1. Your item library CSV
The file from Square's Items > Export library, a supplier sheet, or your own spreadsheet, saved as CSV.
Choose a file or paste the text, then click Check file.
Result
Items
| Line | Item | Category | Variations |
|---|
Safe fixes
The model, and what it leaves out
- One row, one variation. Rows that share an Item Name are the variations of one item. With more than one, each needs its own Variation Name, and the Option Name and Option Value columns must pair up and never repeat.
- Token matches a row to an existing variation. A blank, cut or Excel-damaged Token creates a duplicate instead of an update, and the same Token twice updates one variation twice.
- SKUs are one per variation, so a repeat is an error, and so are SKUs and GTINs Excel rewrote to scientific notation.
- Plain numbers: Price, Online Sale Price, Default Unit Cost, the per-location price and quantity columns and Weight (lb) are digits and a decimal point. A blank Price means variable pricing at the till.
- Y or N: Archived, Sellable, Stockable, shipping and pickup, stock alerts and each Tax - column take a capital Y or N.
- GTIN codes of 8, 12, 13 or 14 digits are checked, because marketplaces and Google Merchant Center reject a wrong check digit.
- Safe fixes change only delimiter, header capitals, stray spaces around Token, SKU, GTIN and Permalink, Y/N flags, and price and weight formatting. It never edits an item name, variation name, description, SKU, token, barcode, quantity or category.
- Not checked: that Square will accept the file today, whether categories, taxes and locations already exist, images, modifier sets, discounts, and anything Square changes in its importer. Import two or three items first.
Common questions
Why does my Square item library import fail or create duplicate items?
The usual causes are a Token that was edited or rewritten by Excel so the row no longer matches its variation, two variations of one item with the same name or option values, a repeated SKU, prices with a currency symbol or a decimal comma, Y/N columns filled with yes/no or lowercase, an unquoted comma in a Description that shifts every later cell, and an Excel save that turned SKUs or GTINs into scientific notation. This tool tests each of them and names the line.
How do I check a Square catalog CSV before importing it?
Paste the file or drop it onto this page. It reads the header against Square's item library template, groups rows into items by Item Name, and lists every problem with its line number, grouped as errors, warnings and notes. Nothing is uploaded.
Why did Square import my spreadsheet as new items instead of updating the old ones?
Square matches a row to an existing variation by its Token. If the Token column is blank, edited, cut short or turned into scientific notation by Excel, the row is treated as new and you end up with duplicates. The tool flags tokens that are repeated, damaged or the wrong shape.
Why are my variations all called Regular?
When an item has several variations, each row needs its own Variation Name; a blank name falls back to Regular. The tool lists every variation of a multi-variation item that has no name, and any two that share one.
What do the Y and N columns accept?
Archived, Sellable, Stockable, the shipping and pickup columns, and each Tax - column take a capital Y or N. Yes, true, 1 and lowercase are reported with the likely value, and Apply safe fixes rewrites them.
What does Apply safe fixes change?
Only things with one reasonable reading: the delimiter, header capitalisation, stray spaces around Token, SKU, GTIN and Permalink, yes/no or true/false to Y or N, decimal commas in weights, and prices like $1,299.00 to 1299.00. It never edits an item name, variation name, description, SKU, token, barcode, quantity or category.
Is it safe to put my item library into a web page?
The page runs in your browser, the file is read locally and nothing is uploaded; a test in the code asserts there are no network calls. Your own policies still decide what you may open in a browser.
What does this not check?
Whether Square will accept the file today, whether categories or taxes already exist in your account, location names, image links, modifier sets, discounts, and anything Square changes in its importer. A clean result is not a promise of success: import a few items first.