What is a metafield?

Custom fields for the data Shopify’s standard product form has no box for.

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A metafield is a custom piece of data attached to a Shopify object — a product, variant, collection or customer — with its own namespace, key and type.

What they are used for

  • Specifications: material, wattage, care instructions, dimensions.
  • Structured content the theme renders in a tab or table.
  • Values other apps read: size charts, badges, delivery estimates.
  • Data that needs a type — a date, a number, a list — rather than a free-text tag.

Metafields versus tags

TagsMetafields
StructureA flat list of stringsNamespace, key, typed value
Good forGrouping and filteringAttributes and content
CollectionsDrive automated collectionsNot directly
Storefront useFiltering and badgesRendering detail

The rule of thumb: if you want to group products by it, use a tag; if you want to display a value for each product, use a metafield.

Bulk editing metafields

Bulk Product Edit by MITS edits the standard product, variant and inventory fields rather than metafields. For metafield-heavy catalogs, Shopify’s own bulk editor covers some metafield definitions, and other apps in the category specialise in them.

Bulk Product Edit by MITS edits this field in bulk across a filtered part of your catalog, with a log and a one-click revert.

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Related reading

Bulk edit tags on Shopify

Add, remove and rename product tags across a filtered part of the catalog.

Read more

Best Shopify bulk product edit apps

Six apps compared by scope, limits, undo and price — and how to choose between them.

Read more

What is bulk editing?

What bulk editing is, its three parts, and the failure that causes most accidents.

Read more

Ready to edit your Shopify catalog in bulk?

Install Bulk Product Edit by MITS and run your first bulk edit in minutes. Free plan available.

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