How to Create a Collection in Shopify (Manual vs Automated)

To create a collection in Shopify, go to Products > Collections in your admin and click Add collection. Add a title, then fill the collection by picking products by hand, by setting conditions that add matching products automatically, or both. Set the sort order and sales channels, then click Save.

How do you create a collection in Shopify?

Every collection starts on the Collections page. Click Add collection, give it a title, and add products to the default Products source by hand or with conditions. Then choose a sort order, pick sales channels, and click Save. The collection page shows only on the channels you choose.

The steps, per Shopify Help on creating collections and adding products:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Products > Collections.
2. Click Add collection.
3. Click Add title and enter a title for the collection.
4. Click Add description and enter a description.
5. Add a featured image.
6. In the Products source, click Add products to pick products, or click Add condition to match products automatically.
7. Set the sorting method for the collection's products.
8. Optional: set the sales channels where the collection is available.
9. Optional: edit the search engine listing.
10. Click Save.
11. Add a link to the collection in your online store menus.

Don't skip step 11. Publishing to the Online Store doesn't add a menu link. Collections also need the Basic plan or higher, per Shopify Help.

What is the difference between manual and automated collections?

A manual collection holds only the products you pick, and it stays that way until you add or remove them. An automated collection, called a smart collection in the legacy admin, adds every product that matches conditions you set, including products you add later. Newer admins can mix both in one collection.

Shopify is replacing the old two-type model. Per Shopify Help on Collections, when the new collections model reaches your admin, your existing collections convert automatically. Until then, you keep using manual and smart collections.

How to tell which one you have:

• New collections model. A new collection opens with an empty Products source where you can click Add products, Add condition, or both.
• Legacy model. The new collection page shows a Collection type section with two choices, Manual or Smart. Per Legacy manual collections, you click Manual, click Save, then add products in the Products section. For Smart, you set conditions before you save.

How do you set conditions for an automated collection?

In a Products source, click Add condition, pick a product attribute, pick how it should match, and enter or select a value. Add more conditions if you need them, then choose Match all conditions or Match any conditions. Click Save, and matching products join the collection automatically.

Shopify's Understanding conditions for collections page lists the condition types and match options:

How the logic works, per Shopify Help:

1. All vs any. With a shirt tag and price is less than $100.01, Match all conditions gives shirts at $100 or less. Match any conditions gives every shirt plus everything at $100 or less.
2. Ranges. There is no "or equal to." For $50 to $150, use price is greater than $49.99 and price is less than $150.01 with Match all conditions.
3. Variants. In a Products source, a condition is true if any one variant matches.
4. Limits. A collection can hold up to 60 conditions, and a contains value needs at least 3 characters.

How do you add or remove products in a manual collection?

Open the collection, click Add products in the Products source, select products in the Select products to include dialog, click Add, then Save. To remove one, hover over it in the Collection items section, click the x, and Save. Removing a product from a collection doesn't delete it from your store.

You can also use the Collections field in a product's Product organization section, per Shopify Help. That works only for products added by hand, not products matched by conditions.

Two rules for mixing methods, per Shopify Help on managing collection sources and conditions:

• Conditions don't remove manual picks. A product you added by hand stays even if it stops matching a condition. Take it out by hand.
• Exclusions win. Click Exclude in a Products source to keep products out by hand or by condition. Exclusions override any manual or automatic inclusion.

How do you change the sort order of a Shopify collection?

Open the collection, go to the Collection items section, open the Default sort menu, and pick an order. New collections sort by Most relevant. If you pick Manually, drag products into place or use the Move menu to send selected products to the beginning, the end, or a set position. Click Save.

The sort choices, per Shopify Help on editing collection details and layout:

• Most relevant, based on sales performance.
• Your best sellers, by all time orders. With no sales yet, this sorts newest to oldest.
• Product title, alphabetical or reverse.
• Product price, highest or lowest.
• The date products were created, newest or oldest.
• Manually, in the order you set.

Price sorting uses base prices, not Market or B2B catalog prices. To decide which products earn the top spots, see How to Find Best-Selling Products on Shopify.

How do you add a collection image, description, and SEO listing?

Click the title or description on the collection page to edit it, or hover over the image and choose Change image, then Save. For search results, click the pencil icon in the Search engine listing section and set the Page title, Meta description, and URL handle. Click Save when you're done.

Steps for the listing, per Shopify Help on managing collection settings:

1. In the Search engine listing section, click the pencil icon.
2. Enter a Page title. It shows as the link in search results.
3. Enter a Meta description.
4. Optional: change the URL handle, with no spaces, and choose whether to redirect the old URL to the new one.
5. Click Save.

Shopify says a title over 70 characters or a description over 320 might get cut off in search results. For the same fields on a product, see How to Edit a Shopify SEO Title and Meta Description.

