How to use Bulk Actions to edit Shopify store data

Although Mixtable’s Excel-like spreadsheet interface is a very fast and convenient way to bulk update your Shopify store’s data, we can make the process even faster. Mixtable’s Bulk Edit menu has tools for the bulk edits that Shopify store owners make most often. They change the spreadsheet data for you, so you don’t have to edit each cell by hand. When you’re happy with the result, click Preview at the top right of the spreadsheet to review your changes, then click Sync to send them to Shopify, as usual.

You’ll find the Bulk Edit menu in the menu bar at the top of the spreadsheet. It has four tools: Bulk number changes, Find and Replace, Add tags, and Remove tags. For the first two there’s a shortcut: right-click a column’s letter and choose Bulk number changes… or Find and replace…, and the tool opens with that column already chosen.

Looking to use these tools on a subset of your data? For example, on select products only? Just use the Filter feature to do this. The bulk tools only modify cells/rows that are currently visible in the spreadsheet. So if you have applied a filter to your data, only the data that is visible will be considered.

Find and replace

The Find and Replace feature allows you to find and replace specific text in bulk within a specific column. While you can find and replace text in any column in any worksheet, this feature is particularly useful when you are looking to bulk find and replace a word/phrase in your product descriptions, SEO title, SEO description, and option values. Find and Replace is also a super-fast way to rename a tag.

To open it, choose Bulk Edit > Find and Replace from the menu bar, or right-click a column’s letter and choose Find and replace…. (The Find button in the toolbar is a different tool: it searches the worksheet without changing anything.) In the Find and Replace window you’ll see a few inputs:

• Select column - this is how you choose which column in the currently active worksheet the Find and Replace will work on
• Find this - this is where you enter the word(s) that you are looking to replace
• Replace with this - this is where you enter the word(s) you want to replace with
• Case-sensitive match - whether you want to match words in a case sensitive manner. For example, whether a search value of “Organic Apple” should be strict about the capitalization of O and A, or whether it should also match “organic apple” (lowercase)
• Match whole words only - whether you want to only replace whole words that match your “Find this” value, or whether you also want to match parts of words. For example, whether replacing “butter” should only replace the specific word “butter”, or whether it should also replace the “butter” in “butterscotch”
• Preview first 10 rows - on by default, this shows the first 10 visible rows of the worksheet before and after the change. This way you can preview what the output will be before you make it real

When everything looks right, click Update Spreadsheet.

Bulk number update

There are cases where you need to make the same bulk change to a series of numbers. For example, you need to decrease price by 10% for Black Friday/Cyber Monday. Or you need to add $1.50 to the price of every product due to a corresponding increase in wholesale prices. This is where Bulk number changes comes in very handy. Note - this tool does math, and so will only update cells that have a number in them. If a column has a mix of numbers and text values, only the cells with number values will be updated.

To open it, choose Bulk Edit > Bulk number changes from the menu bar, or right-click a column’s letter and choose Bulk number changes…. In the Bulk Edit Numbers window you’ll see a few inputs:

• Select column - this is how you choose which column in the currently active worksheet the change will work on

• Select operation - this is where you select what type of mathematical operation will be performed. The options are:

  • Add - Adds the value you’ve given to every number
  • Subtract - Subtracts the value you’ve given from every number
  • Increase by % - Takes each number and increases it by the specified percent
  • Decrease by % - Takes each number and decreases it by the specified percent
  • Multiply - Multiplies each number by the specified value
  • Divide - Divides each number by the specified value

• Value - The actual value you want to use in the mathematical update

• Preview first 10 rows - on by default, this shows the first 10 visible rows of the worksheet before and after the change. This way you can preview what the output will be before you make it real

• Round results - turn this on to round every result to a whole number. For example, 19.99 becomes 20

When everything looks right, click Update Spreadsheet.

Add tags in bulk

Bulk editing tags is fast and convenient by directly modifying cells that display a product, order, or customer’s tags. But if you need to simply add a tag, the fastest way is with Add tags. This feature is only available for worksheets that sync product, order, and customer information (as only this data in Shopify has tags). You’ll also need to have the Tags field mapped to a column. Mixtable finds that column for you.

To open it, choose Bulk Edit > Add tags from the menu bar. The Bulk Edit Tags window tells you which column it will update, followed by a few inputs:

• The operation - this will be set to Add tag by default, but you can change it to Remove tag if you’ve changed your mind
• The tags box - here you enter one or more tags that you want to add. Press Enter or type a comma after each one
• Preview first 10 rows - on by default, this shows the first 10 visible rows of the worksheet before and after the change. This way you can preview what the output will be before you make it real

When everything looks right, click Update Spreadsheet.

Remove tags in bulk

If you need to simply remove a tag, the fastest way is with Remove tags. This feature is only available for worksheets that sync product, order, and customer information (as only this data in Shopify has tags). You’ll also need to have the Tags field mapped to a column. Mixtable finds that column for you.

To open it, choose Bulk Edit > Remove tags from the menu bar. The Bulk Edit Tags window tells you which column it will update, followed by a few inputs:

• The operation - this will be set to Remove tag by default, but you can change it to Add tag if you’ve changed your mind
• The tags box - here you enter one or more tags that you want to remove. Press Enter or type a comma after each one
• Preview first 10 rows - on by default, this shows the first 10 visible rows of the worksheet before and after the change. This way you can preview what the output will be before you make it real

When everything looks right, click Update Spreadsheet.

Add or remove different product tags with Action columns

Use Action columns when different Shopify products need different tag changes. Each row tells Mixtable which tags to add or remove from the product on that row.

Action columns are available on Products (no variants) and Products (with variants) worksheets. On a variant worksheet, the action changes the tags on the parent product because Shopify tags belong to products, not individual variants.

1. Click ＋ Shopify data in the header row of an empty column, or choose Column > Add Shopify data… from the menu bar
2. In the field picker, click Action columns in the list of sections on the left
3. Click Add tags or Remove tags, then click Save Column
4. Enter the tag or tags for each product row. Separate multiple tags with commas
5. Copy, paste, fill down, or use formulas to prepare the rows you want to update
6. Click Preview at the top right of the spreadsheet and confirm the expected product-tag actions
7. Click Sync to apply them

Leave an Action column cell blank when that row should not perform the action. For example, an Add tags cell containing summer, sale adds those two tags without replacing the product's other tags.

If an automated Shopify collection uses tags in its conditions, changing a product tag can also change whether that product belongs to the collection.

Learn more about Action columns.

Add or remove products with Action columns

Action columns are the safer choice when you want to add or remove specific manual collection memberships without replacing a product's complete collection list.

The Collections template already includes these columns. To add one to another Products (no variants) or Products (with variants) worksheet:

1. Click ＋ Shopify data in the header row of an empty column, or choose Column > Add Shopify data… from the menu bar
2. In the field picker, click Action columns in the list of sections on the left
3. Click Add to collections or Remove from collections
4. Click Save Column

To use the new column:

1. Click the + button in an action cell
2. Check the manual collections to add or remove for that product
3. Click Update cell with selected collections
4. Repeat for other products, or copy the completed action cell to rows that need the same change
5. Click Preview at the top right of the spreadsheet and review the pending collection actions
6. Click Sync when the preview is correct

On a Products (with variants) worksheet, the action applies to the parent product for that variant row. A Products (no variants) worksheet is usually easier for collection work because each product appears once.

Learn more about Action columns.