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.
Related: Customize a Collection Page in Shopify.
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).
Related: Add Sorting Options to a Shopify Collection Page.
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.
If you haven’t set this up yet, start with add best seller badges in shopify.
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.
FAQ
Three causes: (1) the collection's Sort is set to anything other than "Manually" — automated sorts override your drag order, (2) the products are added by automated rules and you're seeing newly-added products appear at the end, or (3) you didn't click Save (Shopify doesn't auto-save reorders). Switch to Manually first, then drag, then save.
Best Selling auto-promotes whatever's selling, which compounds — popular products stay popular. Manual gives you control to surface what you want sold (high-margin items, new launches, slower-moving inventory you want to push). Most stores benefit from manual on top collections; automated on long-tail categories.
Monthly for top collections; quarterly for secondary ones. Update when: stock changes substantially, new arrivals enter the catalog, seasonal shifts happen, or a campaign starts. Stale manual order with discontinued products at the top is worse than a fresh automated sort.
Yes if you enable it: Products → Collections → your collection → "Automatically arrange out-of-stock products at the bottom." Toggle this on to keep manual ordering for in-stock products while pushing OOS items to the end. This setting works in conjunction with manual sort.
Yes — the Admin API supports collectionReorderProducts for manual collections. Useful when you have 100+ products and want to reorder programmatically based on metrics (e.g., margin × stock, or recency-weighted score). To skip writing the script, describe what you want to Fudge ("reorder this collection by margin × current stock, descending") and it builds the order and pushes via API.
Related: Add Product Badges in Shopify.