Exporting or importing inventory with a CSV file

You can export an inventory CSV file that contains your inventory quantities at your locations. You can use that exported CSV file as a template to update the inventory amounts. After you update the inventory amounts, you can then import the CSV file to update your Shopify admin with the inventory quantities for each product in each location.

Note

The product CSV file cannot update your inventory quantities if you use multiple locations. You will need to use the inventory CSV file to export or import inventory quantities.

Export inventory

You can export an inventory CSV file either to create a template that contains your uniquely identified products or product variants for the location or specified locations, or to export the inventory quantities for use in other systems or processes.

If you have multiple locations, then you can specify whether you want to export the data for all of your locations or just for one specific location.

Steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Products > Inventory.

2. Click Export.

3. If you have multiple locations, then select the location that you want to export inventory from. To export inventory from all of your locations, select All locations.

4. From the Quantity type section, select one of the following quantities:

   • Only Available quantities: This option only exports a CSV file that contain the Available quantity below the location name. You can only make changes to the Available value when you import an edited CSV file using Only Available quantities.
   • All quantity types: This option exports a CSV file that contains the Available, Unavailable, Committed, On hand, and Incoming columns only. If you want to make edits to this file and then import it to your Shopify admin, then edit only the On hand values. Available inventory is calculated based on your imported On hand values.

5. From the Export section, select one of the following variants:

   • Current page: This option will export all variants on your current page.
   • All variants: This option will export all of your variants.
   • Selected variants: This option will export the variants you have selected on the page if you have any selected.

6. From the Export as section, select one of the following CSV types:

   • CSV for Excel, Numbers, or other spreadsheet programs
   • Plain CSV file

7. Click Export variants.

Examples of inventory export CSVs

Review the following examples of how the CSV appears based on the quantity type that you select.

When Only Available quantities is selected

The location names are used in the header row, with the available quantities listed in the rows below.

Example table that indicates what columns are visible when `Only Available quantities` is selected as the desired `Quantity type` for an inventory export CSV.

Handle	Title	...	Ottawa	New York
strbry-jam	Strawberry Jam	...	10	50
rspbry-jam	Raspberry Jam	...	25	35

When All quantity types is selected

Location is a header, with each location name listed in rows below. This version of the inventory CSV also includes the columns for Incoming, Unavailable, Committed, Available, and On hand inventory quantities.

Example table that indicates what columns are visible when `All quantity types` is selected as the desired `Quantity type` for an inventory export CSV.

Handle	Title	...	Location	Incoming	Unavailable	Committed	Available	On hand
strbry-jam	Strawberry Jam	...	Ottawa	20	3	5	10	18
strbry-jam	Strawberry Jam	...	New York	0	1	10	50	61
rspbry-jam	Raspberry Jam	...	Ottawa	15	0	3	25	28
rspbry-jam	Raspberry Jam	...	New York	0	5	6	35	46

Update the inventory amounts

After you've exported the CSV file to get a template, you need to update the inventory quantities in the file.

The CSV file has several columns to help you identify your product, as described in Inventory CSV file format. When you're converting your store to use multiple locations, edit only the location columns.

Steps:

1. Open your exported CSV file in a spreadsheet program.
2. Update the inventory quantities:
   • If you exported the Only Available quantities CSV file option, then update the Available quantity below the location name.
   • If you exported the All quantity types CSV file option, then update the On hand quantity.
3. The number that you enter in each row can be positive, negative, or 0. The number cannot include a decimal, such as 1.5. You can also enter not stocked to indicate that the product is never stocked at the location.
4. Save the CSV file.

Import inventory

Before you import inventory, make sure that you've created a CSV file in the correct file format.

If you selected Only Available quantities when you exported your inventory, then the CSV file that you exported can update and overwrite Available inventory quantities only.

If you selected All quantity types when you exported your inventory, then the CSV file that you exported can update and overwrite only On hand inventory quantities when you import the file back into your Shopify admin. It doesn't override any other inventory state quantities. Your Available quantity is calculated based on your new On hand quantities.

Importing inventory quantities overwrites your inventory data. Import your inventory only when other inventory adjustments, such as general ongoing sales or manual changes, aren’t occurring.

Note

In addition to adjusting your inventory quantities, you can import changes to HS Code and Country of Origin using the inventory CSV.

Steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Products > Inventory.

2. Click Import.

3. Click Add file and choose your CSV file.

4. Click Upload file.

5. Verify what you intend to import, and then click Start import.

Inventory CSV file format

The inventory CSV file contains information that uniquely identifies products, product variants, and their inventory quantities at your location or specified locations. You can download and view a sample inventory CSV file to use as a template. It's similar to other CSV files that you use with Shopify, but has different columns.

If you plan to import your inventory amounts, then you need to create a CSV file that has the following columns:

• Handle - Handles are unique names for each product. They can contain letters, dashes, and numbers, but no spaces. A handle is used in the URL for each product.
• Title - The Title column is optional. If you include it, then the values can be left blank.
• Option1 Name - If a product has an option, then enter its name. For example, Color. If a product has no options, then this should be set to Title.
• Option1 Value - If a product has an option, then enter its value. For example, Black. For products that have no options, this should be set to Default Title.
• Option2 Name - If a product has an option, then enter its value. This can be left blank.
• Option2 Value - If a product has an option, then enter its value. This can be left blank.
• Option3 Name - If a product has an option, then enter its value. This can be left blank.
• Option3 Value - If a product has an option, then enter its value. This can be left blank.
• SKU - Stock keeping units (SKUs) are codes that you can use internally to track your inventory and report on your sales. For accurate inventory tracking and reporting, the SKUs that you add should be unique. The SKU column is optional. If you include it, then the values can be left blank.
• HS Code - The HS Code (Harmonized System Code) column is used to estimate duties and taxes for international customers. This column is optional. If you include it, then the values can be left blank.
• COO - The COO (Country/Region of Origin) column is used to estimate duties and taxes for international customers. Accepted values are ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country codes. This column is optional. If you include it, then the values can be left blank.
• Location - The names of each of your locations. The location row is case sensitive and must be the name of one of your locations. The inventory for each location is displayed in the corresponding location row. For each variant, include a row for every location where you want to update inventory. Remove any other location rows.
• Incoming - Inventory that’s on its way to your location. Incoming inventory isn’t available to sell until it's been received.
• Unavailable - Unavailable inventory refers to inventory that isn't available for sale or committed to an order. It's not available to be sold.
• Committed - The number of units that are part of a placed order but aren't fulfilled.
• Available - Inventory that you can sell. Available inventory isn’t committed to any orders or reserved for any draft orders.
• On hand - The number of units that you have at a location. On hand inventory is made up of the total of your Committed, Unavailable, and Available inventory. The inventory values that you input can be positive, negative, or 0. The number cannot include a decimal, such as 1.5. You can also enter not stocked to indicate that the product is never stocked at the location.

To uniquely identify a variant, specify values for the Handle, Option1 Value, Option2 Value, and Option3 Value columns.

Your inventory CSV file must be in the correct format and needs to have a .csv file extension.