Shopify Customers: Export and Import

Use the Customers resource to export or update Shopify customer profiles, tags, marketing consent, addresses, custom metafields, account invitations, and store credit through a CSV or XLSX spreadsheet.

Customer files contain personal information. Store the untouched export securely, share it only with people who need access, and remove working copies when the job is complete.

Before you start

• Install EditEngine Bulk Product Editor in your Shopify store.
• Use Advanced import for the edited spreadsheet.
• Keep one untouched, access-controlled copy of the export. Advanced imports do not have one-click undo.
• Test NEW, marketing-consent changes, address operations, DELETE, and REPLACE on a small non-critical batch.
• Import marketing consent only when you have a valid record of the customer's choice.
• Keep Store Credit Transactions out of a normal customer round-trip file. Use a separate, single-use spreadsheet for those operations.

EditEngine follows the main columns and multi-row structure in the Matrixify Customers spreadsheet format. This guide calls out EditEngine-specific matching, blank-cell, activation-link, and store-credit behavior.

Step 1 — Export Customers

Open EditEngine → Export, choose Customers, and select CSV or Excel format.

The default export selects the customer Base fields, Marketing Consent, and Addresses. Keep these round-trip keys:

• ID — the safest identifier for an existing customer in the same store.
• Email — the next matching key and the identity repeated on continuation rows.
• Command — controls the customer-level operation. EditEngine exports MERGE.
• Address ID and Address Command — identify and control each address.
• Tags Command — EditEngine exports REPLACE, which reproduces the exported tag set.

Optional sections add more data or permissions:

EditEngine always keeps ID and Email in the generated file because they anchor customer and continuation rows. Download the export, duplicate it, and edit only the duplicate.

Know which columns are context only

These exported values do not update the customer in EditEngine:

• State, Created At, Updated At, and Verified Email
• Tax ID — EditEngine exports Shopify's validated customer tax/VAT ID when one exists. The field is export-only, can be blank, and requires the store's approved protected-customer-data access.
• Total Spent and Total Orders
• every First Order: and Last Order: column
• SMS Marketing: Source
• Store Credit: Balance
• Store Credit Transaction: ID, Created At, Event, and Remaining Balance
• Row #, Top Row, and Account Activation URL

Older orders need extra Shopify access. EditEngine can export all-time first/last dates and the latest order ID, but order details older than Shopify's standard 60-day window can have blank Name, Price Total, or First Order ID values. Older dates may have day precision unless the store has Shopify's protected read_all_orders approval.

Step 2 — Identify each customer safely

EditEngine uses this lookup order:

1. ID
2. Email
3. Phone
4. the combination of First Name and Last Name

For a routine same-store update, keep the exported ID and Email:

ID,Email,Command,First Name,Last Name,Note
1001,ada@example.com,UPDATE,Ada,Lovelace,Wholesale contact

Important matching behavior:

• EditEngine verifies a supplied ID against Shopify. When an ID is present, it does not fall back to Email or Phone.
• A stale ID makes UPDATE and DELETE fail. MERGE or NEW can attempt to create a customer instead, but Shopify will reject a duplicate Email or Phone.
• Without ID, Email wins over Phone and the name pair.
• First Name without Last Name is not an existing-customer lookup. Use ID, Email, or Phone whenever possible.
• If a lookup matches more than one customer, the row fails instead of choosing one.
• Shopify IDs are store-specific. Remove source-store customer and address IDs before a cross-store migration.

Phone numbers should include their country code. EditEngine accepts Matrixify's leading-apostrophe form, such as '+15417543000, and removes the apostrophe before sending the phone to Shopify.

Step 3 — Choose the Customer Command

A blank Command uses the Default Command selected on the Advanced import screen. The screen defaults to Merge, so blank normally means MERGE. This matches Matrixify's documented Customers default.

REPLACE is a delete followed by a create

REPLACE is not a fuller version of update. EditEngine deletes the matched customer first, then creates a new customer and applies the spreadsheet's tags, consent, metafields, addresses, store-credit operations, and activation-email request.

If Shopify rejects creation after deletion, the original customer is already gone. Orders and other relationships are not reconstructed by a customer spreadsheet. Use MERGE or UPDATE for normal edits, and use REPLACE only after testing a complete reconstruction file.

Matrixify's bulk-delete Customers tutorial follows the safest deletion pattern: export first, keep only the intended customers, set DELETE, and import that reduced file.

