Why does the alt text generator in product photo work only sometimes? Is there a way to force it to turn on? I don’t want to add product when it’s not working because then I have to go back when it randomly starts working again.
There’s no toggle to force the alt text suggestion on. Shopify’s help docs say the media editor might suggest alt text only when an image doesn’t already have any, and accepting a suggestion saves it to the file. So when it shows up only sometimes, it’s usually because that image already has alt text, or the editor just didn’t offer a suggestion for that file.
What still works every time:
- Products → open the product → click the image → Add alt text → type it → Save alt text
- For a batch, export a products CSV, fill the Image Alt Text column, then re-import
Max length is 512 characters (under ~125 is better). I haven’t found a way to make the generator run on demand, so when it’s flaky I write the alt manually or use CSV so I’m not stuck waiting to add products.
Docs: https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/products/product-media/add-alt-text
pretty sure theres no way to force that on. it usually hides if the image already has alt text, like if you reused it from Content > Files. id just save the product and type the alt after, waiting on the button is a pain