How do you publish a collection to your sales channels?

Open the collection, click Channels, select or deselect channels in the Sales channels menu, and click Save. To publish later, click the calendar icon in the Online Store row, set a date and time, and click Done. A collection can also stay unpublished everywhere if you only use it inside admin.

What Shopify Help on managing collection settings says to keep in mind:

• Products are separate. Showing or hiding a collection doesn't change whether its products are available.
• Menus are separate. Publishing to Online Store doesn't add a menu link.
• Unpublished on purpose. Shopify suggests unpublished collections for admin work, such as products that share a tax override or that a discount applies to. For that discount, see How to Create a Discount Code in Shopify (All 4 Types).

When should you use a manual collection vs an automated one?

Use a manual collection for a short, curated group you pick by hand, like a few products in a flash sale or a gift guide. Use conditions when the group should grow on its own, like everything tagged summer or every product from one vendor. In the new model, combine both in one collection.

A quick test: if you'd forget to add new products to it, use a condition. If a surprise addition would annoy you, pick by hand.

What are common mistakes when creating Shopify collections?

The usual problems are a legacy collection created as the wrong type, Match any pulling in far more products than planned, archived products sitting in a collection, and a collection nobody sees because it isn't in a menu or on a channel.

• Wrong type on a legacy collection. You can't change a manual collection into a smart one, or a smart one into a manual one. Create a new collection. To move a manual collection to conditions, tag its products and use the tag as the condition.
• Match any with product status. Under Match any conditions, a Product status condition adds every product with that status, even if it fails the others. Use Match all conditions.
• Archived products. Archiving doesn't remove a product from its collections. Shoppers can't see it, but it stays in Collection items. See How to Archive Products in Shopify (vs Delete) and How to Set a Shopify Product to Draft (vs Archived).
• Compare at price is set. A compare at price of $0.00 still counts as set, and is set needs every variant to have a value.

Can you create a Shopify collection by text with Shoperator?

Yes, a new manual collection. Mark is a current entry path: send something like "Make a collection called Gift Picks with these five products," review the preview, and approve before Shoperator creates it. Slack collaboration is available on Mark 3 and Mark 4. Eligible connected merchants can also use a supported personal agent when their membership, agent, store, and workflow allow it. After approval, verify the collection in Shopify.

Editing an existing collection isn't supported, so these stay manual steps in Shopify admin:

• Adding or removing products in an existing collection.
• Changing conditions or sort order on an existing collection.
• Creating an automated collection.
• Collection visibility, which is paused on web. Set Channels yourself.

Afterward, open the collection in Shopify admin to set its sort order, image, search engine listing, Channels, and menu link.

For whether an AI should change collections on its own, see Should an AI Change a Shopify Collection Without Approval?. To read a preview before you answer, see How to Approve or Reject a Change Mark Proposes. For what a no does, see What Happens When You Say No to Mark, and How to Undo. More requests live in What Can I Text Mark?.

FAQ

How do you create a collection in Shopify?

In your Shopify admin, go to Products > Collections and click Add collection. Add a title, then add products by hand with Add products or automatically with Add condition. Set the sort order and sales channels, click Save, and add the collection to a menu so shoppers can find it.

What is the difference between a manual and an automated collection in Shopify?

A manual collection contains only the products you pick until you add or remove them. An automated collection, called a smart collection in the legacy admin, adds every product that matches your conditions, including new ones. In the new collections model, one collection can use manual picks and conditions together.

What does Match all conditions vs Match any conditions mean?

Match all conditions includes a product only if it meets every condition. Match any conditions includes it if it meets at least one. Use Match all to narrow a collection, such as shirts under $100, and Match any to combine groups, such as everything tagged shirt or hat.

Can you change a Shopify collection from manual to automated?

Not on a legacy collection. Shopify Help says you can't turn a manual collection into a smart one or the reverse, so you create a new one. A shortcut is to tag the manual collection's products and use that tag as the condition. The new collections model lets one collection mix both.

Why is a product not showing in my Shopify collection?

Check that it matches the conditions under the right all or any setting, that no exclusion removes it, and that the product is active. Archived products stay in collections but are hidden from shoppers. If a collection still looks wrong, Shopify Help suggests adding and then removing a duplicate condition to refresh it.

Can Shoperator create a Shopify collection?

Yes, a new manual collection. Mark is a current entry path: name the collection and products, review the preview, and approve before Shoperator creates it. Slack collaboration is available on Mark 3 and Mark 4. Eligible connected merchants can also use a supported personal agent when their membership and rollout allow it. Verify the result in Shopify. Editing an existing collection, automated collections, and collection visibility are done in Shopify admin.