CatalogHop

Shopify import error: "Title is too long (maximum is 255 characters)"

What it means: The Title cell of a product has more than 255 characters. Shopify checks the title of every product it imports and skips the product when the title is longer. The full message reads "Line 185-192: Validation failed: Title is too long (maximum is 255 characters)", where the line numbers are the rows of that product. Shopify's Help Center does not state this limit; the message text is quoted from a store owner's import on the Shopify Community.

Find the rows in your file

Shopify product import

The product CSV you are about to import into Shopify, or the one Shopify just rejected.

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It is read and converted by this page, inside your browser. Nothing from the file is uploaded, and the tool keeps working offline once the page has loaded.

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How to fix it

  1. Open the file and shorten the Title on the rows the checker lists to 255 characters or fewer.
  2. Move extra detail, such as sizes, materials or search words, into the Description column. The title itself must be short.
  3. If the Title cell holds a whole description or several cells run together, a quote or comma is out of place in that row. Fix the row so each value is in its own column.
  4. Import the file again, or only the rows that were skipped.

Example

A file with this problem

Title,URL handle,Status,Option1 name,Option1 value,Price,Inventory tracker,Inventory quantity,Continue selling when out of stock,Fulfillm...
"Organic Cotton Crew Neck Tee for Men and Women Soft Breathable Everyday Basic Shirt Gift for Him Gift for Her Organic Cotton Crew Neck T...
Canvas Tote,canvas-tote,active,Title,Default Title,15.00,shopify,8,deny,manual,

What the checker says about it

  • Line 2: The title for "cotton-tee" is 329 characters. Shopify allows 255 and reports "Title is too long (maximum is 255 characters)".

Once the listed rows are fixed, check the file again; the checker also looks for every other problem Shopify documents, so you do not trade one error for the next.

Questions

What does "Title is too long (maximum is 255 characters)" mean in Shopify?
The Title cell of a product has more than 255 characters. Shopify checks the title of every product it imports and skips the product when the title is longer. The full message reads "Line 185-192: Validation failed: Title is too long (maximum is 255 characters)", where the line numbers are the rows of that product. Shopify's Help Center does not state this limit; the message text is quoted from a store owner's import on the Shopify Community.
How do I fix it?
Open the file and shorten the Title on the rows the checker lists to 255 characters or fewer. Move extra detail, such as sizes, materials or search words, into the Description column. The title itself must be short. If the Title cell holds a whole description or several cells run together, a quote or comma is out of place in that row. Fix the row so each value is in its own column. Import the file again, or only the rows that were skipped.
Does Shopify count letters or bytes?
Shopify does not say. The checker counts characters, so an accented letter or an emoji counts as one. If a title is close to 255 characters and has emoji or symbols, shorten it a little more to be safe. When CatalogHop converts a file from another platform to Shopify, it shortens titles over 255 characters for you, and the cut keeps whole characters, so an accent or emoji is never split.

Other Shopify import errors

Sources

Based on Shopify's import error text as quoted by a store owner on the Shopify Community. The Help Center does not state the limit. Not tested on a live store.