"Magento 2 Developer’s Cookbook"

Magento 2 Multi Source Inventory (MSI): Full Guide + Import & Export Explained

- E-Commerce, Magento 2

Illustrative image for the Magento 2 Multi Source Inventory guide (MSI) with emojis, magento logo, and text on orange background

Magento 2 Multi Source Inventory (MSI) is a powerful feature introduced in Magento 2.3 that allows merchants to manage inventory across multiple physical locations natively within the platform. This Magento 2 MSI user guide walks you through the key functionalities of the multi-source inventory system, with a specific focus on how to import and export MSI data efficiently.

From the moment you install the Magento 2 MSI module, you gain access to flexible inventory tools that support complex warehouse setups, regional stock allocation, and streamlined product availability management. However, while Magento MSI significantly enhances default inventory management, it still falls short in areas like bulk data synchronization and automation.

That’s where third-party solutions come into play. Tools like the Improved Import & Export extension and its dedicated MSI add-on fill these gaps by enabling seamless MSI data transfers—saving time and reducing errors.

In this guide, you’ll discover what Magento 2 Multi Source Inventory is, how to configure it, and how to import and export all MSI entities, including stock sources or product quantities per source, with MSI CSV formatting rules. Whether you’re a merchant managing multiple warehouses or a developer optimizing backend operations, this Magento 2 MSI import/export guide has you covered.

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How to Import Product Images to Magento 2 in Bulk Using CSV Files

- Fire development, Magento 2

illustrative image for the "How to Import Product Images to Magento 2 in Bulk Using CSV Files" guide with magento logo, text, and emojis of images with captions: base_image, small_image, thumbnail_image

Looking to import product images in Magento 2 quickly and efficiently? In this guide, we explain how to import images into Magento 2 using CSV files — a crucial part of any bulk product upload process. Whether you’re launching a new store or updating thousands of items, manual image uploads just aren’t practical.

Fortunately, Magento 2 supports two default methods for bulk product image import: uploading from a local server or a remote server. Both are covered in the official documentation and can help streamline your workflow, but they come with limitations.

To overcome these constraints and make Magento 2 import product images even easier, we recommend using the Improved Import & Export extension. It offers more flexibility, automation, and full support for importing multiple product images per product via CSV.

Let’s explore how each image import method works, compare their capabilities, and show you how to make your Magento 2 image import process as seamless as possible. For more advanced techniques, check out our Magento 2 Developer’s Cookbook.

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Magento CLI Guide: How to Export Products from Magento 2 via CLI

- E-Commerce, Magento 2

Magento CLI: product export

Although most Magento 2 administrators prefer working with their e-commerce website strength in the admin area, there are still many people who require the same management opportunities to be implemented with the command line interface. However, the default data transfer solutions of Magento 2 don’t support Magento CLI commands. Both import and export tools are enough for basic purposes only. If you want to export products from Magento 2 via CLI, you need a third-party solution. In the following material, we describe how to transfer data via CLI from your e-commerce website with the help of Improved Import & Export. Besides, we shed light upon the corresponding data import processes based on the Magento 2 CLI commands. Follow these steps to export Magento 2 products with CLI commands. 

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Magento 2 XLSX Export: Magento Export of Products to Excel Explained

- E-Commerce, Magento 2

Magento 2 export CLI

Below, we shed light on the Magento 2 Excel export. You will learn how to run Magento 2 XLSX data transfers although this file format is not supported by default. The default import and export capabilities of Magento 2 are fairly limited. Depending on the platform’s editions, they vary a bit but neither of the existing versions lets you work with Excel and its XLSX files. However, you can implement the missing functionality with the help of the Improved Import & Export extension. The following article depicts the Magento export of products to Excel using the XLSX format. 

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How To Import/Export Categories to Magento 2

- E-Commerce, Fire development, Magento 2

Magento 2 Development

Below, you will find a brief description of how to import/export categories between two Magento 2 websites. Unfortunately, this functionality is not available by default. Magento 2 leaves you alone with a huge category tree. You either need to recreate it manually or rely on third parties. So, welcome to our Magento 2 categories import tutorial. We know for sure how to import and export Magento 2 categories most efficiently.

The Magento StackExchange discussion inspired this post: question by Rafael Corrêa Gomes; answer by KAndy. However, it is only a partial overview of the Magento 2 category import and export. A full-featured guide on how to import and export categories, with all attributes explained can be found here: Magento 2 Categories Import Guide. Continue Reading

How to Import Images From an External URL in Magento 2

- Magento 2

Magento 2 Development; Magento 2 tutorial

The following article explains how to import images from an external URL in Magento 2. You cannot imagine an e-commerce website without product pictures. Uploading visual content elements, however, may be challenging. The more products you have, the more work should be done, especially when you upload each image manually.

