Shopify CSV Validator

It reads the file the way Shopify's importer does and checks each rule from Shopify's CSV documentation. It accepts the current column names (URL handle, Price, Product image URL) and the older ones (Handle, Variant Price, Image Src), because Shopify still accepts both.

Errors are problems that stop the import or bring products in wrong. Warnings are worth a look but won't block anything. Each one gives the row number as it appears in the preview table.

When a problem has only one sensible fix, the download fixes it for you:

• Trims spaces from the start and end of every value.
• Changes yes/no and 1/0 to true/false, and yes/no in Continue selling to continue/deny.
• Cleans prices: $1,299.00 becomes 1299.00 and 19,99 becomes 19.99.
• Turns weights like 680g or 150.4 into whole grams, and units like lbs into lb.
• Encodes spaces in image URLs as %20.
• Repairs garbled characters such as ’ when the original text can be recovered.
• Switches semicolon or tab separators to commas, and removes empty rows.
• Optionally renames old column names to Shopify's current ones.

It never changes handles, option values or SKUs, because those decide which product and variant each row updates. Shopify warns that changing option values deletes the variant IDs and creates new ones, which can break apps that rely on them.

1. 01

   Open the importer

   In your Shopify admin, go to Products and click Import.

2. 02

   Add the file

   Click Add file and pick the fixed CSV.

3. 03

   Choose whether to overwrite

   To update products that already exist, tick Overwrite products with matching handles. Shopify then replaces the values in every column the file includes.

4. 04

   Check the preview

   Click Upload and continue, read the summary, then click Import products.

With overwrite on, a blank cell blanks the existing value, and a column you leave out keeps its current values. So when you update, delete the columns you don't mean to change.

• Strange characters like ’ or �. The file wasn't saved as UTF-8, which Shopify requires. In Excel, use Save As → CSV UTF-8.
• Barcodes like 8.5E+11. Excel turned a long number into scientific notation and dropped digits. Format the column as Text before you paste the codes back in.
• Variants import as separate products. The rows don't share exactly the same URL handle, or they aren't kept together.
• Missing option values. A product has an option name but one of its variant rows has no value for it.
• Stock doesn't change. Inventory quantity only applies to stores with a single location. With more than one, update stock with Shopify's inventory CSV instead.