CSV importing unknown errors

[lapqa]

Hey guys!

Spent whole day to fix this problem, read EVERYTHING that I could find on this topic, chat with Shopify support. (they didn’t find a problem)

So, exported products from shopify, edited it in Google Sheets.

before this step were a lot of tries with errors, I’ll skip them and explain later.

1. Updated only Body (HTML)

2. Removed everything except Handle, Title, Body

3. Went smooth, updated without problems.

But when I try to update other things, like add or change options (variants) it’s just keeps leaving me with errors for ~half of the products.

I checked if it’s UTF-8

I tried loading without images (and dependencies), tried removing extra lines that were left empty after deleting images.

There is a small example.

Spreadsheet at Google Drive (yes, there is a few missing images, that’s not the problem. When images are missing it says that) with few example entries, 2-3 works fine, 4-6 error (invalid???).

[Shay]

Hey there! It can be difficult to troubleshoot CSV issues, especially when we can’t see it directly. I always recommend when troubleshooting CSV problems to upload in very small batches, so you can compare lines and more easily spot issues. If there are too many errors, sometimes the error window isn’t able to display them all, so small batches are best.

If you are able to share a link to a sample of your CSV file, please replace/anonymize the product details and remove any image links, I’d be happy to review it and see if I can find any issues on my end.

[lapqa]

There is sample with 2 items, first uploading and updating without problem. Second - error (invalid information).

[Shay]

Thank you for that @lapqa and apologies for missing the sample link you provided initially.

I did have a look and I was able to import both products from the sample CSV successfully (I did have to remove the image links). So this appears to be something related to how this product is relating to your store. I recommend working your way back, removing any information that isn’t required by the CSV template: Shopify Help Center CSV Definitions.

I also strongly recommend always having an unedited version of your inventory in CSV format as a safe recovery point. Changes made by CSV cannot be undone.

Another troubleshooting step is to create the product in the admin and then export it out to compare to your existing CSV, this will help to highlight any possible discrepancies.

[lapqa]

OK. It was quite an adventure…

When creating a new product there were no problems adding new options.

But as for updating existing products:
It turned out that you cannot simultaneously add a new option and change the position of the old option.

1. It is necessary to leave one option that has differences, size as an example. Import.
2. Add a second option that has one value, color for example. Import.
3. Change the position of options. Import.

Phew.

Thank you for your attention and attempts to help.

[Victor_5]

Hi @lapqa ,

Thank you for sharing this with us and I will mark your post as an Accepted Solution so others having this issue can see what you shared. I’ve shared your post with Shay and passed on your thanks!