How to import products into Shopify with a CSV template

Imports, exports and CSV files

A CSV (comma-separated values) file is a plain spreadsheet saved as text, with commas between the values. Shopify uses it to bring products in (import) and to take them out (export), so the same format works in both directions. You can edit it in any spreadsheet program. If the upload is a recurring chore, an ecommerce VA can take it over.

CSV versus adding products by hand

Use a CSV when you add many products at once, move a range from another platform, or change the same detail across many products, such as prices or tags. For a handful of products, the admin is quicker. For a regular feed from a supplier, an app that imports automatically may suit better than re-uploading a file each time. Bulk changes are one of the routine jobs in our guide to Shopify store management.

Step 2: Keep the format clean

• The first line must be the column headers, and values are separated by commas.
• Save the file with UTF-8 encoding. According to the Shopify Help Center, Google Sheets saves CSV files as UTF-8 by default; other spreadsheet programs may need an extra step when you save (Importing products with a CSV file, opened 19 October 2026).
• Use straight quotation marks, not curly ones. Curly quotes, often pasted in from a word processor, can stop an import.
• Keep the file under 15 MB. If it is bigger, split it into smaller files.

Step 3: One product, several rows

A simple product with no variants and one image takes one row. A product with variants, such as sizes or colours, takes one row per variant, and every row for that product repeats the same URL handle. Extra images follow the same idea: they belong to the product through its URL handle. Shopify's help page sets out which columns go on the product's first row and which on the variant and image rows; follow it exactly.

The Shopify Help Center says you can add up to 250 images to a product and a maximum of 250 tags to each product.

Do not sort the file

Do not sort the rows in a spreadsheet program once the file is built. The Shopify Help Center warns that sorting in Excel or Numbers can separate products from their image links. If you need to reorder, do it before you add the image rows, or rebuild from an export.

An example file, row by row

This is an example only, to show the layout. Say you sell a cotton T-shirt in three sizes with two photos.

• Row 1 (header row): the column headers, exactly as in the template.
• Row 2: the URL handle (for example, cotton-t-shirt), the Title, the description and the other product details, with the first size, its price and the first image.
• Row 3: the same URL handle, with the second size and its price.
• Row 4: the same URL handle, with the third size and its price.
• Second image: linked to the same URL handle, placed as Shopify's help page describes.

Check the layout against Shopify's sample file and help page before you build your own, then copy the pattern for every product.

Matching handles

When you choose to overwrite existing products, Shopify matches rows in your file to products in your store by URL handle. Where the handle matches, the values in your file replace the values in the store.

Blank cells overwrite values

This is the trap. The Shopify Help Center says that when you overwrite, a blank cell in a column that is not required overwrites the existing value as blank. If you only want to change prices, start from an export of your current products, change the prices, and upload that file, so every other cell still holds its current value.

Keep a backup

Before any overwrite, export your current products and save the file. If the import goes wrong, you can import the backup to put things back.

From another Shopify store

Export the products from the first store as a CSV, check the file, and import it into the second. Both use the same format, so this is the simplest move. Check images, stock and any details that do not carry over before you go live.

From AliExpress, Amazon, Alibaba or CJ Dropshipping

There are two routes. If the supplier or marketplace lets you export a product file, you can copy its data into Shopify's template, column by column, then import it. Or you can use an import app from the Shopify App Store, which connects to the supplier and brings products in for you. Either way, rewrite the descriptions in your own words (our guide on how to write product descriptions covers this), check the images are yours to use, and set your own prices. To send the same data to Google Shopping or other channels, see product feed management. If you also sell on eBay, the same bulk approach is covered in our guide to eBay bulk listing.

Customers, inventory and orders

The product CSV holds products only. Stock for multi-location stores goes through the separate inventory CSV. For customers, orders and other data, check the Shopify Help Center for the matching import or export before you build a file.

A Shopify VA from Ant Assist builds the file, runs the test import, checks the results and keeps your catalogue up to date afterwards, working in your store under their own staff account. Each VA is one named person, dedicated to you and never shared, working full time from our own managed office in Cairo, recruited, managed and supervised there, with a UK team overseeing quality. They are not freelancers and they are not AI. Uploads are one job among many, and a dedicated e-commerce assistant can look after the others too.

You choose from 20 hours a week up to a full 40-hour VA, on UK business hours, 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday. Access runs through NDAs and data-processing agreements, password managers and staff accounts you can revoke at any time. For listings across every channel, see product listing and catalogue management.

The rate starts at £5 per hour on the introductory rate for the first 6 months on the Entry tier (3 months on Mid, 1 month on Expert). After that, Entry is £6.50 per hour full time (£1,040 a month for 160 hours) or £6.80 per hour part time (£544 a month for 80 hours). Put your own hours into the calculator to compare.