How can I effectively organize my files in Shopify?

Shopify Discussion

Topic summary

Shopify merchants are frustrated by the platform’s lack of file organization capabilities, particularly for managing large image libraries. Users cannot create folders or effectively categorize uploaded files in the admin panel.

Current Limitations:

  • The ‘views’ feature in the files section doesn’t allow adding files to custom categories
  • No native folder structure exists for organizing thousands of product and general images
  • This creates significant time waste when searching for specific files

Suggested Workarounds:

  • Image Manager app: Offers sorting, filtering, bulk uploads, and drag-and-drop functionality (though not designed purely for organization)
  • CSV export method: Export products to spreadsheets to view image URLs and manually sort
  • Naming conventions: Systematically name files to include page/product identifiers

Community Response:

  • Multiple users cite this as a deal-breaker, preventing migration from other platforms
  • Merchants with larger inventories find the limitation particularly problematic
  • Frustration persists from early discussions through mid-2024, with no native solution implemented
  • Even Shopify’s AI chat provides inconsistent guidance (suggesting impossible tagging features)

Shopify support acknowledged the feedback would be passed to development teams, but the core functionality remains absent despite ongoing platform updates.

Summarized with AI on October 23. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
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Hello @Bob_Meyer ,

Yes, Shopify has some limitations in sorting images and selecting them from the entire list on a particular page. But they remain sorted in the same order as in the Files section of Loading... when you try to add an image to the page.
You can somehow adjust it to suit the needs - sort by date or by name, and then edit a specific page and choose an image.