Why does 'Src cannot be blank' error occur when importing .csv file into my store?

Technical Q&A

Topic summary

The ‘Src cannot be blank’ error occurs when importing CSV files into Shopify if there’s data in the ‘Image Position’ or ‘Image Alt Text’ columns without a corresponding ‘Image Src’ URL in the same row.

Root Cause:

  • Shopify requires an image source URL whenever image metadata (position or alt text) is present
  • This happens even if the original export left ‘Image Src’ blank

Solution:

  • Ensure ‘Image Position’ and ‘Image Alt Text’ columns are completely empty if no ‘Image Src’ is provided
  • Alternatively, add valid image URLs to match any existing metadata

Additional Notes:

  • Each image link requires its own separate row in the CSV
  • For multiple images per product, use sequential position numbers (1, 2, 3, etc.)
  • One user reports the error persists despite emptying all three columns, suggesting potential data formatting issues

The discussion remains partially unresolved for edge cases where the standard solution doesn’t work.

Summarized with AI on November 1. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
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