How to bulk update stock in WooCommerce

To update stock in bulk in WooCommerce, select the products in Products > All Products, choose Bulk Actions > Edit, and use the Stock Qty and In stock fields. For a supplier’s list with a different number for every product, import a CSV matched by SKU instead. Below are both, the traps in each, and where a plugin or an assistant fits.

Three fields that are easy to mix up

WooCommerce’s product editor guide explains how stock fields depend on each other.

• Manage stock (or “Stock management” on the product). When it is on, WooCommerce keeps a quantity and marks the product out of stock when the number runs out.
• Stock quantity. Shown only when stock management is on.
• Stock status: In stock, Out of stock, On backorder. The guide says you set it by hand only when stock management is off.

If a quantity is being managed, change the quantity. If it is not, change the status. The shop-wide switch, “Enable stock management”, is under WooCommerce > Settings > Products > Inventory, as the products settings page explains.

Way 1: the built-in bulk edit

From the bulk editing page:

1. Go to Products > All Products. Filter by category, product type or stock status, and click Filter.
2. Tick the products, choose Edit in Bulk Actions, and click Apply.
3. Set the fields you need:
   • Manage Stock: Yes or No.
   • Stock Qty: “Change to”, “Increase existing stock by” or “Decrease existing stock by”.
   • In stock: In stock, Out of Stock or On backorder.
   • Backorders?: Do not allow, Allow but notify the customer, or Allow.
4. Click Update.

To mark a whole category out of stock, filter by that category, tick all the products, and set In stock to Out of Stock. The same page says bulk edit works best with simple products. For a variable product, the variable products guide lists inventory bulk actions in the Variations tab: Toggle “Manage stock”, Stock (Count), and Set status to In stock, Out of stock or On backorder. Those work on one variable product at a time.

The limit: bulk edit gives every selected product the same instruction. “Change to 20” sets all of them to 20. It cannot take a different number per product.

Way 2: a CSV from your supplier

When you have a sheet with an SKU and a quantity, the product CSV importer is the right tool.

1. Export your products (Products > All Products > Export, then Generate CSV) so you have the right SKUs and a copy of the old numbers.
2. Put the supplier’s quantities into the Stock column, matching rows by SKU. The status column is In stock?.
3. Select Import, choose the file, tick Update existing products, select Continue.
4. On Column mapping, choose Do not import for columns you do not want to change, then Run the importer.

One trap, from the same page: there is no “manage stock” column. A number in Stock turns stock management on for that row, and a blank turns it off. So a blank cell is not “no change”, it is “stop managing”. Variations are separate rows with the type variation and a Parent value. Without the update tick, rows whose ID or SKU already exist are skipped. See also updating products with a CSV.

Plugins for stock

Some options, as their own pages describe them:

• Bulk Stock Management, a paid extension on WooCommerce.com.
• WooCommerce Bulk CSV Stock Updater from WP Overnight: product ID or SKU plus quantity, with a preview.
• Out of Stock by Tag: sets products out of stock by tag or category. Its listing warns it has not been tested with the latest three WordPress releases.
• iThemeland’s guide to bulk editing stock.

What customers then see

Under WooCommerce > Settings > Products > Inventory there is a box called Out Of Stock Visibility. Ticking it hides out-of-stock items from the catalog, and it works even when stock management is off. It is one setting for the whole shop, not one per product. After a big change, open a product page and see what a shopper sees.

Check it and keep a record

Sort the product list by stock, or filter by stock status, and look at a sample. Keep the CSV you exported before. If the new numbers are wrong, this is how to go back. For stock, remember that orders change quantities all day. A file from the morning is not a record of the evening.

The StoreEdit AI way

You tell your assistant what you want, for example “Set everything in the Summer Sale category to out of stock.” StoreEdit AI can change stock quantity and stock status for products you filter by category, tag, product type, status, or on sale or not on sale. In WordPress you see each product with its stock now and the stock it would become. You untick rows, press Apply selected, and each row is checked again as it is written. A product that changed since the preview is skipped. On a variable product the change is made on the variations customers buy. Undo restores the exact old value, and leaves alone a product someone changed meanwhile.

The limits, plainly

• Bulk edit: one instruction for all selected products, simple products work best.
• CSV: a different number per product, but the blank-cell trap and variation rows need care.
• StoreEdit AI: it edits by request. It is not a stock sync with a supplier feed, and it does not run on a schedule. It does not create or delete products.

Questions

How do I mark many products out of stock at once?

Filter the product list by category or product type, tick them, use Bulk Actions > Edit, and set In stock to Out of Stock.

Can I update stock from a supplier spreadsheet?

Yes, with a CSV: put the SKU and quantity in the right columns and import with Update existing products ticked.

Why did the CSV turn off stock management?

A blank in the Stock column switches stock management off for that row.

Can WooCommerce sync stock with my supplier automatically?

That is a different job from the one in this post, and needs a feed or an integration. StoreEdit AI does not do it.