Log in
Try Shopify POS

Exporting or importing inventory with a CSV file (Shopify admin)

If you have a single location, then you can export an inventory CSV file that contains your inventory quantities at that location. If you have multiple locations, then you can export an inventory CSV file that contains your inventory quantities from all of them. You can use that exported CSV file as a template to update the inventory quantities. Then you can import the CSV file to update Shopify with the inventory quantities for each product.

On this page

Inventory CSV file format

The inventory CSV file contains information that uniquely identifies products and product variants and their inventory quantities at your location. 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 - As above, but can be left blank.
  • Option2 Value - As above, but can be left blank.
  • Option3 Name - As above, but can be left blank.
  • Option3 Value - As above, but can be left blank.
  • SKU - The SKU column is optional. If you include it, then the values can be left blank. Currently in Shopify, SKUs do not need to be unique.

  • Location - The names of each of your locations. The inventory for each location is shown in the corresponding location row.

    The location row is case sensitive and must be the name of one of your locations. For each variant, include a row for every location where you want to update inventory. Remove any other location rows.

    The On hand inventory values that you input can be positive, negative, or 0. 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.

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 to export the inventory quantities for use in other systems or processes.

Steps:

  1. Go to Products > Inventory.
  2. Click Export.
  3. Specify the rows that you want to export.
  4. Click Export inventory.

Import inventory

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

The import procedure updates and overwrites On hand inventory quantities only. It doesn't override any other inventory state quantities. It doesn't create a location or update the values that identify products.

Importing inventory quantities overwrites your inventory data, so you should import your inventory only when other inventory adjustments, such as ongoing sales or manual changes, aren’t taking place.

Steps:

  1. 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.
Ready to start selling with Shopify POS?Try it free