Why can't we import products with the Collection column in the CSV file?

[msmafra]

Using the optional column “Collection” is causing my CSV files to no be imported. The message :“There was an error importing your CSV file. After you fix the error, try importing the CSV file again. - can not manually add product to smart collection” is not at the documentation Solutions to common product CSV import problems not referenced in the Using CSV Files documentation.

There are no manual collections in our store; the products match the Collection and the Tags; importing without the Collection Column or with it works.

What can we do to solve it?

[CloudlabSam]

You are trying to add the products to existing smart collections. By definition you can’t manually add products to smart collections. If you want to add to your collections they have to be manual collections.

[msmafra]

I am assuming that by smart collections you and the message are referring to the automatic ones, that are covered in the documentation:

“If it’s an existing automatic collection, then the product needs to meet the conditions for the collection.”

As all the products meet the conditions we set for the collections, it would hope them to be imported. They have the correct tags.

[CloudlabSam]

Then you shouldn’t have to include the collection name in the CSV. If they meet the conditions they will be automatically added by Shopify.

[Lilith]

Hi, @msmafra !

My name is Lilith, I’m on the Social Care team at Shopify. For this situation, this is expected behavior.

I don’t recommend adding the Collection column to your CSV if you don’t have any manual collections.

Automated collections work with a set of rules/conditions that the user sets. These collections and aren’t meant to be manual collections (adding products manually to them).

The reason you’re seeing that error message is that the system is confused when someone attempts to manually add to an automated collection.

I’ve gone ahead and done some testing in my own testing store to help you see what I mean.

Example

In my tests, I tried importing a product with a CSV that includes the name of the automated collection in the collection column.

My automated collection requires that the tag “digital” be added to the product.

In this CSV I’ve added the tag “digital” to meet the conditions of my automated collection:

Here is what happens when I import that product:

### Solution

1. Make sure your products meet the criteria for the collections you want to see them in. This is the key to making sure your products get sorted automatically when they’re imported.

2. Don’t use the collection column to import products into an Automated collection. You’ll notice you cannot manually add products to these collections within your admin either.

An automated collection will immediately pull the products into its list if they meet the conditions. That is one of the benefits of having an automated collection, so as to avoid manually adding products to collections.

However, if you are needing to manually manage the collections in your store you can do that with manual collections.

To switch over to using manual collections instead you can do the following:

1. Create a new empty manual collection.

2. Go to All Products

3. Filter for products from a specific automatic collection.

4. Select the products with the select all checkbox

5. Add them to your new manual collection

You can also do this via CSV as well.

It sounds like your business is growing well and you’re managing many products. Definitely take some time to check out our blog on improving your stock flow. As a business grows some of the product and inventory management styles could require some efficiency improvements to make your business run smoother.

Let me know how you do with the information above! I’m happy to answer any questions you think of as you work on your business.