without beds, patio and the other rooms on the Rooms and photos tab
Photo rooms — each photo is put in its room in Airbnb's photo tour. A photo is only taken out of an Airbnb room when Host Tools put it there, so rooms you set on Airbnb yourself stay
Beds — added up from your bedroom configuration, so it counts beds rather than rooms
Amenities and accessibility features — the ones with an Airbnb counterpart, see below
Check-in method and instructions — for example, a lockbox, keypad, smart lock, doorman, or meeting the guest in person, together with the instructions you wrote
Photos, descriptions, policies and fees
💡 Anything Host Tools does not hold a value for is left exactly as it is on Airbnb. Blank fields in Host Tools never wipe your Airbnb listing.
House rules are the one exception. Airbnb doesn't accept house rules from Host Tools, so the House Rules you keep in Listing Content go to your other channels only. Edit your Airbnb house rules on Airbnb itself.
Which amenities reach Airbnb
Amenities live in the Amenities tab of the listing editor. The picker offers the amenities at least one of your listing's channels has, and each row shows the logos of the channels that receive it. Hover a logo to see a tooltip such as Synced with Airbnb. The logos are faded while content sync is off.
An amenity you saved earlier that none of your channels has stays on the listing but shows no logo, and the picker doesn't offer it again. It still applies elsewhere in Host Tools, such as your direct booking site.
The same tab has a Nearby places section for places near the property, such as an airport or a beach, and how far away they are. Nearby places are not sent to Airbnb or VRBO.
Bed types work the same way as amenities in the Rooms and photos tab: each bed shows the logos of the channels that take its type.
💡 Some amenities appear twice in the picker under the same name. Either one reaches Airbnb, so you don't have to work out which of the two is the right one.
Accessibility features need a photo on Airbnb
Airbnb only turns on an accessibility feature, such as Disabled parking spot or Home wide doorway, when the listing has an Airbnb photo tagged with that feature. Host Tools doesn't send those photos, so when you turn on a feature Airbnb has no photo of, that feature is left out of the send, and everything else in your save still goes.
You see this in two places. Before you confirm, the Review changes page lists the feature under Won't be sent to Airbnb. After the send, the Content sync box shows Not everything was sent and names the feature, for example, Accessibility features not sent to Airbnb: Disabled parking spot.
To get the feature onto Airbnb, add it on Airbnb together with a photo of it. Host Tools sends the feature again with your next save, once Airbnb has the photo. Turning an accessibility feature off never needs a photo and always goes.
Check-in instructions
Airbnb needs both halves of your check-in setup together: the method and the written instructions. Set the check-in method and fill in the instructions in Listing Content and both go to Airbnb. If only one of the two is filled in, your check-in details on Airbnb are left untouched rather than partly overwritten.
Frequently asked questions
When does the update reach Airbnb?
When you click Save and send on the Review changes page. Host Tools only contacts Airbnb if something it sends has actually changed, so saving an unrelated field does not touch your Airbnb listing.
I changed an amenity and nothing happened on Airbnb. Why?
First check that the Content sync box at the top of the Listing Content page says On. Then check whether the amenity carries the Airbnb logo. Amenities without one have no Airbnb amenity behind them, so there is nothing for Host Tools to send.
I ticked an accessibility feature and Airbnb doesn't show it.
Airbnb needs a photo of the feature before it shows it, and Host Tools doesn't send one. Add the feature on Airbnb with its photo, then save your listing in Host Tools again, and the feature goes with that send. Until then the Content sync box lists it under Not everything was sent, and the rest of your listing content is still kept up to date.
My listing name did not update on Airbnb.
Airbnb caps a listing name at 50 characters. A longer name already on your listing is left alone rather than rejected, so shorten it to under 50 characters and save again.
Is my private Airbnb nickname part of the listing name?
No. When a listing is imported from Airbnb, Host Tools takes the title guests see as the listing name. If you gave the listing a nickname on Airbnb and haven't set one in Host Tools, it becomes the listing's nickname in Host Tools, so you still see your own label.
Are photo rooms sent to VRBO too?
Yes, for bedrooms and full and half bathrooms. Each of those photos is put in the matching room on VRBO's photos page, and the Review changes page lists every photo that moves. VRBO lets a photo sit in several rooms, so Host Tools only takes a photo out of a VRBO room it put the photo in itself. See How do I put my listing's photos in rooms? for the full steps.
My property type did not change on Airbnb.
The Property Type picker offers only the types every one of your listing's channels has. A type you saved earlier that Airbnb doesn't have shows a faded Airbnb logo with a warning mark and the tooltip Not supported on Airbnb. That field is skipped and whatever you set on Airbnb stays. Pick a type without the warning to send it.
Does this work if I only use Host Tools for messaging?
Yes. Sync Listing Content is a separate switch from pricing and availability, so you can turn it on for a messaging-only listing. It turns off when you turn off Messaging for the listing.
Is listing content sent to Booking.com?
Not yet. Content sync updates Airbnb and VRBO. On a listing that is also on Booking.com, the Content sync box notes that listing content isn't synced there.