Can I change the Inventory variant window size on backend?

[JaDogg]

When looking at my variant inventory, the window with all the columns of information is very narrow.   I have to scroll to the bottom and use the slider to move left and right in order to view all the columns.  So I cannot see the product title and inventory quantity at once.   Is there a way to open up this window more? there is plenty of room on my screen and its soooo freaking annoying.  I have a product with nearly 100 variants and its impossible to keep track visually.

[Elias]

Hey, @JaDogg.

This is Elias from Shopify Support. Thank you for reaching out.

I understand that you find the variant window for the inventory is too narrow and you have to scroll to the bottom to use the slider in order to view the columns. While there isn't a way to change the variant window at the moment; however, I can see how this change would be beneficial for everyone and I'd be happy to share your feedback with our developers. If Shopify moves forward with any changes or updates to the admin, you'll be able to find it on our changelog or updates page. 

That being said, depending on which product properties you're trying to track or edit for your variants, you may be able to use the bulk editor to get a wider view of your variants. The bulk editor allows you to edit up to 50 products at a time, including their variants, and you can select the properties you want to edit or view in bulk. By selecting the properties and removing the ones you don't need, the bulk editor can give you a much wider view than through editing a single product. 

Did you get a chance to try the bulk editor prior to this?

[Motherbee]

Is there a place to vote on this suggestion. It is so inconvenient do have to scroll all the way down to view more info. 

[Elias]

Hey, @Motherbee.

Thank you for joining the thread!

I understand you're also looking to vote on increasing or changing the window sizes when editing variants, and I'd be happy to add you to this feature request. However, as previously mentioned, this isn't something that I'll be able to share an ETA on. If Shopify moves forward with any changes to the way variants are edited or the window sizes, you can find it on our changelog or updates page. 

That being said, the bulk editor provides a more robust view for editing multiple products and variants. Did you get a chance to try editing your variants using the bulk editor?

[70121das]

I completely agree, the variant window size is too narrow to edit variants (delete sizes/colors) quickly. It may not seem like a big deal but it's the only way to see and delete unneeded variants efficiently. The bulk editor is very limited, it's also lacking the ability to edit the name of variant options & to add/delete variants. These additions would cut time spent on editing to minutes instead of hours. 

[Elias]

Hey, @70121das.

Thank you for joining the thread.

I appreciate the suggestions you've shared, and I'd be happy to pass them along to our developers. If Shopify moves forward with any changes to the variant windows or bulk editor, we'll be sure to announce it on our changelog and/or updates page.

Thanks again!

[Anonymous]

I too am bothered by the narrow window size of the Variant column.

13-July-2022.

If I would like to quickly adjust the quantity of a couple of Variant, I couldn't see the Variant if I scrolled to the quantity column. So I had to scroll back and forth to adjust them.

It is not worth the time to use the bulk editor. Plus, the bulk editor always opens with Price and Compared price. While I am trying to make adjustments for just a couple of variants.

[Elias]

Hey, @Anonymous.

Thanks so much for taking the time and sharing this feedback with us. 

I can definitely see how identifying the variants while adjusting quantities can be more challenging now, as there isn't a way to adjust the cell sizes on the new bulk editor at the moment. While there are a number of changes that we have planned for upcoming releases of the bulk editor, I'm afraid I don't have a timeline to share for when these changes will take place. Nevertheless, we understand how important these changes are for our merchants, like yourself, and I'd be happy to share your feedback with our development team. If Shopify moves forward with any changes or updates to the bulk editor, then we'll be sure to announce them on our changelog. 

That being said, there are a couple of third-party bulk editing apps that offer free plans, such as Hextom: Bulk Product Edit or Ablestar Bulk Product Editor, which you may find more efficient for bulk updating inventory. For example, Hextom: Bulk Product Edit offers a free plan if you don't need to exceed editing 10 products at a time, and Ablestar Bulk Product Editor offers 5 free edits every month. I'd encourage using them together and see which works best for you for the time being. If you need any assistance with these apps, the app developer is always available to assist you - you can reach out to them directly through the contact information found in the Support section of their app pages. 

I'd love to hear more about your business! What kinds of products do you sell? How often do you need to bulk edit or update inventories and why? Are you selling in-person as well?

[ZC_Courtney]

Hi - Just adding onto the grievances here as this has been an issue that's shown up in the community several times over the last few years.  I'm not sure what changed recently, but now I can't even scroll over??  It has made making quick changes to SKUs or trying to check something very cumbersome.  Is there any sort of solution even temporary for this?  It seems crazy that I can't even scroll now, and I have to literally click on the individual variant to see it.

[Elias]

Hi, @ZC_Courtney.

Thank you for joining the thread and bringing this to our attention.

I understand that you're experiencing an issue with scrolling horizontally when managing products. While I wasn't able to replicate this issue on my computer or mobile device, I did notice that when using a mouse - my cursor needs to be sitting within the section that I am trying to scroll horizontally.  

Just to confirm, does the horizontal scrolling not work at all or does it work intermittently? Can you share more details about your device and browser? Are you using any peripherals (eg. mouse, trackpad, etc.)?

[Anonymous]

Hi Elias,

Thank you for your reply! 

I sure can see the scroll bar now. It is very easy to scroll. 

Now the only problem is that, there is a big blank space on two sides of the Variants panel. 

If that empty space is utilized. It is solved.

Kind regards,

[Elias]

Hi, @Anonymous.

Thank you for joining the thread!

I'm glad to hear that you're finding it easier to scroll now. I can definitely see that there are some blank spaces that can be utilized when working on a computer and I'd be happy to share this feedback with our development team. If Shopify moves forward with any changes to the bulk editor, we'll be sure to announce them on the Shopify Changelog.

If you have any other feedback or suggestions, please don't hesitate to let me know!

[ZC_Courtney]

Hi Elias,

Thanks for the response.  It actually appeared back again a couple days after I posted, so I assumed someone worked some magic in the back end.   I use a desktop normally, and the scroll bar was not showing no matter if I was clicked into a variant or not.   It probably was missing for at least a few weeks but probably longer.

The main issue is still definitely that you can't expand the variant area.  Similar to other comments, there is clearly space on each side, so not sure why this hasn't happened.  The original solution was to use a recommended browser extension that was recommended by Shopify, but that no longer works unfortunately and hasn't for a few months now.