Step 4 — Edit core customer fields

Editable profile fields include:

• Email, Phone, First Name, and Last Name
• Language — the customer's notification locale, such as en
• Note
• Tax Exempt — use TRUE or FALSE
• Multipass Identifier — available only for Shopify Plus Multipass stores

ID,Email,Command,First Name,Last Name,Phone,Language,Tax Exempt
1001,ada@example.com,UPDATE,Ada,Lovelace,'+15417543000,en,FALSE

For an existing customer, blank Email, Phone, name, Note, Language, or Multipass Identifier cells are no-ops in EditEngine. They do not clear the current value. Remove unused columns for the clearest update file.

A blank Tax Exempt cell is also a no-op. A nonblank value other than true/false forms (TRUE, FALSE, YES, NO, 1, 0) fails that row before mutation.

Passwords cannot be exported or migrated. A migrated customer must activate the new Shopify account and set a new password, as explained in Matrixify's customer migration and activation tutorial.

Step 5 — Manage customer tags

Tags are comma-separated. Tags Command controls how they affect the existing set:

ID,Email,Command,Tags,Tags Command
1001,ada@example.com,UPDATE,VIP,MERGE
1002,grace@example.com,UPDATE,Legacy,DELETE
1003,linus@example.com,UPDATE,Wholesale,REPLACE

A blank Tags cell with REPLACE clears all customer tags. A blank Tags cell with MERGE or DELETE does nothing. Remove both tag columns when tags should remain unchanged.

Repeated rows for one customer can carry multiple tag operations. EditEngine applies them in spreadsheet order.

Step 6 — Update marketing consent carefully

Marketing Consent covers Email, SMS, and WhatsApp. Each channel can include:

• Status — for example subscribed, unsubscribed, pending, or not_subscribed
• Level — single_opt_in, confirmed_opt_in, or unknown
• Updated At — a Matrixify or ISO date-time

ID,Email,Command,Email Marketing: Status,Email Marketing: Level,Email Marketing: Updated At
1001,ada@example.com,UPDATE,subscribed,confirmed_opt_in,2026-08-20 10:30:00 +0530

Rules that matter:

• A Status is required when Level or Updated At is present.
• Email Level defaults to single_opt_in when Status is supplied without Level.
• not_subscribed describes a customer who has never subscribed. Shopify does not accept it as an update to an existing customer; use unsubscribed to withdraw an existing subscription.
• WhatsApp consent requires the customer to have a phone number. Shopify returns a row error otherwise.
• SMS Marketing: Source is export-only.
• A blank channel Status leaves that consent channel unchanged.

Consent imports change communication permissions, not just labels. Confirm the source and timestamp before setting a customer to subscribed.

Step 7 — Keep multiple addresses together

Selecting Addresses expands a customer to one row per address. The first row has the profile fields; continuation rows repeat ID and Email beside the next address. Keep each customer's rows together and preserve Row # if you sort the file.

ID,Email,Command,Address ID,Address Command,Address Line 1,Address City,Address Country Code,Address Is Default
1001,ada@example.com,UPDATE,900,MERGE,1 Bytes Road,London,GB,TRUE
1001,ada@example.com,UPDATE,901,MERGE,2 Loop Avenue,Oxford,GB,FALSE

Address commands behave as follows:

For REPLACE, include every address the customer must retain, not only the changed one. One REPLACE address row activates the unlisted-address sweep for that customer.

Address First Name, Last Name, and Phone inherit the customer-level values when their address cells are blank. Other blank address fields are omitted from an update; they do not clear existing address values. Use valid Country and Province codes where possible, and set one address's Address Is Default to TRUE when required.

Step 8 — Work with customer metafields

Customer metafields use the Matrixify header convention:

Metafield: custom.customer_tier [single_line_text_field]
Gold

Keep the exported type in the header. A nonblank cell sets the metafield; a blank cell in an included metafield column deletes it. Remove the entire metafield column when it should remain unchanged.

If the same customer and metafield appear on multiple continuation rows, the last parsed value wins. Keep one authoritative metafield value per customer.

Step 9 — Send account activation safely

Set Send Account Activation Email to TRUE only for customers who should receive Shopify's account invitation immediately after their row succeeds.

ID,Email,Command,Send Account Activation Email
1001,ada@example.com,UPDATE,TRUE

A blank or FALSE value sends nothing. State is export-only; it reflects whether the account is disabled, invited, enabled, or declined.

