How to bulk Export and bulk import all the metafields in products?

[MelvinAlk]

How to bulk Export and bulk import all the metafields in products?

Can this be  done in Shopify 2.0?

[r8r]

@MelvinAlk – not sure if OS 2.0 makes any any changes to that part of Shopify, but at the moment our go-to way it using Matrixify.

Hope this helps – Mario

[Renars]

Hey @MelvinAlk 

Renars here from Matrixify app.
@r8r Thank you for suggesting our app.

You sure can bulk import and export Metafields with Matrixify.
It also works with new Shopify Metafield definitions.

You would need to first set them up in the Shopify Admin -> Settings -> Metafields.
And then apply at least to one of the Products in the admin.
After that, you can do an export with the app. Select to export Products with Basic Columns and Metafields.
If at least one of the exported Products have those values for the metafield definitions set, then you will also see those Metafield columns in the exported file.
Update values in the Metafield columns for the same or other products and import the file back in to update.

Here we do also have a great tutorial on how to bulk manage Shopify Metafields with the app.

If you wish to learn more about the app, or have any issues/questions, please reach out to us directly.

[chefJuanPi]

Hey Renars

please write a tutorial about how deal on Maxtrify the new metafilds types, it will be very apreciated!

[Renars]

Hello @chefJuanPi 

Currently you can specify the old types, but if you set up definitions in the store, export to have column header, then you can import those metafields and they will properly be assigned to the definition with your set type.

We are at the moment in a process of developing an app to directly show be able to import/export new Types. But old types should still work as long as the Metafield Definitions have been set up.

I will make sure to let you know here once the Metafields tutorial is updated for the new Metafields types.

[noovo]

Hi Renars, have you been able to make any progress with this and making the new app to deal with 2.0?

Many thaks

Rob

[Renars]

Hello @noovo 

Matrixify app sure can bulk import and export new Metafield types.

The best way to do that is to set up Metafield definitions in your Shopify ADmin -> Settings -> Metafields.

Then apply values in those metafields for any one product and export your Products with Basic Columns and Metafields using Matrixify app.

In the exported file, you will see Metafield columns for the defined metafields with the new metafield types.

Here in our documentation, you can also see each possible Metafield type listed - https://matrixify.app/documentation/metafields/#MetafieldTypes

[chefJuanPi]

 @Renars  I use matrixify and it don't works to export / import image metafields

[Renars]

Hello @chefJuanPi 

Do you mean that Metafields you have set for your Products is not showing up in the exported file?

Do note that Metafield column only shows up in the exported file if that metafield is set for at least one of the exported Products.

Please reach out to our support directly so that we can quicker look into the issues that you are having with Matrixify app export.

[SemiBryan]

I don't understand why these product definitions and metafield data isn't included with a normal Shopify product export. Why do we need to pay for an additional app to extract this data?

Is there plan for Shopify to include this in their own product data export?

[PaulNewton]

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@SemiBryan wrote:

I don't understand why these product definitions and metafield data isn't included with a normal Shopify product export. Why do we need to pay for an additional app to extract this data?

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Without getting into technical explanations about databases and building SaaS Products, a thing to keep in mind is that metafields can represent a very wide variety of data and there can be ALOT of them on a store and not all of them are relevant to merchant usages for importing/exporting.

Which means when a merchant goes to export products if merchants wanted ALL metafiled data it's very easy for the amount of metafield data to be even bigger than that product information with most it being irrelevant noise. Blindly adding metafields to product export just increases the download sizes and having selective metafields just increases the complexity of every export UI for everyone of over 1 million other merchants on the platform. 

Unlikely to ever happen until there's changes to the native bulk editor in the admin to allow import/export of that data context.

Product information is the baseline for the platforms feature set,  it's general enough for ALL merchants not just some merchants specific use cases.

Metafields are the extra business specifics where the expectation is if a merchant is tailoring their store to specific needs with such features they will invest in specialist tools to manage said information efficiently.

Even now with metafield definitions being exposed in the product admin if you are working with metafields frequently merchants should still invest in a specialist tool to be more efficient in managing such things.

Carpenters buy good hammers and saws, Mechanics quality wrenches, good merchants use good apps.

[Erno_Vegh]

Just have checkbox where shop owner can say "export metafields?"  Y or N. Not that difficult.

Better yet, each meta field could have a checkbox

[gordonzed]

I second this. Personally, I'd be happy if it was just a single column called "metafields" that stored one big chunk o' JSON.

[WeAreFairTrade]

Sorry, but that is massive cop out. If you can write the code to allow meta fields you can at least write code for a basic export.
To continue your tools metaphor, you would not buy an electric screwdriver that could drive screws in but not out.

[AnnaMerley]

Hi @Renars is it possible to bulk import / export metaobjects via Matrixify app (or Shopify native CSV import/export) or does this apply on to metafields (single instances)?

[Renars]

Hello @AnnaMerley 
At the moment we do not have MetaObjects import/export so such migration would apply to Metafields. 
But I have noted this thread and once such a feature to export/import MetaObjects is added to the app, I will message here.

[JBrown2]

It's absolutely pathetic that we cannot import metafields without having to pay for a third party application. I'm not daft, it's because Shopify makes money from developers so why would they possibly give merchants a free alternative.

[Kenny83]

Shopify is getting way more compliated and making old clients spend more with apps. If you offer metafields then allow for import/export. Maybe allow a maximum of 40 fields and then if companies need more custom fields  then they can go for an app. This should be basic addition. This is 2023 not 1995 when it comes to automation.

[PaulNewton]

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@Kenny83 wrote:

Shopify is getting way more compliated a

This is 2023 not 1995 when it comes to automation.

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The first part impacts why things don't happen like magic for the second part.

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@Kenny83 wrote:

 it's because Shopify makes money from developers

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If there were true in any fashion shopify would not have added metafield definitions.

Metafields are extensibility data on top of native data, if you have specialized data needs invest in specialized data tools.

[kalashcards707]

Yesr 2024 is coming & shopify should focus on this part. Importing & exporting data is platform centric issue and allowing custom meta definition especially simple basic fields like decimal, integer, text should be supported in import and export csv format. It will make things easier for many many merchants as well as to shopify since merchants need to update single products on admin dashboard which will require more admin page load on shopify server. 

Having subscribe to shopify app for this task for merchant is not a solution.

[RococoDigital]

This solution may not be suitable for most, it does require knowledge of Javascript but it is now possible to achieve this using a workaround with Shopify Flow.
Converting tags to metafields using Shopify flow 

[Migratory]

Shopify has finally added bulk export and import of product metafields in the Summer 2024 update. No need for apps or workarounds now.

[Kenny83]

Great news, but are there any limitations we should be aware off? For example  is there limited amount of metafields imports a day?

[Migratory]

There should be no limitations.

[fpdev]

Doesn't seem to export metafields with the Single line text -> "List of values" type, the column doesn't appear.

[jamesanderson]

Agree.  I can get access to Boolean type metafields - but no "List of values" type metafields.  A really stupid limitation if its intentional. 

What is most irritating about Shopify is that they partly enable features but provide no documentation that helps you decide if you want to use that functionality because of limitations.  You implement an option ASSUMING that once you put date into their system you'll be able to get it out - and then you can't.  And then you waste hours trying to figure out WHY you can't do something that seems eminently sensible.   AAAAAAARGGGGHHHHHH

[Davtonny]

Yes, you can bulk export and import product metafields in Shopify 2.0. You can use Shopify's built-in export tools for metafields, or consider using third-party tools like Skyvia to automate the process, which allows for easier bulk handling of metafields and syncing them across platforms.