--- title: Stock Manager with Excel Troubleshooting description: "Fix common Stock Manager issues: uploads that change nothing, wrong file type, stock not showing, prices skipped and cron imports not running." url: "https://wpfactory.com/docs/stock-manager-troubleshooting/" updated: "2026-09-26" category: Troubleshooting --- # Stock Manager with Excel Troubleshooting Most problems with [Products Stock Manager with Excel for WooCommerce](https://wpfactory.com/item/products-stock-manager-with-excel-for-woocommerce/) come from unticked update options, the file format, user roles, WooCommerce stock settings or WP-Cron. Find your symptom below. Settings mentioned here are at **WPFactory > Stock Manager > Settings**. ## The upload says "updated successfully" but nothing changed **Cause:** none of the update options are ticked. Every row is still processed and reported, but no field is written. 1. Open the **Settings** tab. 2. Tick **Update Stock Number**, **Update Stock Status**, **Update Regular Price** and/or **Update Sale Price**. 3. Click **Save Changes** and upload the file again. ## Nothing happens after uploading the file - **Wrong file type:** only .xlsx files are processed. A CSV is refused with "Only format allowed: xls, xlsx", and an .xls file is accepted by the form but ignored. Save the file as Excel Workbook (.xlsx). - **Not an administrator:** Shop managers can open Stock Manager, but uploads, exports and settings only run for the Administrator role. Log in as an administrator. - **You cancelled the prompt:** the upload starts when you select the file and asks "Are you sure you want to update the products stock and prices ?". Click OK. ## Stock changed but the store still shows no quantity **Cause:** **Manage stock?** is off for the product. Stock Manager writes the quantity but does not turn stock management on. 1. Edit the product (or each variation). 2. In **Inventory**, tick **Manage stock?** and update. 3. Run your Excel update again. ## Some rows show "ID or SKU not provided" or the wrong product changes - Every row needs an ID or a SKU in the mapped columns. Check that **Product ID Excel Column Letter** and **SKU Excel Column Letter** match your file. - When both are filled in, the ID wins. A stale ID in column A updates that product, not the SKU's product. Clear the ID cells to match by SKU. - Rows must start on row 2. Row 1 is always treated as headings. ## A product shows In stock although the file says outofstock **Cause:** in manual uploads, a stock quantity above 0 sets the product to In stock after the status column is applied. Set the stock to 0 for products that should be out of stock. Scheduled imports apply the status column last, so there the file's status is kept. ## A price was not updated - Regular prices must be numbers greater than 0. Empty cells, text, 0 and negative values are skipped. - Sale prices must be numbers of 0 or more. A sale price of 0 removes the sale price. - If a price cell is stored as text, it must use a dot as the decimal separator, for example 19.99. Numeric cells work in any Excel locale. ## Summed stock from multiple rows looks wrong With **Add Stock for same Product from multiple Excel Rows** ticked, version 4.0.3 can give a product that appears on only one row the summed total of another product listed above it that has several rows. To avoid this, sort the sheet so that products appearing only once come first, followed by the products with several rows. 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/). ## The scheduled (cron) import does not run 1. Confirm **Auto Import with Cron** is **Yes**, a **Remote Excel URL** is set and an **Auto Import Frequency** is selected. No schedule is created without a frequency. 2. Open the Remote Excel URL in a private browser window. It must download an .xlsx file directly, with no login or preview page. 3. WP-Cron only runs when the site gets visits. On quiet sites, ask your host to call `wp-cron.php` from a server cron job. 4. Remember **Auto Import Time** is in UTC. 5. Ask your host to confirm the PHP cURL extension is installed. Without it the import stops with "CURL is not installed!". 6. The import writes a temporary `tempfile.xlsx` to the directory WordPress runs from. Make sure it is writable. 7. If the remote server has an SSL certificate problem, a developer can use the `wpfactory_wc_sm_pro_curl_disable_ssl` filter (see the [developer reference](https://wpfactory.com/docs/stock-manager-developer-hooks/)). ## The new frequency or time is ignored **Cause:** an existing schedule is kept when you save. Set **Auto Import with Cron** to **No** and save, then choose the new frequency and time, set it back to **Yes** and save again. ## All products went out of stock **Cause:** **Setting Zero Stock for All Products before Cron Update** or **... before Manual Update** is ticked, and the file did not list those products. Untick the option if your file is not a complete stock list, then restore quantities with a new upload. ## The Report tab shows no sales The report reads Completed orders from the WordPress posts table. On stores using High-Performance Order Storage without compatibility mode, sales are not found. Details are in [the stock report guide](https://wpfactory.com/docs/stock-manager-low-stock-report/). ### Still stuck? Check each option in the [Stock Manager settings reference](https://wpfactory.com/docs/stock-manager-settings-reference/), or go back to [the getting started guide](https://wpfactory.com/docs/how-to-use-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 - [Stock Manager with Excel: Free vs Pro](https://wpfactory.com/docs/stock-manager-free-vs-pro/) - [Stock Manager with Excel: Common Setup Questions](https://wpfactory.com/docs/multiple-instruction/) - [How to Schedule Automatic WooCommerce Stock Updates from a Remote Excel File](https://wpfactory.com/docs/stock-manager-schedule-automatic-stock-updates/) - [How to Export WooCommerce Products and Stock to Excel](https://wpfactory.com/docs/stock-manager-export-stock-excel/) - [How to Update WooCommerce Stock in Bulk with Excel](https://wpfactory.com/docs/stock-manager-bulk-update-stock-excel/)