The unified Collections data type covers every kind of collection on your store: rule-based (smart), hand-picked (manual), and collections that combine both. It supports Shopify's newer collection features - excluded products, membership pulled in from other collections, and rules that target individual variants - that the legacy Smart Collection and Manual Collection formats cannot represent.

A collection's membership is defined by one or more sources. Each source can add products by rules, by hand-picked products or variants, or by pulling in the contents of other collections. Most collections have a single source, and a file without any Source columns works exactly like a legacy Smart or Manual collection file.

Download sample spreadsheets to see the structure for importing collection data:

If present, the ID will be used to group multiple rows together into a single collection. When importing, the ID will be used to find the existing collection on the store. If no match is found, the app will fall back to the Handle, and then the Title.

The handle is the URL-friendly version of the collection title used in the collection's URL. If the ID is not present, the handle is used for grouping multiple rows together into a single collection and finding an existing collection on the store.

With MERGE and UPDATE, sources are handled incrementally: only the sources named in the file are touched (see Source Command), and sources not named in the file are left alone. With REPLACE, the file is the source of truth - every source is recreated from the file. In all cases, sources owned by other apps are never modified, and a file with no source or rule data at all (for example, a title-only update) leaves the collection's existing sources untouched.

The main title of the collection that will be displayed to customers. If neither ID nor Handle is present, the title is used for grouping multiple rows together into a single collection. A title is required when creating a new collection.

The main description of the collection in HTML format. You can include plain text or formatted HTML with images, videos, links, and tables.

The sort order applies to the whole collection, across all of its sources. Note that when a collection uses Manual sorting, products that newly match a rule are appended to the end of the manual order.

Allows you to use a custom template for displaying this specific collection. Work with your developer to create new templates in your theme.

The timestamp when the collection was last modified. This field is export-only and cannot be imported. ISO-formatted timestamps are also supported.

The timestamp when the collection was published. This field is export-only and cannot be imported. ISO-formatted timestamps are also supported.

Used when a collection spans multiple rows (e.g., when including multiple rules or products). This field is export-only.

This field is export-only.

The URL of the featured image that represents the collection. The image must be publicly accessible.

The width of the collection's featured image in pixels. This field is export-only and cannot be imported.

The height of the collection's featured image in pixels. This field is export-only and cannot be imported.

Alternative text for accessibility and SEO purposes.

The total number of products currently in the collection. This field is export-only and automatically calculated by Shopify.

These labels match the legacy export types exactly: a Smart collections export contains precisely the collections labeled Smart, and likewise for Manual.

This field is computed on export to help you orient around the old Smart/Manual split. It is export-only and ignored on import - the source rows are always the source of truth.

A source is one part of a collection's membership. Each source has its own rules, hand-picked products, or referenced collections, and a collection's products are the combination of all its sources.

The Source column groups the rows of one collection into sources: rows that share the same Source value belong to the same source. If your file has no source columns, all of the collection's rows form a single source - this is how legacy Smart and Manual collection files behave.

The name of the source. It groups the collection's rows into sources and is stored as the source's title in Shopify. Source names do not need to be unique across collections. If left blank, all rows form a single source titled Untitled Source.

An optional description of the source. Only needs to be set on the source's first row.

The identifier of the source in Shopify. On export, the numeric identifier is written on the source's first row.

On import, the Source ID identifies which existing source the rows refer to. It is matched against the collection's sources; if nothing matches, the app falls back to matching the Source title. It is required when Source Target is Shared - there it identifies the app-owned source to link.

Source commands apply when the collection-level Command is MERGE or UPDATE. Imports are incremental: sources not named in the file are left alone, and removing a source always requires an explicit DELETE. When the source can be identified, MERGE, UPDATE, and REPLACE all replace that source's rules and hand-picked products wholesale with the file's data - there is no additive mode.

If the collection Command is REPLACE, source commands are ignored: all of the collection's sources are recreated fresh from the file.

Files without Source / Source ID columns (such as legacy Smart or Manual collection files) target the collection's only source automatically. If the collection has more than one source, the import fails with an error instead of guessing - export the collection with the Collections data type to edit it.

Only needs to be set on the source's first row. If a row hand-picks a variant while the target is Products, the source is automatically imported as a Variants source.

Applies per source (each source has its own matching logic). If no value is provided, the default is all conditions.

Metafield rules require a metafield definition to exist for the namespace and key on your store.

When Rule: Mode is Exclude, only Tag, Type, Vendor, Category, and Collection rules are supported.

Tag rules support the Equals and Not Equals relations.

The value that the product field will be compared against. If the condition is empty the rule will be skipped.

Only applies to Category rules.

Exclude rules support the Tag, Type, Vendor, Category, and Collection columns. Hand-picked products can also be excluded by setting Rule: Mode to Exclude on a Product: ID / Product: Handle row.

The unique identifier of a hand-picked product in this source. Hand-picked products can be combined with rules in the same source.

The URL handle of a hand-picked product in this source. Used as an alternative way to identify products when Product ID is not available.

Hand-picks an individual product variant instead of the whole product. The owning product is found automatically, so Product: ID / Product: Handle can be left blank. Variant selections are only supported on the include side, and the source is imported as a Variants source.

Hand-picks an individual product variant by its SKU, as an alternative to Product: Variant ID. The variant and its owning product are looked up by SKU.

The position of a hand-picked product in the collection. Only applies when Sort Order is set to Manual - positions on collections with any other sort order are skipped.

Positions are relative sort weights rather than literal slots: positioned products are sorted by their values and moved to the front of the collection in that order. The position applies to the collection as a whole (Shopify keeps one manual order across all sources). On export, positions are filled in from the collection's current product order for the hand-picked rows.

Each source's rows are grouped by the Source column. Source-level values (Source Target, Must Match) only need to be set on the source's first row, and collection-level fields (Title, Command, etc.) only on the collection's first row.

For example, one collection with three sources - tag rules with an exclusion, hand-picked products, and the contents of another collection:

Sub-collections can only be nested one level deep - this is a Shopify limitation:

Rows in a Sub Collection source can only reference collections; rule and Product: columns are not allowed in that source.

Metafields can be imported and exported with collections to store custom metadata, SEO information, and additional attributes.

For detailed information about working with metafields, see our Metafields guide.

SEO fields are special metafields:

If no SEO title or description is provided, Shopify automatically generates them from the collection's title and description.

Control publication status across individual sales channels by creating separate columns for each channel. This works similarly to Products, where you create one column per sales channel.

Use column names in the format Published: [Sales Channel Name] for example:

Control whether the collection is published on a specific sales channel.

When importing, each sales channel can be controlled independently. If a column value is blank, that sales channel's publication status will remain unchanged during the import process.

This field has priority over the legacy "Published" and "Published Scope" fields. If you include both sets of fields, the sales channel columns will be used.

You can use these filters to limit which collections are exported: