How-To Guide

8 min read

How to Import Products to PrestaShop (2026 Guide)

After converting your data with one of our tools, follow these steps to import the products into PrestaShop.

Import Steps

Download the PrestaShop sample CSV

Log in to your PrestaShop back office and navigate to Advanced Parameters, then Import. PrestaShop offers sample CSV files for each entity type that can be imported. Download the Products sample file to use as a template. Open it in Excel, LibreOffice, or Google Sheets to review the expected columns.

Tip: PrestaShop uses semicolons (;) as the default CSV delimiter, not commas. Make sure your spreadsheet program saves with the correct delimiter.

PrestaShop sample product CSV file opened in a spreadsheet — PrestaShop's sample product CSV file showing the expected column format

Prepare your product data

Fill in the CSV with your product information. The Name field is required for new products and the Reference (SKU) field is strongly recommended for updates. Price tax excluded is a required field. Set Active to 1 for published products or 0 for inactive/hidden products.

Add categories, images, and descriptions

Enter category paths as comma-separated values in the Categories column. Add publicly accessible image URLs in the Image URLs column, separated by commas or semicolons. Fill in the Summary for a short description and Description for the full product details, which can include HTML formatting.

Warning: One formatting mistake can cause incorrect product display after import. Double-check that multi-value fields use the correct separator.

Access the import tool

In the PrestaShop back office, go to Advanced Parameters, then Import. Select Products from the 'What do you want to import?' dropdown. Click Choose File to select your prepared CSV.

PrestaShop Advanced Parameters > Import page with entity type selection — Navigate to Advanced Parameters > Import in the PrestaShop back office

Configure import settings

Set the correct field separator (semicolon by default) and multi-value separator. If you want to start fresh, you can enable the option to delete all existing products before import, but use this with extreme caution. Verify the language setting matches your CSV data.

Warning: The 'delete all before import' option is destructive and irreversible. Only use it if you are certain you want to replace your entire catalog.

PrestaShop import settings showing file separator and language configuration — Configure the field separator, language, and other import settings

Map data fields

PrestaShop displays a mapping screen where each CSV column is matched to a database field. Verify that all columns are correctly mapped, especially Name, Price, Reference, and Categories. Adjust any incorrect mappings using the dropdown menus.

PrestaShop data mapping screen matching CSV columns to product fields — Map your CSV columns to the corresponding PrestaShop product fields

Run the import

Click Import to start processing. A progress bar will show the validation and import progress. The process will display '100% validated' and '100% imported' when complete. Do not close the browser tab during the import.

PrestaShop import progress showing validation and import percentage — Import progress bar showing validation and import completion status

Verify imported products

Navigate to Catalog, then Products in the PrestaShop back office to review your imported products. Check that names, prices, descriptions, images, and categories all imported correctly. Visit your storefront to verify that active products appear as expected to customers.

Required PrestaShop Fields

Field	Type	Description	Example
Name	Text	Product name	Blue Cotton T-Shirt
Price tax excluded	Currency	Product price without tax	29.99

PrestaShop requires these fields for successful import.

Tip Make sure your converted file is saved and ready before starting the import. You can preview the converted data in the tool before downloading.

Frequently Asked Questions

PrestaShop accepts CSV files for importing products. Our converter ensures the file is formatted correctly for PrestaShop.

Check the error message from the platform. Common issues include date format mismatches, missing required fields, or duplicate entries. Our converter handles most formatting issues automatically.