Import Products into Shopify via CSV

Shopify lets you bulk import products via a CSV file. Useful when migrating from another platform or adding a large product catalogue.

1. Get the CSV template

Download Shopify’s official sample CSV from Products > Import > Download sample CSV. Use it as your starting point — don’t build one from scratch.

2. Required CSV columns

Column headers are case-sensitive. The import will fail if any required header is missing or misspelled.

Column	Notes
Handle	Unique URL slug. Same handle = same product (multiple rows for variants).
Title	Product name. Only needed on the first row per product.
Body (HTML)	Product description.
Vendor	Brand or supplier name.
Type	Product type/category.
Tags	Comma-separated.
Published	TRUE or FALSE.
Option1 Name	e.g. Size, Color. Leave blank if no variants.
Option1 Value	e.g. Small, Red.
Option2 Name / Value	Second variant option if needed.
Option3 Name / Value	Third variant option if needed.
Variant SKU	Stock keeping unit.
Variant Grams	Weight in grams (integer).
Variant Inventory Tracker	shopify or leave blank.
Variant Inventory Qty	Stock quantity.
Variant Inventory Policy	deny (block purchase) or continue (allow oversell).
Variant Fulfillment Service	manual in most cases.
Variant Price	Sell price (no currency symbol).
Variant Compare At Price	Original price for sale display.
Variant Requires Shipping	TRUE or FALSE.
Variant Taxable	TRUE or FALSE.
Variant Barcode	Barcode / ISBN / UPC.
Image Src	Full URL to product image.
Image Alt Text	Alt text for the image.

The only extra column you can safely add is Collection — everything else will break the import.

3. File requirements

• Format: .csv only
• Encoding: UTF-8 with LF line endings (not Windows CRLF)
• Max file size: 15 MB

When editing in Excel, save as CSV UTF-8 (comma delimited). Google Sheets exports UTF-8 by default.

4. Products with variants

Each variant gets its own row. Only the first row needs Title, Body, Vendor etc. Subsequent rows for the same product share the same Handle and leave those fields blank.

Example — a t-shirt in two sizes:

Handle,Title,Option1 Name,Option1 Value,Variant Price
my-tshirt,My T-Shirt,Size,Small,29.00
my-tshirt,,Size,Large,29.00

5. Run the import

1. Go to Products > Import
2. Click Add file and select your CSV
3. Optional: uncheck Publish new products to all sales channels if you want to review first
4. Optional: check Overwrite products with matching handles to update existing products
5. Click Upload and continue
6. Review the summary, then click Import products

Shopify will email you when the import is complete.

6. Troubleshooting

• Import failed immediately → likely a missing or misspelled column header
• Products imported but no images → check image URLs are publicly accessible
• Variants duplicated → check handles match exactly across rows
• Encoding errors → re-save as UTF-8 (avoid Excel’s standard CSV format)

See Shopify’s common import issues for a full error reference.

Reference

• Shopify: Importing products with a CSV file
• Shopify: Using CSV files