Is CSV import faster for very large catalogs?

For a straight one-time load of data you already have in a file, often yes. For a rule-based change it is usually slower once you count the export, the formulas and the verification.

Can I undo a CSV import?

Only by importing an earlier export, assuming you have one and nothing else changed in between.

Does the app import CSV files?

Bulk Product Edit by MITS works from filters and rules rather than uploaded files; Shopify’s own import remains available for file-based work.

Bulk editing vs CSV import on Shopify

The spreadsheet route is free and familiar. It is also the route with no undo, no schedule and a formatting error waiting in row 4,318.

Install the app

You will be redirected to the Shopify app store.

Exporting products, editing them in Excel and importing the file back is the oldest bulk-editing method on Shopify. It is genuinely powerful — a spreadsheet can do arithmetic no app menu will ever expose — and it fails in ways that are expensive.

What the CSV route is good at

One-off transformations with unusual logic, where a formula is the clearest way to express the change.
Data that already arrives as a file from a supplier or an ERP.
Migrations between stores, where you need everything in one place.

What it costs

No undo. Once the import runs, the previous values exist only in the file you remembered to keep.
Format sensitivity. A column removed, a handle changed, a decimal separator localised by Excel — each produces either a rejection or, worse, a silent wrong value.
No scheduling. Somebody has to run the import at the right moment, and again to reverse it.
Staleness. The export is a snapshot; anything that changed while you were editing gets overwritten on import.

How the same job looks in an app

Job	CSV route	Bulk Product Edit
Cut a collection 20% and round	Export, formula, import	Filter + two editors
End the sale on Monday	Re-import the old file by hand	Revert time set in advance
Fix a typo in 400 titles	Export, find/replace, import	Find and replace editor
See what changed	Diff two spreadsheets	Per-field task log
Repeat every Friday	Do it again	Recurring task

Try the same edit as a task and compare it with your usual export-edit-import loop.

Install the app

You will be redirected to the Shopify app store.

Use both

These are not mutually exclusive. Plenty of stores keep CSV for migrations and supplier files, and use an app for everything that repeats, needs a schedule, or must be reversible. That split plays to the strengths of each.

Related guides

Bulk Product Edit vs Shopify’s native bulk editor

What Shopify’s built-in editor and CSV do, and the three jobs they cannot do.

What is CSV import?

How Shopify CSV import works and the five ways it bites.

Bulk edit app or CSV import?

Where spreadsheets win, where they bite, and how to split the work sensibly.

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Install the app

You will be redirected to the Shopify app store.