Key takeaways
- Go to Products > Collections > select the collection > change Sort to “Manually”.
- Once set to Manual sort, drag products in the list to reorder them.
- Manual sort only works on manually-curated collections, not automated collections.
- The first product in the list is shown first on the collection page.
Product order in a collection directly affects what customers see and engage with first. Shopify gives you full manual control - you just need to switch to the right sort mode first.
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How to manually reorder products in a Shopify collection
Step 1. In your Shopify admin, go to Products > Collections.
Step 2. Click the collection you want to reorder.
Step 3. Scroll down to the Products section of the collection editor. You’ll see a Sort dropdown.
Step 4. Change the Sort setting to Manually. A dialog may ask if you want to keep the current order as a starting point - select yes.
Step 5. Once Manually is selected, a drag handle (six dots) appears next to each product in the list.
Step 6. Click and hold the drag handle, then drag the product to its new position.
Step 7. Repeat for any other products you want to move.
Step 8. Click Save at the top right.
The updated order is reflected on the collection page immediately.
Why you need to switch to “Manually” first
By default, Shopify collections use an automated sort - typically “Best selling” or “Newest”. With an automated sort active, you can’t drag products to reorder them because Shopify is managing the order algorithmically.
Switching to Manually hands control to you. The tradeoff: your bestsellers won’t automatically rise to the top once you go manual. You’ll need to update the order yourself periodically to reflect inventory changes, new arrivals, or seasonal promotions.
Available sort options in Shopify
If you switch away from manual sorting later, these are the automated options:
- Best selling - ordered by historical sales volume (most sold first)
- Product title A-Z / Z-A - alphabetical
- Price: high to low / low to high
- Newest - most recently created products first
- Oldest - earliest created products first
- Manually - your custom order
Customers can also sort the collection themselves using the sort control on the front end (if enabled in your theme settings).
Manual sorting on automated collections
If your collection uses automated conditions to include products (e.g., “include all products tagged ‘summer’”), manual reordering still works. You can switch to Manual sort on an automated collection.
However: when new products are added to the collection via the automation rules, they’re added at the end of your manual order. You’d need to periodically review the collection and drag new arrivals to the right position.
What product order looks like to customers
When a customer lands on a collection page, they see products in the default sort order you’ve set. If you’ve set it to Manual, they see your custom order.
If your theme shows a sort dropdown on the collection page, customers can override the sort with their preference - but your manual order remains the default when they first arrive.
Strategy for manual product ordering
Manual ordering is worth maintaining for your key collections. Some principles:
- Put bestsellers near the top - they convert and give new visitors social proof
- Featured or new arrivals can go to position 1-3 if you’re pushing them
- Out-of-stock products should go to the bottom - check your collection settings for an “Automatically move out-of-stock products to the end” option (Shopify has this)
- Group related products visually - e.g., all colour variants of the same style near each other
For stores with large collections (100+ products), manual ordering the full list is impractical. Focus on the first two rows (typically 4-8 products depending on grid columns) - that’s what most customers see before deciding whether to filter or scroll further.
