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Deleting Products
Learn how to safely remove synced products from your Shopify store.
Overview
LGS Ledger provides a Delete All Products feature to bulk-remove all app-managed products from your store. This is useful when:
- Resetting your store to start fresh
- Testing pricing or sync configurations
- Removing outdated inventory
- Closing down a product line
⚠️ Warning: Deletion is permanent and cannot be undone. Products are removed from Shopify entirely.
Accessing Delete All Products
- Go to the Settings tab
- Scroll to the Danger Zone section
- You'll see Delete All Products with a red warning
Before You Delete
Important Considerations
Products are permanently deleted
- Cannot be recovered
- Must re-sync to restore products
Active orders may be affected
- Products in unfulfilled orders may cause issues
- Fulfill or cancel orders first
Collections remain
- Set-based collections are not deleted
- You may want to manually delete these later
Metafields remain
- Metafield definitions stay in Shopify
- Not affected by product deletion
Inventory data is lost
- Stock quantities are deleted with products
- Re-syncing resets quantities to default
When to Delete
✅ Good reasons to delete:
- Testing pricing configurations (use test products)
- Migrating to a different pricing strategy
- Removing all MTG products to focus on other products
- Starting fresh after major errors
❌ Bad reasons to delete:
- Updating prices (use Price Sync instead)
- Removing a few specific products (delete manually in Shopify)
- Fixing metafield issues (re-sync with Force Re-sync instead)
How to Delete All Products
Step 1: Verify Product Count
In the Danger Zone, you'll see:
- Product count - Total app-managed products in your store
- Example: "You have 1,247 products managed by LGS Ledger"
Verify this count before proceeding
- Ensure it matches your expectations
- If count seems wrong, refresh the page
Step 2: Initiate Deletion
Click Delete All Products button
A confirmation modal appears
Read the warnings carefully:
- "This action is permanent and cannot be undone"
- "All products will be removed from your Shopify store"
- "Collections and metafields will remain"
Type "DELETE" to confirm (case-sensitive)
Click Confirm Deletion
Step 3: Monitor Progress
Deletion begins immediately with real-time progress:
Progress Display:
- Progress bar (0-100%)
- Percentage complete
- Products deleted / Total
- Current product being deleted (product title)
- Estimated time remaining
Example:
Deleting products... 45%
567 / 1,247 deleted
Currently deleting: "Lightning Bolt - Bloomburrow"
Estimated time remaining: 3 minutes 12 secondsStep 4: Monitor Completion
Deletion speed:
- ~10-20 products per second
- 1,000 products: ~2-5 minutes
- 5,000 products: ~10-20 minutes
Can you cancel?
- Yes. Click Cancel Deletion to stop
- Products deleted so far will not be restored
- Remaining products are not deleted
Step 5: Review Results
When deletion completes, you'll see:
Summary:
- Total deleted - Successfully removed products
- Failed deletions - Products that couldn't be deleted
- Error details - Why specific products failed
Example:
Deletion Complete
✓ 1,245 products deleted
✗ 2 products failedHandling Failures
Why Products Fail to Delete
Common reasons:
Product locked by active order
- Product is in an unfulfilled order
- Shopify prevents deletion
- Fulfill or cancel order first
Shopify API error
- Network timeout
- Rate limit exceeded (rare)
- Temporary Shopify issue
Insufficient permissions
- App doesn't have delete permissions
- Re-authorize the app
What to Do About Failed Deletions
Review error details
- Modal shows which products failed and why
- Copy error messages for troubleshooting
Retry failed products
- Click Retry Failed (if available)
- Or manually delete in Shopify Admin
Manual deletion
- Go to Shopify Admin → Products
- Search for failed product titles
- Delete individually
After Deletion
Verify Products Are Gone
- Go to Shopify Admin → Products
- Search for MTG product names (e.g., "Lightning Bolt")
- Verify products are removed
If products still appear:
- Refresh the page
- Clear browser cache
- Check if they're in draft status (may need manual deletion)
Clean Up Collections
- Go to Shopify Admin → Products → Collections
- Find set-based collections (e.g., "Bloomburrow", "Duskmourn")
- Manually delete empty collections if desired
LGS Ledger does not auto-delete collections.
