How Excel corrupts Shopify CSV files (and what to do instead)
Microsoft Excel is the default workspace for “anything rectangular,” which makes it the default destroyer of Shopify product CSVs. Excel silently reformats numbers, interprets text as dates, strips leading zeros from SKUs and GTINs, and rewrites quotes in ways that survive until import fails or wrong data lands in production. None of that is Shopify-specific—it is how spreadsheets prioritize display over fidelity.
Shopify’s guidance on avoiding formatting problems appears alongside common import issues; treat this article as a workflow supplement.
Scientific notation and long integers
Large numeric IDs or EAN/UPC codes often become scientific notation (for example 1.23E+12). The CSV you export from Excel now contains a different string than the barcode on the box. Inventory systems downstream will disagree forever until you fix source data.
Dates applied to non-dates
SKUs like APR-20 or style codes resembling month names become calendar values. You will not notice until variants stop matching supplier manifests.
Leading zeros stripped
Apparel sizing, ZIP+4 fragments, and some manufacturer codes rely on leading zeros. Excel drops them unless cells were explicitly formatted as text before entry—in practice, teams forget.
Smart quotes and locale delimiters
Curly quotes break CSV quoting rules, and European locale installs sometimes emit semicolon delimiters. Shopify’s standard product CSV expects comma-separated UTF-8 with correct quoting. See also UTF-8 and illegal quoting.
Safer workflows
- Never round-trip the final file through Excel. If you must edit in Excel, treat that file as an intermediate artifact and regenerate the final CSV from a text-safe pipeline.
- Use a dedicated CSV or code editor for the upload file: VS Code, comma-specific tools, or an app that emits Shopify-shaped rows by schema (for example LaunchCSV).
- Prefer export-first editing when possible—edit against Shopify’s columns exactly: bulk update workflow.
If you are stuck with Excel today
- Import data using the “Text” column type for SKU, barcode, and ID columns before paste.
- Save CSV explicitly as UTF-8 from Excel’s export dialog where available.
- Open the saved file in a plain-text editor and spot-check several risky cells.
FAQ
Is Google Sheets safer?
Slightly, for some issues—but it still changes types. Verify output as UTF-8 text before import.
Can formulas live in a Shopify CSV?
No. Export values only; formula cells become unreadable or wrong.
Why did only my newest orders break barcodes?
A single column may have switched to General format mid-project when rows were pasted from a new supplier sheet.