Issue: After setting Unit System to Imperial and Default Weight Unit to Pound in General settings, Shipping & Delivery and order creation still display kilograms (kg).
Support findings: A Shopify Support agent reproduced the change successfully on a test store; lbs appeared when creating shipping rates. They observed a delay before the change took effect and suggested toggling between unit systems to force the update. Screenshots were provided to illustrate the expected behavior.
Additional reports: Another merchant reports the same problem—despite multiple toggles, new orders still default to kg.
Important limitation: Changing the default weight unit does not retroactively update already created products; only products added after the change will use the new unit. This may explain lingering kg values where existing product data is involved.
Notes: Lbs = pounds; kg = kilograms. Screenshots are central to demonstrating the expected lbs display in Shipping & Delivery.
Status: Partially unresolved. Workarounds include toggling unit systems and allowing time for the change to propagate. No confirmed universal fix for existing products/orders; open issue for affected stores.
Hi,
In the Standards & Formats section, under General, I have the Unit System set to Imperial and Default Weight Unit set to Pound, but in the Shipping and Delivery Section, when I try to manage shipping rates it still shows kg. How can I correct this?
Thanks.
Mark
Hi, @LatinSeasonings .
Elias here with Shopify Support. Thank you for reaching out.
Changing the unit system in the General settings should allow you to set the default weight unit to Pound in the Shipping & Delivery settings, so that’s definitely the right process. However, it does seem strange that it’s not changing from kg to lbs. That being said, I was able to test changing the unit system on my test store and I was able to set my default weight to Pound.
Here’s a screenshot of my General settings:
Here’s a screenshot of the weight system when I create a shipping rate:
During my first attempt, I noticed that the system also didn’t switch over to lbs right away, and as I continued to switch between the other unit systems - it did successfully switch over to lbs in my Shipping & Delivery settings, so it’s also possible that the system may require some time to reflect the changes.
Has the unit system switched to lbs for you since then? If not, could you also try toggling between the other unit systems in the General settings?
I too am having the same problem as above. I have gone in and changed it back and forth and yet when I create an order it is still defaulting to kg instead of lbs. Help?
Unfortunately, it doesn’t change the weight units for already created products. Only for future added products. Thanks god I discovered that before adding my 150 000 products catalog.