Luckily, importing product images to Magento 2 with product data introduces a better way to fill your catalog with content. Instead of uploading pictures to your server and then providing their names during the import process, Magento 2 lets you import images from external URLs. Although this functionality is possible by default, there are several alternative ways to do so.

Below, we focus on the default approach and one of the alternatives. Let’s see how to import product images to Magento 2 using external URLs.  Check other useful tips here: Magento 2 Cookbook. Continue Reading

How To Import Customer Passwords To Magento 2

- E-Commerce, Fire development, Magento 2

magento 2 change customer password in database

What if you need to transfer customer data to Magento 2 or change the customer password in a database? For instance, for the sake of data migration from Magento 1 to 2. You may try to use the default import tool to do that. However, it doesn’t let you move all the prospect-related information to your database. For instance, it is impossible to migrate customer passwords from external systems. Attempts to address this problem have been made utilizing numerous approaches. Below, we describe two of them. 

You will learn how to import passwords to Magento 2 from external systems by manually editing your data files. Alternatively, we describe how to import the existing customer data including passwords to your e-commerce website based on the Improved Import & Export extension. Thus, you will learn how to reset customer passwords in a database in Magento 2.

The problem is that the new platform version utilizes an updated algorithm for storing passwords. Hence, users claim that after migrating to Magento 2 from Magento 1, registered prospects have to re-enter their passwords on a new website. 

If editing passwords manually fixes the problem caused by Magento version discrepancy, Improved Import & Export dramatically extends the application sphere for customer data import. The module lets you transfer information about registered buyers from any external platform automatically with any number of unsupported attributes, including new customer passwords and the existing hash values of customer account passwords. For further useful tips, check our Cookbook. Continue Reading

How to Run Product Import on Daily Basis in Magento 2

- E-Commerce, Magento 2

Magento 2 Development

Welcome to our Magento 2 scheduled import guide. Below, we shed light on how to run Magento 2 import processes daily and automatically following a schedule. You can do that either in your admin interface or via CLI. While Magento 2 Open Source doesn’t let you automate data transfer processes and there is no way to use CLI to control imports and exports, you can enable the missing functionality with the help of third-party solutions. In the article below, we explain how to run scheduled imports in Magento 2 and use CLI to control them with the help of Improved Import & Export.

Also, we look for an alternative point of view on Magento StackExchange in the question by Massimo Camoni and the answer by Khoa TruongDinh. Since we leverage the advanced import functionality of the Improved Import & Export extension to address the issues mentioned in the discussion, you will also find a section that describes other possibilities the module provides.

So, how do we run product import in Magento 2 daily and automatically? And how do we use CLI in this process? The question has two answers since everything depends on your platform version. As we all know, the difference between Magento 2 Open Source and Adobe Commerce is huge, therefore, the same goals on both platforms can be achieved in a slightly different manner. Let’s see. Continue Reading

Magento CLI Commands: How to Run Product Import in Magento 2 from CLI

- Fire development, Magento 2

Magento 2 Development; Magento 2 tutorial

Welcome to our guide to Magento CLI commands. If you want to optimize your daily routine related to Magento 2 product import, you’ve come to the right place. Below, we shed light on several data transfer optimizations that will help you save tons of time spent on daily chores. Many merchants look for tips on importing products to Magento 2 using the command line interface. Below, you will find the easiest way to do so.

The following article is based on the StackExchange question by Massimo Camoni and the answer by Khoa TruongDinh. However, it extends the solution provided in the discussion. So, let’s see how to run Magento 2 product import via CLI. You will find the Magento 2 CLI commands list for importing and exporting products and other entities on your e-commerce website.
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How to Import Multiselect Attribute Values to Magento 2

- E-Commerce, Fire development, Magento 2

Magento 2 import export debug log

In the following article, we explain how to get multiselect attribute values in Magento 2 via import and export processes. But how it it possible if the default data transfer tools don’t offer the desired functionality?

The default data transfer capabilities of Magento 2 still need various improvements, especially if you use the Open Source version of the platform. However, numerous community-based initiatives that tend to improve the basic functionality are at your service. They vary between coding tricks and standalone extensions. Depending on the complexity of your business, your technical skills, or the faced issues, you can select one that perfectly suits your needs. What to do if you cannot find the solutions? Ask the community for support. 

Recently, we came across an interesting issue on Stackexchange. The author was wondering whether it was possible to create values for a multiselect attribute when uploading a CSV file. Below, we share two solutions: the community-based algorithm for addressing the problem and the Firebear-proposed tool. While the first one requires additional coding experience and is almost unreal to implement for non-technical users, the extension we offer is admin-friendly and intuitive so that anyone can use it to cope with the difficulties described below. 

To make a long story short, let’s explore the issue and describe how Magento lets you get product multiselect attribute values. More tips are available here: Magento 2 Cookbook.
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