Common Shopify CSV import errors and how to fix them

Shopify's product CSV import is strict, and its error messages rarely tell you which row is broken. These are the failures we see most often, what causes them, and the fix for each.

"Validation failed: Title can't be blank"

The first row of each product (the first row carrying a given Handle) must include a Title. This usually breaks when rows get re-sorted in Excel and a variant row ends up first. Fix: make sure the title-bearing row is the first row of its handle block.

Prices that silently import as 0

Variant Price must be a plain number like 1299.00. Currency symbols ($1,299.00) or thousands separators make Shopify treat the value as invalid. Fix: format the column as plain numbers before exporting from your spreadsheet.

Images missing after import

Image Src must be a full, publicly reachable https:// URL — Shopify downloads each image during import. Local paths like photo.jpg or links behind a login fail silently. Fix: host images somewhere public first, or import images separately.

"Status is invalid"

Status accepts exactly active, draft, or archived — lowercase. Values like live or Active fail.

TRUE/FALSE column errors

Columns like Published expect TRUE or FALSE. Spreadsheets sometimes export yes/no or locale-specific values (WAHR/FALSCH from German Excel), which Shopify rejects.