Whether you’ve deleted old product pages, restructured collections, or migrated from another platform, customers landing on “Page Not Found” (404) errors can quickly impact your store’s SEO, traffic and conversions. That’s where 301 redirects come in; they seamlessly guide visitors and search engines from broken URLs to new ones, preserving your SEO equity.
Shopify makes it easy to handle these redirects in bulk. Instead of manually adding them one by one, you can import redirects into your Shopify store using a CSV or Excel file. This approach saves time, reduces human error, and ensures that every broken link leads to the active and relevant page.
In this guide, you’ll learn how to prepare and import your redirects. How to create a file with the right path, target, and upload it to your store’s URL Redirects section.
You’ll also discover how to use Shopify’s sample redirect file, follow the import process step-by-step, and verify that your 301 redirects are working seamlessly.
By the end, you’ll be able to confidently fix broken URLs, improve your store’s SEO health, and keep every customer journey smooth and uninterrupted.
Table of Contents
What is Shopify Import Redirects?
Shopify import redirects is a process of using a CSV file to apply Shopify redirects in bulk. With this tool, you don’t have to manually add each broken URL and apply redirects. You can gather multiple broken URLs along with their new, active URLs and arrange them in a file. All you have to do is, import this file in Shopify and your job is done.
After successful process, you will see that all your broken URLs are now redirected to new ones.
Let’s now look at how to import redirects in Shopify.
Step-by-Step Process of Importing Redirects in Shopify
In this section, we shall discuss the steps involved in successfully importing Shopify redirects in your store. Firstly, we will look at how to add URLs to a file, mistakes to avoid when formatting the file, and finally, importing the file to your Shopify store.
Apart from Shopify admin, you can also use third-party apps to apply Shopify bulk redirects.
1. Preparing Your CSV or Excel File
You will need a file, like an Excel sheet or a CSV to upload redirects in bulk in Shopify. You can access a sample CSV file from Shopify admin under URL redirects section.
Step 1: For that, go to Shopify admin >> Content >> Menus >> URL Redirects >> Click on “Import.’
Step 2: Click on the CSV template, and you have a download ready. Open the file in Google sheets/Excel, it looks similar to this. Don’t forget to give a name to the sheet.
Step 3: From the second row onwards, start adding the URLs. Ensure you’re adding old/broken URLs under the ‘Redirect from’ and the new ones under ‘Redirect to’ column.
Remember: Before applying redirects, ensure you’re following the Shopify limits and guidelines.
Examples of these URLs include:
| Redirect From | Redirect To |
| /products/old-blue-shirt | /products/classic-blue-shirt |
| /collections/sale-items | /collections/clearance |
| /blogs/fashion-tips | /blogs/style-guides |
| /pages/shipping | /pages/delivery-and-returns |
| /products/leather-boots | /collections/footwear |
Important: If you’re on a Standard Shopify plan, you can apply a maximum of 100,000 URL redirects. And for merchants with Shopify Plus plans, Shopify allows a much higher limit of 20,000,000 URL redirects.
We do not have a valid source confirming the number of redirects supported in each CSV file. However, we gathered that the CSV file size can go up to 15 MB.
Tip: If your CS file exceeds this size limit, you can split one file in two and try uploading them to Shopify.
Step 4: After adding all the URLs, save it. Here’s a sample Google Sheets containing bulk URL redirects.
Once the file is ready, let’s look into the importing process in the upcoming section. But, before that, let’s ensure our file is free of errors to ensure a seamless uploading process.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Preparing a CSV File
- When uploading your file to Shopify, make sure it’s saved in CSV format. If you try uploading an Excel file instead, Shopify will display an error stating that the file is empty.
- Double-check all URLs for spelling errors before importing.
- Ensure that the source URLs return a 404 error before redirecting them to their new destinations.
- As mentioned earlier, always follow Shopify’s restrictions and guidelines when applying 301 redirects to prevent upload failures or redirect conflicts.
2. Importing 301 Redirects to Shopify
Your file is ready. Let’s upload it to Shopify.
Step 1: Go to Content >> Menu >> View URL redirects >> Click Import.
