diff --git a/options/locale/locale_en-US.ini b/options/locale/locale_en-US.ini
index 2a8c789385..a67f891604 100644
--- a/options/locale/locale_en-US.ini
+++ b/options/locale/locale_en-US.ini
@@ -1245,6 +1245,7 @@ migrate_items_pullrequests = Pull requests
 migrate_items_merge_requests = Merge requests
 migrate_items_releases = Releases
 migrate_repo = Migrate repository
+migrate.repo_desc_helper = Leave empty to import existing description
 migrate.clone_address = Migrate / Clone from URL
 migrate.clone_address_desc = The HTTP(S) or Git "clone" URL of an existing repository
 migrate.github_token_desc = You can put one or more tokens with comma separated here to make migrating faster because of GitHub API rate limit. WARN: Abusing this feature may violate the service provider's policy and lead to account blocking.
diff --git a/templates/repo/migrate/codebase.tmpl b/templates/repo/migrate/codebase.tmpl
index cf46c8daf3..0b71c0d9b3 100644
--- a/templates/repo/migrate/codebase.tmpl
+++ b/templates/repo/migrate/codebase.tmpl
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@
 					</div>
 					<div class="inline field {{if .Err_Description}}error{{end}}">
 						<label for="description">{{ctx.Locale.Tr "repo.repo_desc"}}</label>
-						<textarea id="description" name="description" maxlength="2048">{{.description}}</textarea>
+						<textarea id="description" name="description" maxlength="2048" placeholder="{{ctx.Locale.Tr "repo.migrate.repo_desc_helper"}}">{{.description}}</textarea>
 					</div>
 
 					<div class="inline field">
diff --git a/templates/repo/migrate/gitea.tmpl b/templates/repo/migrate/gitea.tmpl
index 2f40d58bec..f85ed4d2ab 100644
--- a/templates/repo/migrate/gitea.tmpl
+++ b/templates/repo/migrate/gitea.tmpl
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@
 					</div>
 					<div class="inline field {{if .Err_Description}}error{{end}}">
 						<label for="description">{{ctx.Locale.Tr "repo.repo_desc"}}</label>
-						<textarea id="description" name="description" maxlength="2048">{{.description}}</textarea>
+						<textarea id="description" name="description" maxlength="2048" placeholder="{{ctx.Locale.Tr "repo.migrate.repo_desc_helper"}}">{{.description}}</textarea>
 					</div>
 
 					<div class="inline field">
diff --git a/templates/repo/migrate/github.tmpl b/templates/repo/migrate/github.tmpl
index 91c1a272c7..ebea97d807 100644
--- a/templates/repo/migrate/github.tmpl
+++ b/templates/repo/migrate/github.tmpl
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@
 					</div>
 					<div class="inline field {{if .Err_Description}}error{{end}}">
 						<label for="description">{{ctx.Locale.Tr "repo.repo_desc"}}</label>
-						<textarea id="description" name="description" maxlength="2048">{{.description}}</textarea>
+						<textarea id="description" name="description" maxlength="2048" placeholder="{{ctx.Locale.Tr "repo.migrate.repo_desc_helper"}}">{{.description}}</textarea>
 					</div>
 
 					<div class="inline field">
diff --git a/templates/repo/migrate/gitlab.tmpl b/templates/repo/migrate/gitlab.tmpl
index d93a00104a..c73a10529e 100644
--- a/templates/repo/migrate/gitlab.tmpl
+++ b/templates/repo/migrate/gitlab.tmpl
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@
 					</div>
 					<div class="inline field {{if .Err_Description}}error{{end}}">
 						<label for="description">{{ctx.Locale.Tr "repo.repo_desc"}}</label>
-						<textarea id="description" name="description" maxlength="2048">{{.description}}</textarea>
+						<textarea id="description" name="description" maxlength="2048" placeholder="{{ctx.Locale.Tr "repo.migrate.repo_desc_helper"}}">{{.description}}</textarea>
 					</div>
 
 					<div class="inline field">
diff --git a/templates/repo/migrate/gogs.tmpl b/templates/repo/migrate/gogs.tmpl
index 6c647be0ed..1d7623f9a2 100644
--- a/templates/repo/migrate/gogs.tmpl
+++ b/templates/repo/migrate/gogs.tmpl
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@
 					</div>
 					<div class="inline field {{if .Err_Description}}error{{end}}">
 						<label for="description">{{ctx.Locale.Tr "repo.repo_desc"}}</label>
-						<textarea id="description" name="description" maxlength="2048">{{.description}}</textarea>
+						<textarea id="description" name="description" maxlength="2048" placeholder="{{ctx.Locale.Tr "repo.migrate.repo_desc_helper"}}">{{.description}}</textarea>
 					</div>
 
 					<div class="inline field">
diff --git a/templates/repo/migrate/onedev.tmpl b/templates/repo/migrate/onedev.tmpl
index ec155555d0..7f1b3a900d 100644
--- a/templates/repo/migrate/onedev.tmpl
+++ b/templates/repo/migrate/onedev.tmpl
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@
 					</div>
 					<div class="inline field {{if .Err_Description}}error{{end}}">
 						<label for="description">{{ctx.Locale.Tr "repo.repo_desc"}}</label>
-						<textarea id="description" name="description" maxlength="2048">{{.description}}</textarea>
+						<textarea id="description" name="description" maxlength="2048" placeholder="{{ctx.Locale.Tr "repo.migrate.repo_desc_helper"}}">{{.description}}</textarea>
 					</div>
 
 					<div class="inline field">
diff --git a/tests/integration/repo_migration_ui_test.go b/tests/integration/repo_migration_ui_test.go
index 6154f44aa6..7251da5d7a 100644
--- a/tests/integration/repo_migration_ui_test.go
+++ b/tests/integration/repo_migration_ui_test.go
@@ -30,28 +30,28 @@ func TestRepoMigrationUI(t *testing.T) {
 		2: {
 			"GitHub",
 			[]string{"issues", "pull_requests", "labels", "milestones", "releases"},
-			false,
+			true,
 		},
 		3: {
 			"Gitea",
 			[]string{"issues", "pull_requests", "labels", "milestones", "releases"},
-			false,
+			true,
 		},
 		4: {
 			"GitLab",
 			// Note: the checkbox "Merge requests" has name "pull_requests"
 			[]string{"issues", "pull_requests", "labels", "milestones", "releases"},
-			false,
+			true,
 		},
 		5: {
 			"Gogs",
 			[]string{"issues", "labels", "milestones"},
-			false,
+			true,
 		},
 		6: {
 			"OneDev",
 			[]string{"issues", "pull_requests", "labels", "milestones"},
-			false,
+			true,
 		},
 		7: {
 			"GitBucket",
@@ -62,12 +62,12 @@ func TestRepoMigrationUI(t *testing.T) {
 			"Codebase",
 			// Note: the checkbox "Merge requests" has name "pull_requests"
 			[]string{"issues", "pull_requests", "labels", "milestones"},
-			false,
+			true,
 		},
 		9: {
 			"Forgejo",
 			[]string{"issues", "pull_requests", "labels", "milestones", "releases"},
-			false,
+			true,
 		},
 	}