Inventory Updater Tool for Shopify
🔧 Quick Info: Inventory Updater lets you change available stock quantities and inventory-tracking settings for Shopify product variants in bulk. Variants are matched by SKU, and quantities are applied to the Shopify location you select.
What It Does
Inventory Updater lets you change Shopify inventory quantities for many product variants at once by uploading a CSV or Excel spreadsheet.
Before uploading the file, you choose the Shopify location where the stock should be updated. The tool then reads each row, finds the matching product variant by SKU, and sets its available quantity at that location.
You can also include an optional Inventory Tracking column to turn Shopify’s inventory tracking on or off for each variant.
The tool can update:
- Available stock quantity at the selected Shopify location.
- Inventory tracking for each matching product variant.
Location-Specific Inventory: Shopify tracks inventory separately for each location. The quantities in your spreadsheet are applied only to the location selected during the upload.
The update runs as a background job, so you can close the page after starting it. When the job finishes, the tool sends a completion notice to the email address selected during the delivery step.
Rows that cannot be processed, such as rows with an unknown SKU or invalid quantity, are reported so you can correct and upload them again.
When Should You Use This?
- You completed a physical stock count and need to update Shopify quickly.
- You manage inventory in a spreadsheet, warehouse system, or another external system.
- You need to update stock for a specific retail store, warehouse, or fulfillment location.
- You want to turn inventory tracking on for many variants.
- You want to turn inventory tracking off for many variants.
- You need to correct available inventory quantities across a large catalog.
- You want to avoid editing variants one at a time in Shopify.
Before You Get Started
- Your Shopify store must be connected to your account.
- Prepare a CSV or Excel spreadsheet.
- The first row of the file must contain column headers.
- Include a SKU column.
- Include a Stock column when updating quantities.
- Make sure each SKU matches an existing Shopify product variant.
- Decide which Shopify location the quantities belong to.
- Optionally include a column for Inventory Tracking.
Location Is Required: You must select a Shopify location before uploading the inventory file. The same spreadsheet should not combine quantities from different locations.
Existing Variant SKUs Required: Inventory Updater matches rows to existing Shopify variants. It does not create products, variants, locations, or SKUs.
How to Use It
1 Open the Tool
Open Inventory Updater for your connected Shopify store.
2 Choose the Shopify Location
On the Upload Inventory step, select the Shopify location where the stock quantities should be applied.
This selection is required. Every valid stock value in the file is applied to this location.
3 Prepare the Spreadsheet
Make sure the first row contains column headers. Your file should include:
- A SKU column.
- A Stock or quantity column.
- An optional Inventory Tracking column.
4 Upload the File
Upload your CSV or Excel spreadsheet.
After the file is read, the Match to column section appears.
5 Map the SKU Column
Map the spreadsheet column containing your variant SKUs to SKU.
This field is required because the SKU identifies which Shopify product variant should be updated.
6 Map the Stock Column
Map the spreadsheet column containing your quantities to Inventory Stock Level.
The values must be numeric. Each valid number becomes the variant’s available inventory at the selected location.
7 Map Inventory Tracking
Optionally map a spreadsheet column to Inventory Tracking.
Use this field to enable or disable Shopify inventory tracking for each matching variant.
8 Confirm Email Delivery
Continue to the email-delivery step and confirm the address that should receive the completion notice.
Your account email is filled in by default, but you can change it.
9 Start the Update
Submit the tool to begin updating Shopify inventory.
The job runs in the background, so you can close the page while it processes.
10 Review the Results
When the job finishes, check your email for the completion notice.
Rows that could not be updated are reported so you can correct the SKU, quantity, or tracking value and upload them again.
File and Field Reference
The first row of your spreadsheet must contain column headers. Map the fields below during the upload step.
| Field | Required? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| SKU | Yes | Identifies the Shopify product variant to update. Matching is not case-sensitive, but the SKU must otherwise match an existing variant. |
| Inventory Stock Level | Required to update quantity | The available quantity to set at the selected Shopify location. The value must be numeric. |
| Inventory Tracking | No | Turns Shopify inventory tracking on or off for the matching product variant. |
Accepted Inventory Tracking Values
Turn Tracking On
| Accepted Value | Result |
|---|---|
true |
Inventory tracking is enabled. |
1 |
Inventory tracking is enabled. |
yes |
Inventory tracking is enabled. |
yep |
Inventory tracking is enabled. |
Turn Tracking Off
| Accepted Value | Result |
|---|---|
false |
Inventory tracking is disabled. |
0 |
Inventory tracking is disabled. |
no |
Inventory tracking is disabled. |
not |
Inventory tracking is disabled. |
nope |
Inventory tracking is disabled. |
How Stock Updates Are Processed
| Row Condition | What Happens |
|---|---|
| Numeric stock value and tracking already enabled | The available quantity is set at the selected location. |
| Numeric stock value and tracking turned on in the row | Tracking is enabled and the available quantity is set. |
| Numeric stock value, but tracking is disabled and not enabled in the row | The quantity is left unchanged. |
| Tracking turned off | Shopify inventory tracking is disabled for the variant. |
| Stock value is not numeric | The quantity is not updated and the row may be reported as an error. |
| SKU is not found | The row is skipped and reported in the results. |
Shopify Inventory Correction: The quantity is recorded in Shopify as an inventory correction and becomes the available quantity at the selected location.
Example Spreadsheet
| SKU | Stock | Tracking |
|---|---|---|
| SHIRT-BLUE-M | 25 | yes |
| SHIRT-BLUE-L | 12 | true |
| SERVICE-ITEM | no |
The columns in this example could be mapped as follows:
- SKU to SKU
- Stock to Inventory Stock Level
- Tracking to Inventory Tracking
Troubleshooting and FAQ
A SKU was not found in the Shopify store
The SKU in the file does not match an existing Shopify product variant.
Check for typing errors, extra spaces, missing or leading zeros, and confirm that the SKU is assigned to a variant in Shopify.
SKU matching is not case-sensitive.
The quantity did not change
Make sure the Inventory Stock Level contains a numeric value and that inventory tracking is enabled for the variant.
If the variant is not currently tracked, include an Inventory Tracking value such as yes or true so tracking is enabled before the quantity is applied.
The tool says I need to choose a location
A Shopify location is required. Return to the Upload Inventory step and select the location where the spreadsheet’s quantities should be applied.
The quantity was updated at the wrong location
Inventory is applied to the location selected before the file was uploaded.
Select the correct location and upload the affected rows again with the correct quantities.
Inventory tracking did not turn on or off
Confirm that the spreadsheet column was mapped to Inventory Tracking and that it contains one of the accepted on or off values.
A negative quantity was uploaded
The Inventory Stock Level is applied as the available quantity at the selected Shopify location. Review your spreadsheet carefully before uploading negative quantities.
Where are my results?
The update runs as a background job. When it finishes, the tool emails the address selected during the delivery step.
Rows that could not be updated are included in the results so you can correct and upload them again.