The optional Account Activation URL export is a different workflow. Selecting it generates a fresh activation link for each eligible, not-yet-enabled customer. Every newly generated link expires that customer's previously generated activation URL, so EditEngine shows a warning and requires explicit confirmation before starting that export. Store and distribute activation links as sensitive, short-lived data.

Step 10 — Handle Store Credit as a separate operation

Store Credit: Balance is a snapshot and cannot be imported directly. To change a balance, use these transaction columns in a separate file:

• Store Credit: Currency
• Store Credit Transaction: Command
• Store Credit Transaction: Amount
• optional Expire At and Send Receipt

ID,Email,Command,Store Credit: Currency,Store Credit Transaction: Command,Store Credit Transaction: Amount
1001,ada@example.com,UPDATE,USD,SET,50.00

Do not re-import exported Store Credit Transaction history. In EditEngine, the transaction ID is not an idempotency key during import. Re-importing a CREDIT or DEBIT row can apply that money movement again. Exported debit history may also use a signed amount, while a deliberate import expects a positive Amount with the direction in Command.

Use a single-use file containing only the intended operation rows. Import a small batch, review every result, and run a fresh Store Credit export to verify the final balance. Store-credit columns require the related Shopify permissions; EditEngine requests them when needed.

Step 11 — Import through Advanced import

For XLSX, name the worksheet Customers or Customer. For a single CSV, use a clear filename such as customers.csv.

Open EditEngine → Import, select Advanced import, and upload the edited file.

After upload, verify:

1. The detected resource says Customers.
2. Existing customers keep the intended ID, Email, or Phone.
3. Customer, Tags, and Address commands are explicit where their behavior matters.
4. Repeated address rows still belong to the correct customer.
5. Marketing-consent changes have a valid source and timestamp.
6. Every activation email, DELETE, and REPLACE is intentional.
7. Store Credit Transactions are absent unless this is a dedicated single-use credit job.

Start with the test batch. When the job finishes, download the results file and review every failure. One invalid customer can fail by itself while other valid customers continue.

Step 12 — Verify the round trip

Verify the result in Shopify Admin and with a fresh export:

1. Open the affected customer profiles and inspect names, contact details, Note, Language, and Tax Exempt.
2. Check the complete customer tag set.
3. Review Email, SMS, and WhatsApp consent states.
4. Open every updated address and confirm the default address.
5. Confirm metafields and any account invitation that was intentionally sent.
6. For store credit, compare the fresh balance and transaction history with the single intended operation.
7. Run a new Customers export with the same safe column groups and compare it with your intended file.

An untouched export is a reconstruction reference, not an exact rollback. Customer IDs change after REPLACE; passwords, order relationships, historical state, and other Shopify-calculated values cannot be restored from the Customers spreadsheet.

Common mistakes

Matching by name when Email or Phone is available.

Names are not reliably unique. Keep ID for same-store updates or use Email/Phone when ID is unavailable.

Keeping source-store IDs during a migration.

Customer and Address IDs are store-specific. Clear them before creating records in another store.

Blanking profile fields to clear them.

Blank Email, Phone, names, Note, Language, and Multipass cells are no-ops on update in EditEngine.

Blanking Tags while keeping Tags Command REPLACE.

That clears the entire customer tag set. Remove the tag columns when tags should not change.

Using Address REPLACE with only the changed address.

Every unlisted existing address is deleted. Include all addresses the customer must keep.

Treating not_subscribed as an unsubscribe action.

For an existing subscribed customer, use unsubscribed; not_subscribed is the never-subscribed state.

Generating Activation URLs as a harmless report.

Each fresh URL invalidates the previous generated link for that customer.

Round-tripping Store Credit Transaction history.

Transaction rows can apply money movements again. Build a separate single-use operation file instead.

Using REPLACE as a normal update.

It deletes and recreates the customer. Use MERGE or UPDATE for in-place changes.

Related tutorials

• Export and import Shopify Pages — round-trip Online Store pages, SEO, and metafields.
• Export and import Shopify Blog Posts — round-trip articles, tags, comments, and metafields.
• Export and import Shopify Redirects — audit and manage Shopify 301 redirects.

About EditEngine: EditEngine Bulk Product Editor helps Shopify merchants bulk edit, import, and export store data from spreadsheets. Install on Shopify →