Shopify Product Handle: What It Is, How to Change It, and How It Works in CSV

What is a Shopify product handle?

A handle is the unique identifier of a product, and it appears in the product page URL. Shopify generates it when you create the product, based on the title. Per Shopify's CSV help, a product called "Black Sunglasses" gets the handle black-sunglasses.

On your store, that product's page lives under the /products path, so the URL ends in /products/black-sunglasses. The handle is the last part. You can customize it.

Shopify's product help calls the field URL handle and says it changes part of the product's web address. The address can't contain spaces.

How to change a product URL in Shopify

Open the product and go to the Search engine listing section. Click the pencil icon. The fields are page title, meta description and URL handle.

1. 1
   Go to Products in your Shopify admin and open the product.
2. 2
   In Search engine listing, click the pencil icon.
3. 3
   Change URL handle. Shorten it and keep the words people would search for.
4. 4
   Save the product.

Shopify's SEO overview recommends descriptive URLs with hyphens between words. A short handle like black-sunglasses is easier to read than a long one copied from a supplier title.

What happens to the old URL?

Once the handle changes, the old address no longer points to the product. Anyone who follows an old link, from a search result, an email or another site, can land on a "Page not found" error.

Shopify's help documents a Create a URL redirect option, selected by default, when you change the address of a page. Its collection help offers the same kind of redirect from the previous handle. The product help page doesn't mention it. So don't assume it happened: after you save, open the old product URL. If it shows a 404, add the redirect yourself (next section).

How to create a Shopify URL redirect

1. 1
   In the Shopify admin, go to Content → Menus.
2. 2
   Click View URL Redirects, then Create URL redirect.
3. 3
   In Redirect from, enter the old URL, such as /products/old-handle.
4. 4
   In Redirect to, enter the new URL. Use a relative URL for a destination on your primary domain.
5. 5
   Click Save redirect. It takes effect immediately.

Two limits from Shopify's URL redirect help. A redirect only works on a broken URL that shows a 404. If the old URL still loads a valid page, it won't redirect. And a standard store can have up to 100,000 redirects.

How handles work in a product CSV

In Shopify's current product CSV, the handle column is named URL handle. It's the row's link to a product. Shopify's help describes the behavior:

• Matching: the handle decides which existing product a row updates.
• Overwrite on: if you select Overwrite products with matching handles, the file's values replace the existing product's.
• Overwrite off: products with matching handles are ignored during import.
• Blank handle: on a new product, Shopify generates it from the Title.
• Variants: repeat the handle on every variant row. Leave Title, Description, Vendor and Tags blank on those rows.
• Extra images: each additional image gets its own row with the handle and an image URL.

The handle is required for updates (together with Title). For new products it's required only when you add variants. Shopify's help doesn't say what happens when the same handle appears twice in a file outside the variant-row pattern, so check your file with the CSV checker before you upload. The full process is in the Shopify CSV import guide.

Redirects when you move a store to Shopify

If you move from another platform, your old product URLs won't match Shopify's /products/{handle} pattern. Visitors and search engines hitting the old URLs get a 404. The fix is a redirect from each old URL to the new one.

You can add them one by one, or import them. In Content → Menus → View URL Redirects, click Import, then Add File, choose your CSV, and click Upload file. Review the import, then click Import redirects. Shopify provides a sample CSV template there. Its help page doesn't list column names or file limits, so start from the template.

Our platform guides cover the product import itself: WooCommerce to Shopify, Wix and others. Plan the redirects at the same time, before you switch the domain.

Tips for clean handles

• Keep handles short: the main product words, separated by dashes.
• Use lowercase letters and numbers. Skip spaces and special characters.
• Set the handle when you create the product, so you never need to change it.
• Before a bulk handle change, export your products as a backup. See export products from Shopify.
• After a change, test the old URL and the new one.
• Keep a list of old and new URLs. You'll need it for redirects.

Handles and imported products

We make 1Click, a Shopify app that imports products from Amazon, AliExpress, eBay or a Shopify store you manage. Products it creates are ordinary Shopify products. You can open them afterwards and edit the URL handle in the Search engine listing like any other. 1Click doesn't create URL redirects for you.