Step 2: Click on ‘Add file’ and select a file from your computer. Click on Import redirects and if the file is free of errors. You will see the success message.
If you do not convert the Excel file to CSV and try uploading it on Shopify, you will see an error message. Likewise:
Important: After uploading, Shopify takes some time to scan your URL redirects. If it detects any errors, it displays the following message:
It will also send an email indicating if the process is successful or has errors. For example, here’s a screenshot of email sent by Shopify indicating the redirects could not be imported and specifies the reason for each unsuccessful redirect.
The process of importing redirects from Shopify is complete. After successful redirects, ensure you’re testing each URL and monitoring the performance of new ones regularly. You can use tools like Google Search Console and Google Analytics 4 or Shopify redirect apps to gather performance data.
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How To Export Shopify Redirects?
In this section, we will look at how to export redirects from Shopify and why should you do so.
Why Export Redirects?
Maintain Backups
Exporting redirects from Shopify helps you maintain a backup of your redirect history. This backup file comes in handy before large updates or migrations from one platform to another. It lets you restore previous redirect rules if something goes wrong.
SEO Preservation During Migration
Let’s say you’re migrating from a platform like WooCommerce to Shopify or changing your URL structure.
What you can do is:
- Export all redirects and store the file on your computer.
- After the migration, import them back; this practice helps you prevent broken links.
- Remember to verify that the redirects are applied correctly.
Auditing Purposes
- Having a file lets you check for duplicate redirects or redirect loops.
- Identify broken URLs in the destination.
- Detect outdated or conflicting entries.
Now, let’s look at how to export file from your Shopify admin.
Steps to Export a File From Shopify
Step 1: Go to your Shopify admin >> Content >> Menus >> Click ‘URL Redirects.’ >> Click ‘Export.’
Step 2: Select your preferred options to download the file and click on Export URL redirects.
Step 3: You will receive an email with a link to download your file. Click on the link and you can access your file in Excel or Google Sheets.
Conclusion
301 redirects don’t just fix broken URLs; they protect your SEO, preserve your traffic, and keep your customers moving smoothly through your site.
By preparing a clean CSV or Excel file and using Shopify’s built-in Import Redirects feature, you can handle hundreds of redirects in just a few clicks.
Key Takeaways:
- Create a CSV or Excel file with the correct columns: ‘Redirect From’ and ‘Redirect To.’
- Download the Shopify redirects sample CSV file to follow the predefined structure.
- Add your old URLs under Redirect From and new URLs under Redirect To.
- Save your file as a CSV—Shopify won’t accept Excel formats for imports.
- Double-check the file for spelling mistakes and make sure each “from” URL returns a 404 before importing.
- Shopify will display or email an error message if any redirects fail. Review and fix them before reuploading.
- Regularly export your redirects to maintain backups, especially before large updates or platform migrations.
FAQs
What if my CSV file for redirects isn’t importing correctly?
There could be several reasons, including incorrect file format, missing URLs, incorrect URL paths and more. To ensure seamless redirects, follow Shopify’s guidelines, and refrain from making any mistakes in URL structure, spellings and ensure the source URL is a broken and not active one.
How can I automate redirect updates in Shopify?
You can use Shopify redirect apps such as AdNabu’s redirect manager and other tools available in the Shopify app store. These tools automatically detect 404 error pages and let you create redirects in seconds.
What should I do if a redirect leads to a 404 error?
Check the URL for typos, refresh the page, and clear your browser’s cache and cookies. If the issue still persists, we recommend that you go through this guide on Shopify redirects not working, that discusses specific issues and their resolutions.
Can I use redirects for temporary promotions?
Yes, you can use temporary redirects. But for that, you must apply 302 redirects and not 301, as 301 redirects are for ‘permanent’ redirects. And you cannot use Shopify redirects for temporary redirects, as it only supports 301 redirects. However, you can use third-party apps to apply temporary redirects.
How do I track the performance of my redirects?
You can use tools like Google Search Console and Google Analytics (GA4) to track the performance of your redirects. These tools help you analyze if the new page is receiving relevant traffic and leading to conversions or not.
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