Bulk Edit Collections in Shopify: Add or Remove Products to Collections in Bulk

Adding products to Manual collections in Shopify can be done in several ways. Here, we’ll discuss adding products to Collections via:

• CSV export/import;
• Spreadsheet app (Mixtable), where you can add products in bulk and sync them back to Shopify with one click.

Use CSV Export/Import to Add Products to Collections

Shopify allows for CSV (comma-separated values) export of data and then, after making changes, importing it back into Shopify. Here’s how to add products to collections via CSV:

1. From Admin > Products, click Export in CSV

2. The Collections column is not included in the CSV export. You can add a new column, name it Collections, and include information about the product collections in it.

3. Add information about the Collection for each product:

   • If you assign an existing automatic collection to a product, then the product needs to meet the conditions for the collection (e.g., it needs to have a certain tag).
   • A manual collection will be created if the collection name you enter in the field doesn’t already exist.

4. Import back the CSV file to Shopify.

Add Products to Collections in Bulk with the Mixtable Spreadsheet Editor and 1-Click Sync to Shopify

There is an easier way to manage your Product Collections with the help of a spreadsheet app like Mixtable. With Mixtable, you have all the spreadsheet functionality you are familiar with (filter, find-replace, sorting, etc.) combined with access to your Shopify data. The best part is that you can sync your changes back to Shopify with one click!

Map a Product’s Manual Collections to a column in your worksheet

To add/remove products from Manual Collections, you start by installing Mixtable Spreadsheet Editor and mapping a Collections column in your Products-linked worksheet.

• Next, right-click on the header of a column that is not yet mapped to sync to a field (an empty column). Such columns have a grey background, whereas columns that are set up for data syncing have a light green background.
• When you right-click, a context menu will appear. Select the Shopify Sync Settings option.

• Select the Product’s Manual Collections radio button from the column options and then click the Save button.

You’ll now see that the new column is set up to show each product’s Manual Collections, and it will begin to populate with the handles of any existing Manual Collections that each product is in.

Add or remove Products from Shopify Collections using the Collection Picker

Now that your products’ collections are mapped to a column, and you can see the existing collections that a product is in, we can add/remove products from Manual Collections as needed. One way to do so is with the Collection Picker.

• In your worksheet, you’ll notice that all the cells in the new Collection-mapped column contain a button with a + symbol.
• When you click this button, you’ll open the Collection Picker widget. The Widget allows you to add or remove a product from a collection visually.
• With the Collection Picker active, select a collection’s checkbox to add a product to that collection or uncheck a checkbox to remove the product from the collection.

When you are done, click the Update cell with selected collections button. This will update the relevant cell with the handles of the collections that you’ve chosen for the product.

! Please note - even though you’ve updated the cell’s value, these changes won’t sync to Shopify until you press the Sync sheet to Shopify button. This allows you to make changes to your worksheet without sending them to Shopify and make the sync only when you are ready.

Add or remove Products from Collections with spreadsheet formulas

When you’ve mapped your products’ collections to a column, you’ll notice that each cell now contains the handles of the Manual Collections that a product is in. These cells behave just like any other cells, and you can edit them manually or set their value to a formula. If the handle of a collection ends up in the cell, then the product will be added to that collection when you click on the Sync sheet to Shopify button.

This behavior allows you to modify the collections of products in bulk easily.

• You can use Excel-style formulas to set the collection handles for a number of products.
• You can also copy/paste collection handles from one cell to other cells to set the collections of several products in a single operation.