Clean Up Metafields (Optional)
Metafield definitions remain in Shopify. To remove them:
- Go to Shopify Admin → Settings → Custom data → Products
- Find metafield definitions under
mtgnamespace - Delete each definition (e.g.,
mtg.card_number,mtg.rarity, etc.)
Note: Only delete metafields if you're permanently removing LGS Ledger from your store.
Re-syncing After Deletion
To restore products after deletion:
Step 1: Verify Metafields
- Go to Settings → Metafield Setup
- Verify status shows Complete
- If not, run Setup Metafields again
Step 2: Select Sets
- Go to Sync tab
- Select the sets you want to restore
- Or select All to restore your entire catalog
Step 3: Sync Products
- Click Sync Products
- Products will be re-created with current pricing
- Monitor progress as usual
Note: Re-synced products are treated as new. Any manual edits or inventory adjustments are lost.
Alternative: Selective Deletion
If you only want to delete specific products or sets:
Option 1: Manual Deletion in Shopify
- Go to Shopify Admin → Products
- Filter by collection (e.g., "Bloomburrow")
- Select products to delete
- Click Delete in bulk actions
Option 2: Delete by Collection
- Go to Shopify Admin → Collections
- Open a set-based collection
- Select all products in the collection
- Bulk delete
Option 3: Use Shopify Apps
Third-party apps like Bulk Product Editor can delete products based on filters:
- Delete by tag
- Delete by collection
- Delete by date added
Safety Tips
Protect Your Data
Export products first
- Go to Shopify Admin → Products
- Click Export to download CSV
- Keep as backup in case you need to restore data
Test on a development store
- If you have a dev/staging store, test deletion there first
- Verify expected behavior before deleting on production
Double-check product count
- Ensure the count shown in Danger Zone matches expectations
- If count seems wrong, investigate before deleting
Fulfill active orders
- Check Orders in Shopify Admin
- Fulfill or cancel any unfulfilled orders
- Prevents deletion failures
Prevent Accidental Deletion
Don't share account access
- Only authorized users should access Danger Zone
- Use Shopify staff permissions to restrict access
Read warnings carefully
- LGS Ledger shows multiple warnings
- Don't skip confirmation dialogs
Type "DELETE" carefully
- Case-sensitive confirmation required
- Prevents accidental clicks
Deletion vs. Other Options
When to Use Each
| Goal | Use This | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Update all prices | Price Sync | Faster, doesn't delete products |
| Update product data | Force Re-sync | Preserves existing products |
| Remove a few products | Manual delete in Shopify | Selective, precise |
| Remove one set | Manual delete or Shopify app | Targeted deletion |
| Start completely fresh | Delete All Products | Clean slate |
| Test pricing | Test Mode sync | Non-destructive |
Troubleshooting
"No products to delete" message
Cause: You don't have any app-managed products.
Solution: Verify you've synced products first. If you did, check Shopify Admin → Products to confirm.
Deletion hangs at 0%
Cause: Network issue or worker process problem (server-side).
Solution:
- Wait 30 seconds
- Refresh the page
- Try again
- Contact support if persistent
Some products remain after deletion
Cause: Products failed to delete (see error details).
Solution:
- Manually delete remaining products in Shopify Admin
- Check if products are locked by orders
- Retry deletion after resolving issues
Deletion is too slow
Cause: Large product count, Shopify API rate limits.
Solution:
- Be patient - 1,000+ products can take 5-10 minutes
- Avoid deleting during peak hours
- Let deletion run to completion (don't close browser)
FAQ
Does deleting products affect my Shopify plan? No. Deleting products frees up space in your product limit.
Can I restore deleted products? No. Deletion is permanent. You must re-sync to restore products.
Will deletion affect customer orders? Completed orders are not affected. Unfulfilled orders may have issues if product is deleted while pending.
Do I need to delete products before re-syncing? No. Use Force Re-sync to update existing products without deleting.
What if I accidentally delete? Re-sync your products immediately. They'll be re-created with current pricing. Any manual changes or inventory adjustments are lost.
Can I delete products from only one store (multi-store)? Yes. Deletion only affects the currently selected store.
Best Practices
- Export products before deleting - CSV backup from Shopify
- Test on dev store first - If available
- Fulfill active orders - Prevent deletion failures
- Verify product count - Ensure it matches expectations
- Read warnings carefully - Understand consequences
- Have a re-sync plan - Know how you'll restore products if needed
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