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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  • Removing outdated inventory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

  1. Go to the Settings tab
  2. Scroll to the Danger Zone section
  3. You'll see Delete All Products with a red warning

Before You Delete

Important Considerations

  1. Products are permanently deleted

    • Cannot be recovered
    • Must re-sync to restore products
  2. Active orders may be affected

    • Products in unfulfilled orders may cause issues
    • Fulfill or cancel orders first
  3. Collections remain

    • Set-based collections are not deleted
    • You may want to manually delete these later
  4. Metafields remain

    • Metafield definitions stay in Shopify
    • Not affected by product deletion
  5. 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

  1. 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"
  2. Verify this count before proceeding

    • Ensure it matches your expectations
    • If count seems wrong, refresh the page

Step 2: Initiate Deletion

  1. Click Delete All Products button

  2. A confirmation modal appears

  3. 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"
  4. Type "DELETE" to confirm (case-sensitive)

  5. 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 seconds

Step 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 failed

Handling Failures

Why Products Fail to Delete

Common reasons:

  1. Product locked by active order

    • Product is in an unfulfilled order
    • Shopify prevents deletion
    • Fulfill or cancel order first
  2. Shopify API error

    • Network timeout
    • Rate limit exceeded (rare)
    • Temporary Shopify issue
  3. Insufficient permissions

    • App doesn't have delete permissions
    • Re-authorize the app

What to Do About Failed Deletions

  1. Review error details

    • Modal shows which products failed and why
    • Copy error messages for troubleshooting
  2. Retry failed products

    • Click Retry Failed (if available)
    • Or manually delete in Shopify Admin
  3. Manual deletion

    • Go to Shopify Admin → Products
    • Search for failed product titles
    • Delete individually

After Deletion

Verify Products Are Gone

  1. Go to Shopify AdminProducts
  2. Search for MTG product names (e.g., "Lightning Bolt")
  3. 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

  1. Go to Shopify AdminProductsCollections
  2. Find set-based collections (e.g., "Bloomburrow", "Duskmourn")
  3. 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:

  1. Go to Shopify AdminSettingsCustom dataProducts
  2. Find metafield definitions under mtg namespace
  3. 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

  1. Go to SettingsMetafield Setup
  2. Verify status shows Complete
  3. If not, run Setup Metafields again

Step 2: Select Sets

  1. Go to Sync tab
  2. Select the sets you want to restore
  3. Or select All to restore your entire catalog

Step 3: Sync Products

  1. Click Sync Products
  2. Products will be re-created with current pricing
  3. 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

  1. Go to Shopify AdminProducts
  2. Filter by collection (e.g., "Bloomburrow")
  3. Select products to delete
  4. Click Delete in bulk actions

Option 2: Delete by Collection

  1. Go to Shopify AdminCollections
  2. Open a set-based collection
  3. Select all products in the collection
  4. 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

  1. Export products first

    • Go to Shopify Admin → Products
    • Click Export to download CSV
    • Keep as backup in case you need to restore data
  2. Test on a development store

    • If you have a dev/staging store, test deletion there first
    • Verify expected behavior before deleting on production
  3. Double-check product count

    • Ensure the count shown in Danger Zone matches expectations
    • If count seems wrong, investigate before deleting
  4. Fulfill active orders

    • Check Orders in Shopify Admin
    • Fulfill or cancel any unfulfilled orders
    • Prevents deletion failures

Prevent Accidental Deletion

  1. Don't share account access

    • Only authorized users should access Danger Zone
    • Use Shopify staff permissions to restrict access
  2. Read warnings carefully

    • LGS Ledger shows multiple warnings
    • Don't skip confirmation dialogs
  3. Type "DELETE" carefully

    • Case-sensitive confirmation required
    • Prevents accidental clicks

Deletion vs. Other Options

When to Use Each

GoalUse ThisWhy
Update all pricesPrice SyncFaster, doesn't delete products
Update product dataForce Re-syncPreserves existing products
Remove a few productsManual delete in ShopifySelective, precise
Remove one setManual delete or Shopify appTargeted deletion
Start completely freshDelete All ProductsClean slate
Test pricingTest Mode syncNon-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:

  1. Wait 30 seconds
  2. Refresh the page
  3. Try again
  4. Contact support if persistent

Some products remain after deletion

Cause: Products failed to delete (see error details).

Solution:

  1. Manually delete remaining products in Shopify Admin
  2. Check if products are locked by orders
  3. Retry deletion after resolving issues

Deletion is too slow

Cause: Large product count, Shopify API rate limits.

Solution:

  1. Be patient - 1,000+ products can take 5-10 minutes
  2. Avoid deleting during peak hours
  3. 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

  1. Export products before deleting - CSV backup from Shopify
  2. Test on dev store first - If available
  3. Fulfill active orders - Prevent deletion failures
  4. Verify product count - Ensure it matches expectations
  5. Read warnings carefully - Understand consequences
  6. Have a re-sync plan - Know how you'll restore products if needed

Previous: Best Practices ← | Next: Troubleshooting

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