Import Items Online
Upload and manage multiple items at once from the Square Dashboard with the bulk import tool.
Step 1: Download your library template
- Click Items > Item library from your online Square Dashboard.
- Click the Actions drop-down menu > click Import Library.
- Click download the template and the Excel (XLSX) file will automatically download to your desktop.
- Open the downloaded file. The file will have the title ‘catalog-YYYY-MM-DD-XXXX.xlsx’.
- Review the instructions at the top of the file and example text above each column field to begin editing.
Before you export your library, update your filters to reflect what items you would like to export. The export will only include items you are currently viewing.
- Click Items > Item library from your online Square Dashboard.
- Click the Actions drop-down menu > click Export Library.
- Choose to export All items or Blank import template.
- Choose between an Excel or CSV file format. We strongly recommend downloading the Excel (XLSX) format.
- Click Export. A spreadsheet will download to your computer.
- The Excel file template is formatted to text, not numbers. If you want to use the exported item library file to perform number functions, you must change the downloaded file to a numeric format.
- Items that use rich text formatting will have HTML tags included in the item descriptions in the exported file. Items without rich text formatting will not have HTML tags included in the item descriptions. HTML tags are small pieces of code, such as “<p>” and “
”. - Before you make any alterations to your existing library, we recommend exporting a copy of your item library and saving a distinct file before continuing — so, you can always revert back to the previous library if you have any issues or lose any information.
Step 2: Update your item library spreadsheet
To learn more about the template fields and their formatting and description, go to the Spreadsheet fields, format, and descriptions section of this article.
The following information only applies if importing items using a CSV file, not Excel (.xlsx).
You can’t create or update a unit type or unit precision from your CSV file. If you’re using a CSV file, you’ll need to manually enter the unit and precision. Make sure to enter the full unit type name and precision – don’t use abbreviations or the cell will return an error.
While you can import the CSV data into a spreadsheet, if your item library contains SKUs, don’t open the CSV file directly as some spreadsheet editors will modify your SKUs in unexpected ways. Specifically, they may remove leading zeros or convert them to another format.
If you have SKUs in your CSV, open the data in Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets to make sure there are no errors in your file.
- Create a new spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel.
- Select File > Import from the main menu.
- Select the CSV file option and click Import.
- Choose the CSV file you exported from your item library and click Get Data.
- The Import Wizard pop up will appear. Click Next.
- Make sure only the comma delimiter is ticked, then click Next.
- Scroll over to the SKU column and change the column data format to Text, then click Finish.
- Choose the New Sheet option and click OK.
- Create a new spreadsheet in Google Drive.
- Click File > Import from the main menu.
- Click the Upload tab and choose the CSV file you exported from your item library.
- After the file uploads, an “Import File” popup will open. Make sure you change “Convert texts to numbers and dates” to No.
- Click Import.
When you’re done editing your library, save the CSV file to your computer.
When editing your Excel (.xlsx) file, we recommend using the most up-to-date version of your spreadsheet programme.
Update the template columns with your item information. When editing the template:
- You can’t create or update a unit type or unit precision from your Excel spreadsheet - you’ll only see the option to select one of your existing units from the cell dropdown menu.
- Don’t change any information in the Token column.
- Don’t reorder or delete any columns. Changing the columns will result in an error when you import the library into your Dashboard.
- Leaving the Category field blank means the item will show as Uncategorised in your Item library in Dashboard.
- Any new values you enter in the Category column will create new categories in your Item library in Dashboard.
- Leaving the Price field blank or writing “Variable” will create a variable-priced item.
- Leaving the Modifier Set field blank will default the modifier to Off. Place a Y in the appropriate Modifier Set field to apply a specific modifier to an item.
- Any changes made to the New Quantity column will replace the existing item quantity. If you enter a zero in the New Quantity column, your inventory for that item for that location will be set to zero.
- You can assign a location-specific price, stock count or availability by setting values in the location-specific columns.
When you’re done editing your library, save the Excel file to your computer.
Step 3: Upload your updated item library
Once you finish updating your file, you can import the spreadsheet into your online Square Dashboard to update your Item Library.
- Make sure the following required columns are in your Excel (XLSX) or CSV: Item Name, Variation Name, Description, and SKU. If you have more than one location, the Enabled [Location Name] column is also required.
- Make sure the Tax column has the required heading format, which includes the tax percentage value in parentheses within the header. For example, “Tax - Sales (7%)”.
Import your updated spreadsheet
- Click Items > Item library from your online Square Dashboard.
- Click the Actions drop-down menu > click Import library.
- Drag and drop the updated file into the upload box area or click browse file to select your spreadsheet. Click Next.
- You will be prompted to match document columns for item attributes. Confirm each item attribute is matched to the correct column, then click Next.
- Note: If you did not change the column names in the file downloaded from Square, the product attributes should be automatically matched.
- The importing process may take a few minutes to complete. If you did not receive an error message, your Item Library successfully imported.
- If your import is not successful, your file may have errors that need to be resolved before you can finish uploading.
- Click Update to accept any automatic updates to the file without having to manually fix them.
- If you receive a message about an error report, click Download error report to view the errors and manually resolve them. Some errors may offer an Auto resolve option you can select to fix the error.
- Make the necessary adjustments to your updated Excel file (not in the error report), save the Excel file, and attempt to import the document to your Dashboard again.
: If you are still having trouble uploading your Item Library, learn how to
troubleshoot your item library file.
Step 4 (optional): Upload images to your item library
In your Item Library, you can upload images to items from your online Square Dashboard. Images uploaded to your online Square Dashboard in the Item Library will sync across your Square app(s), Square Online and Square for Retail. You cannot have different images for the same items across Point of Sale, Square Online, and Square for Retail.
- Supported image file types include: JPG, JPEG, PNG, SPIN, and GIF.
- Images can be up to 20 MB in size, but less than 500 KB is recommended for faster page loading speeds and more optimised search engine results.
- Images can be up to 2,560 pixels in width and 2,560 pixels in height. This size allows for a higher quality zoom on your images.
- 360° or 3D images are not supported.
- From your online Square Dashboard, click Items > Create an Item.
- Fill out your item details. In the Images section, you can drag and drop individual images, upload multiple images from your device, or browse the image library.
- The primary image will appear first in the image queue, as well as in the Point of Sale tile at the top of the page. You can drag images in the queue in the order you prefer.
- If needed, you can add images to variations by selecting the item variation then clicking Add images. Select multiple images from the Image library window, then click Upload.
- Click Save.
You can upload up to 250 images per item. If you need to remove an image, hover your cursor over the image tile and click the trash can icon to delete the image from your item library. All of your uploaded images will appear in your Image library in your Square Dashboard.
Spreadsheet fields, format, and descriptions
Refer to our import spreadsheet glossary to help you seamlessly update and import your item library template.
Note: Depending on which Square features you use, your spreadsheet may not contain all of these fields.