SCSV Studio

Shopify CSV help · References and characters

Keep leading zeros in SKUs and avoid quoting errors

The reference 00123 must remain 00123. A spreadsheet conversion can change it before the Shopify import even starts.

Preserve references in Excel

  1. Keep the source file intact. In Excel, use Data → From Text/CSV.
  2. When transforming the data, set SKU to Text using the original values, before loading the sheet. Check that the preview still shows 00123. See Microsoft’s instructions.
  3. After exporting, check the reference in the CSV text and choose UTF-8 encoding. Shopify requires this encoding. See Shopify’s CSV guidance.

A comma in a title: keep it in one cell

Enclose the field in straight double quotes and double each quote inside it. See the CSV rules, section 2.

Title,SKU
"Mug, ""summer"" edition",00123

This is a two-column excerpt, not a complete import file. If Shopify reports “illegal quoting”, check the encoding and any missing or stray quotes. See Shopify’s troubleshooting guidance.

Does changing the format to Text restore lost zeros?

No. Return to the original reference. Do not add zeros by guessing: 123 could have come from several different references.

A correctly encoded CSV still needs to be checked during the Shopify import.