--- title: How to Update WooCommerce Stock in Bulk with Excel description: Upload an .xlsx file to update stock quantity, stock status, regular and sale prices for many products by ID or SKU. url: "https://wpfactory.com/docs/stock-manager-bulk-update-stock-excel/" updated: "2026-09-27" category: How to --- # How to Update WooCommerce Stock in Bulk with Excel To update WooCommerce stock in bulk with Excel, go to **WPFactory > Stock Manager** in [Products Stock Manager with Excel for WooCommerce](https://wpfactory.com/item/products-stock-manager-with-excel-for-woocommerce/), tick the fields to update on the **Settings** tab, then upload an .xlsx file with product IDs or SKUs and new values on the **Update** tab. ![Update tab with the file field, the sample link and a list of "updated successfully" results](https://wpfactory.com/wp-content/uploads/stock-manager-bulk-update-stock-excel-1.png) ## Before you start - Log in as an Administrator. Other roles can see the screen, but the upload does nothing for them. - Enable **Manage stock?** on the products or variations whose quantity you update, otherwise WooCommerce ignores the stored quantity. - Back up your database. The update writes straight to your products. - Use an .xlsx file. CSV files are refused and older .xls files are not processed. ## How to update stock and prices from Excel 1. Go to **WPFactory > Stock Manager** and click the **Settings** tab. 2. Tick the fields you want to change: **Update Stock Number**, **Update Stock Status**, **Update Regular Price**, **Update Sale Price**. Leave the others unticked so their columns are ignored. 3. If your columns differ from the default layout (see the table below), choose the right letters in the **Excel Column Letter** fields. Click **Save Changes**. 4. Prepare your file. The quickest way is the **Export** tab (see [how to export products and stock to Excel](https://wpfactory.com/docs/stock-manager-export-stock-excel/)), or download the **sample** file from the Update tab. 5. Edit the values. Keep headings on row 1 and start products on row 2. Put an ID or a SKU on every row. 6. Save the file as **Excel Workbook (.xlsx)**. 7. Click the **Update** tab and choose the file. The upload starts as soon as you select it: confirm the prompt "Are you sure you want to update the products stock and prices ?". 8. Read the results. Each row prints "[ID] updated successfully", or "ID or SKU not provided" when a row has neither. ## Default column layout | Column | Heading in the sample | Setting that uses it | Accepted values | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | A | ID | Product ID Excel Column Letter | Product or variation ID | | B | SKU | SKU Excel Column Letter | Existing SKU | | C | REGULAR PRICE | Update Regular Price | A number greater than 0 | | D | SALE PRICE | Update Sale Price | A number of 0 or more (0 removes the sale price) | | E | STOCK | Update Stock Number | A number of 0 or more | | F | STOCK STATUS | Update Stock Status | `instock` or `outofstock` | ## How rows are matched and written - **ID first, SKU second:** if the ID cell has a value, it is used. The SKU is only looked up when the ID cell is empty. If you set the SKU column to A, IDs are ignored and every row is matched by SKU. - **Invalid values are skipped:** an empty or non-numeric stock, a negative number, or a regular price of 0 leaves that field unchanged. - **Stock above 0 sets In stock:** in a manual upload, when a row has a stock quantity above 0, the product is marked In stock, even if the status column says otherwise. A stock of 0 leaves the status as it is unless you also update the status. - **Active price:** the product price becomes the sale price when one is set, otherwise the regular price. - **Housekeeping:** the product's modified date is refreshed (and the parent's, for variations) and its cached data is cleared, so the store shows new values right away. ## Add up stock from several rows If a product appears on more than one row, for example because stock comes from several warehouses, tick **Add Stock for same Product from multiple Excel Rows** together with **Update Stock Number**. The rows are then added together instead of the last row winning. See [how to sum stock from multiple Excel rows](https://wpfactory.com/docs/how-to-update-and-manage-stock-based-on-multiple-excel-rows-for-woocommerce-product/). ## Start every product from zero Tick **Setting Zero Stock for All Products before Manual Update** if the file is your complete stock list. Before reading the file, Stock Manager sets every product to 0 and Out of stock, so products missing from the file end up out of stock. This applies to products, not to individual variations. ## FAQ ### Can I upload a CSV file? No. A CSV file is refused with the message "Only format allowed: xls, xlsx", and an older .xls file is accepted by the form but not processed. Open the file in Excel or Google Sheets and save or download it as .xlsx. ### Can I update products by SKU only? Yes. Leave the ID column empty on each row and fill in the SKU. Or set **SKU Excel Column Letter** to A to match every row by SKU. ### Why did the stock change but not show on the product page? **Manage stock?** is off for that product. Stock Manager stores the quantity but does not enable stock management. Turn it on in the product's Inventory tab. ### Can I run the same update automatically? Yes. Put the file online and use [scheduled updates from a remote Excel file](https://wpfactory.com/docs/stock-manager-schedule-automatic-stock-updates/). ### Get more control Bulk updates are the core of [Products Stock Manager with Excel for WooCommerce](https://wpfactory.com/item/products-stock-manager-with-excel-for-woocommerce/). Pro adds column mapping, variation updates and scheduled imports. [See what Pro unlocks](https://wpfactory.com/item/products-stock-manager-with-excel-for-woocommerce/). Need a hand? Our team answers every ticket on the [Stock Manager support forum](https://wpfactory.com/support/item/products-stock-manager-with-excel-for-woocommerce/). Related articles - [How to Manage WooCommerce Stock with Excel: Getting Started](https://wpfactory.com/docs/how-to-use-products-stock-manager-with-excel-for-woocommerce/) - [Stock Manager with Excel: Common Setup Questions](https://wpfactory.com/docs/multiple-instruction/) - [How to Update WooCommerce Stock from a Google Spreadsheet](https://wpfactory.com/docs/how-to-update-woocommerce-products-stock-number-from-google-spreadsheet/) - [Stock Manager with Excel: Free vs Pro](https://wpfactory.com/docs/stock-manager-free-vs-pro/) - [Stock Manager with Excel Troubleshooting](https://wpfactory.com/docs/stock-manager-troubleshooting/)