Taming the Shopify Bulk Editor: How to Save Your Column Views (and Why It Sometimes Fails)
Ever found yourself diving into Shopify's bulk editor, meticulously selecting just the columns you need for that day's tasks, only to log in the next morning and find *all* the columns re-selected? Or worse, even the ones you painstakingly deselected are back? If you're nodding along, you're definitely not alone. This is a common frustration, and it was the exact challenge that storefront owner @Gladstonehifi recently brought up in the Shopify Community forums. They wanted to know: Is there a way to make your column selections stick, or at least a quick "deselect all" option?
The Bulk Editor Column Conundrum
Gladstonehifi’s experience perfectly sums up the problem: “In bulk editor, every time we log in, in the morning, every(most) column is automatically sellected. I de-select them, but next time I log in, they’re back.” This isn't just an annoyance; for merchants dealing with thousands of products, constantly re-selecting columns is a massive time sink and a real workflow killer.
The good news is, the community has rallied with some helpful insights, and we've got a clearer picture of what's going on and what you can do about it. But fair warning: it's not as straightforward as we'd all like, thanks to a persistent bug that Shopify is actively tracking.
The Community's Go-To Workaround: The Bookmark Trick
Let's start with the best workaround available, shared by @jowel-66. While there isn't a native "save my column selection" setting in Shopify's bulk editor (a feature many of us wish for!), the columns that appear are actually controlled by a specific part of the URL in your browser's address bar: the edit= parameter.
How to Use the Bookmark Trick:
- Navigate to Your Bulk Editor: Go to your Shopify admin, then Products > All Products. Select a few products (or all of them) and click Edit Products.
- Select Your Desired Columns: Once in the bulk editor, use the "Columns" button to add or remove the columns you regularly work with. Keep only the essential ones.
- Identify the
edit=Parameter: Look at your browser's URL. You'll see something likehttps://[your-store-name].myshopify.com/admin/products/bulk?selectedView=&edit=title,variants.price,variants.sku,vendor. The part afteredit=lists all your selected columns, separated by commas. - Refine and Bookmark the URL: If there are extra columns you don't need, you can manually edit the URL in your browser. For instance, if you only want 'Title', 'Variant Price', and 'Variant SKU', you'd adjust it to:
Press Enter after making the change to refresh the editor with just those columns.edit=title,variants.price,variants.sku - Save as a Bookmark: Now, bookmark this refined URL in your browser. Give it a descriptive name like "Bulk Editor - My Daily Columns."
From now on, instead of navigating through the admin, open your bulk editor directly from this bookmark. It *should* load with only your desired columns selected, saving you precious minutes each day.
The Catch: Why the Bookmark Trick Isn't 100% Reliable (It's a Known Bug!)
Here's where the plot thickens, thanks to the invaluable insights shared by @VikashJ. While the bookmark trick is our best friend right now, it's not foolproof. Vikash confirmed that the inconsistent behavior of the bulk editor – specifically, columns being added back *even from a bookmarked URL* – is a known, actively tracked bug within Shopify. This isn't something you're doing wrong; it's the editor itself being a bit inconsistent.
Shopify staff have acknowledged that this "reopening a bookmarked edit= URL and still having columns added back" issue is a separate, distinct bug from the general limitation of columns not persisting by default. It's still being tracked with no fixed timeline, which can be frustrating, but at least we know it's on their radar.
What You Can Do: Report the Specific Bug & Consider Dedicated Apps
Knowing this is a tracked bug gives us a couple of important paths forward:
1. Report the Specific Bug to Shopify Support
Since Shopify is tracking this, your voice matters! Vikash strongly recommends filing a report with Shopify Support directly. When you do, be very specific:
- Mention that columns are being added back even when reopening a bookmarked
edit=URL. - Emphasize that this happens, not just on a fresh search, but specifically when using your carefully crafted bookmark.
The more merchants report this exact "reopening-a-bookmark" scenario, the more concrete evidence Shopify has for prioritizing a fix. Right now, it's being tracked as a handful of individual reports, so more specific reports help them fully reproduce and scope the issue for a permanent solution.
2. Explore Dedicated Bulk Editing Apps
For merchants who regularly edit thousands of products and find the current situation too unreliable, several community members have moved to dedicated bulk editing apps. These apps often offer more robust features, including actual saved views for your column selections, which the native Shopify editor currently lacks. A quick search in the Shopify App Store for "bulk editor" will give you plenty of options to explore if this bug is severely impacting your workflow.
So, there you have it. While the Shopify bulk editor's column persistence isn't perfect, we now understand why and have some actionable steps. The bookmark trick is your immediate best friend, but remember its limitations. By reporting the specific bug to Shopify, you're helping the entire community move towards a more reliable bulk editing experience. Keep an eye on those URLs, and keep those reports coming in!