Product CSV Import not updating existing products

Topic summary

A merchant attempted to bulk update product descriptions for 150+ items using Shopify’s CSV import feature but found the changes didn’t apply despite receiving a success confirmation.

Solution provided:

  • Simplify the CSV to only three columns: Handle, Title, and Body (HTML)
  • Remove all other columns from the spreadsheet
  • Ensure column names match exactly
  • Test with a single product first
  • When uploading, check the ‘Overwrite products with matching handles’ box in the import dialog

Outcome:
The streamlined approach successfully updated the descriptions. The issue was resolved by reducing the CSV to only essential columns rather than including all product data from the original export.

Summarized with AI on October 27. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.

We updated our descriptions so I uploaded a CSV file with all of our products and their updated descriptions via the CSV file import option on the product page with the hope of updating only our product descriptions. The only cells changed in the CSV from our original bulk import were the descriptions. I received an email saying that the import was successful. However, the information, specifically the descriptions, that I changed in the CSV did not change on Shopify.

How do I correctly change all of the 150+ descriptions without having to change them manually?

Getting the product import/export in the Shopify Admin can be a little tricky and it’s hard to see what’s been changed. I’d recommend trying to test on a single product first and seeing if you can get that to work:

Preparing the spreadsheet

Remove all columns from your spreadsheet except for these three:

  • Handle
  • Title
  • Body (HTML)

Make sure the column names match exactly and add the information for a single product, your spreadsheet should look like this:

Upload the spreadsheet

On the products page of the Shopify Admin click on Import and when you upload the file make sure the ‘Overwrite products with matching handles’ box is checked:

The complete the import and check to see if the description has changed. If it hasn’t changed could you attach the CSV file you’re using and I can take a look to figure out what’s not working.

Best,

Daniel

2 Likes

Uploading the file with limited columns worked! Thanks so much for the help!

1 Like

It worked well