Adjusting inventory quantities in bulk
You can make changes to the inventory of multiple products and product variants at the same time. Select the products and variants that you want to change, choose which product properties you want to update, and then make your changes using the bulk editor.
When you use the bulk editor, you set absolute inventory quantities without specifying origin and destination, so this method doesn't create an audit trail of inventory movements. To track where inventory comes from and where it's going, adjust inventory directly on the Inventory page, product details page, or variant details page. You can make multiple changes across rows, products, and locations, and then save them together.
The bulk editor works best with Chrome, Firefox, and Safari web browsers. Using other browsers, such as Internet Explorer, can lead to errors or incorrect inventory adjustments.
On this page
Inventory bulk editor variant properties
In the inventory bulk editor, you can add any of the following variant properties that you want to edit.
| Property | Definition |
|---|---|
| Price | The price of the product variant. |
| Compare-at price | The original price for a product that is on sale. When you enter a compare-at price, the product displays a sale price. |
| Cost per item | How much it costs you for the product or variant. |
| Charge taxes | Whether a tax is charged when the product variant is sold. |
| SKU | A unique identifier for the product variant in the store. |
| Barcode | The barcode, Universal Product Code (UPC), or International Standard Book Number (ISBN) number for the product. |
| Continue selling when out of stock | Whether customers are allowed to place an order for the product variant when it's out of stock. |
| Track quantity | Whether to track the number of items in stock for the product variant. If the Track quantity option displays as grayed out for a variant in the bulk editor, then the variant is part of an unfulfilled order or an active inventory transfer. |
| Stocked at | All store locations where the product variant is stocked. This only appears for shops that have multi-managed inventory activated. |
| Weight | The weight of the product variant in your store's specified weight measurement unit. |
| Requires shipping | Whether a customer needs to provide a shipping address when placing an order containing the product variant. |
| Harmonized system code | The general Harmonized System (HS) code for the inventory item. |
| Country of origin | The country where the product was manufactured or assembled. |
| Quantities by location | All store locations where inventory is stocked. |
Step 1: Select variants to bulk edit
You can select product variants to edit in bulk from either the product details page or from the Inventory section in your Shopify admin.
If you need to update the inventory of 1 or 2 products, then you might want to use the bulk editor from the product details page. If you need to update the inventory for more than a few products, then you can access the bulk editor through the Inventory page.
Edit a single product’s variants in the bulk editor
If you want to bulk edit the inventory for a product with multiple variants, then you can use the bulk editor on a per-product basis.
Steps:
From your Shopify admin, go to Products.
Click a product that you want to bulk edit the inventory of.
In the Variants section, use the checkboxes to select the variants that you want to edit.
Click Open bulk editor.
Edit multiple products and their variants in the bulk editor
If you want to bulk edit multiple products and their variants, then you can select which products and variants to bulk edit from the Inventory page.
Steps:
From your Shopify admin, go to Products > Inventory.
Optional: If you have multiple store locations and want to display one specific location's inventory, then choose a location from the drop-down list. The selected location is the only location's inventory that will display.
Use the checkboxes to select each of the products and variants that you want to bulk edit the inventory of.
Click Edit variants to open the bulk editor.
Step 2: Select properties to edit
The Inventory Bulk Editor page displays the product variants that you selected and some of their properties in a table. You can change which variant properties display in the table.
Each column in the table represents a property, such as price, SKU, and compare-at price. Each row in the table represents a selected product variant. Refer to the table of properties in the inventory bulk editor to learn about what each property means.
Steps:
- In the Inventory Bulk Editor page, click Columns.
- Select the variant properties that you want to add to the table.
- Deselect the variant properties that you want to remove from the table.
Step 3: Edit product or variant properties
After you select the properties that you want to edit, you can click the fields within the editor to type in new data or edit existing data.
Understanding inventory overrides
When you edit inventory quantities in the bulk editor, you're setting a new total inventory quantity. For example, if a variant has 100 units and you enter 150, then the quantity becomes exactly 150. This is different from the standard inventory adjustment method, where you specify origin and destination for each movement.
Inventory overrides replace the current quantity with the exact number you enter. If inventory changes between when you open the bulk editor and when you save, such as from customer orders or staff updates, then a conflict dialog is displayed before saving.
The bulk editor displays visual indicators to help you review your changes:
- Before and after values: After you enter a new quantity and move to another cell, the change displays as original → new. Inventory increases display in green and decreases display in red.
- Warning icon: An
icon displays next to inventory quantity fields.
Edit your inventory properties
If the inventory quantity for a product isn't currently tracked, then the value in the Location field for that product is displayed as -. To update inventory quantities for that location, select the checkbox in the Track quantity column, which allows you to adjust the quantity.
You can adjust inventory quantities at any location where the product's inventory is tracked, regardless of whether the product is active for fulfillment at that location. Bulk edits and inventory CSV imports update quantities only, and don't activate the product at a location. Locations where the product isn't active display quantities but the product isn't sellable or fulfillable from those locations until you activate it.
Steps:
- Click and type within a field in the table to edit the variant property for that product variant.
- After you make changes to inventory quantities and move to another cell, review the before and after values displayed to confirm your changes are correct.
Step 4: Save your changes
After you make your edits, you can save your changes. When you save, review the confirmation dialog to ensure all changes are correct before confirming.
Resolving inventory conflicts
If inventory quantities change during your editing session, such as from customer orders or staff updates, then an Inventory mismatch dialog is displayed when you save. This prevents you from accidentally overwriting recent changes. The dialog displays the following information:
- New change: The inventory quantity you entered.
- Current quantity: The actual current inventory quantity in your Shopify store.
- Suggested quantity: Your intended change applied to the current quantity.
When resolving an inventory conflict, you can select one of the following options:
- Save suggested: Uses the suggested value based on the current inventory. For example, if you try to change 100 to 150 (adding 50), but the quantity is now 95 due to a sale, then the suggested quantity is 145 (95 + 50).
- Save original: Overrides with the exact number you entered. Use this when you want to replace the current quantity.
- Discard: Closes the dialog and returns you to the bulk editor.
Save your edits
- Click Save.
- Review the confirmation dialog that displays all the changes you're about to make, and then click Save changes to confirm.
Shortcuts in the bulk editor
To help you navigate and edit variant properties efficiently in the bulk editor, you can use the following shortcuts:
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Move between cells | Click to select a table cell, and then press an arrow key on your keyboard to move to the next editable cell in that direction. |
| Select multiple cells that aren’t adjacent | Hold the Alt key on a PC or the command key on a Mac and click different cells. |
| Select multiple adjacent cells | Click to select a cell, then hold the shift key and click the last cell in the range of cells that you want to select. |
| Select and edit multiple fields at the same time | Click and drag your cursor across multiple cells. This works for typing text and numbers, clicking checkboxes, and using drop-down menus in the selected cells. |
| Apply the value of a cell to the cells below or above it | Click and drag the cell's fill handle across the cells below or above. |
When to use the bulk editor
The bulk editor is best suited for the following scenarios:
- Managing inventory synced from external inventory management systems
- Making large-scale quantity updates where a detailed audit trail isn't required
- Updating inventory quantities alongside other product properties such as SKU, price, or barcode
- Setting absolute inventory quantities when you know the exact totals
If you need to track where inventory is coming from and where it's going, then use the standard inventory adjustment method instead. This method creates a complete audit trail with origin and destination information for every inventory change.