What should I do if my feed is not updating correctly?

If your feed is failing to update, check these common causes and solutions categorized by the exact symptoms you are experiencing.

Matching & "0 Matches / 0 Updated" Issues

• Products missing from store: Update Feeds cannot create new products. If items are completely new, run an Add Feed first to import them into your store.
• Mismatched Product Identifiers: Ensure your unique identifier (SKU or Barcode) matches perfectly between your store and the feed file. If SKUs don't match, try switching the identifier to Product Title.
• Hidden characters in SKUs: Look out for leading zeros, spaces, or hidden prefixes (like an apostrophe '). Use SKU Smart Settings to remove or normalize these so they match your store.
• Wrong column mapping: If the feed returns 0 matches, verify that the mapped columns in Step 2 actually exist in your feed file. If the file uses hidden BOM characters (e.g., reading SKU instead of SKU), map using the column index number instead of the column name.
• Variant option mismatches: If only some variants fail to update, check for mismatched option values (e.g., color codes like BLK vs. the full name Black). The values must match your store exactly.

Filters & Smart Settings Errors

• Active filters: Review your settings in Step 3. Incorrect include/exclude filters or tag-based Store Filters might be accidentally skipping your products.
• Empty Change Log (Before/After Qty): Verify your Inventory Location in Smart Settings. Mapping to the wrong warehouse or location will block stock updates.
• Unexpected quantity numbers: If stock levels increase/decrease incorrectly instead of syncing exactly, check if your Quantity Smart Setting is set to Add/Deduct instead of Overwrite.
• Non-numeric quantities: If your feed contains text in the stock column (e.g., "More than 10"), use Smart Settings to clean the text so the system can read it as a number.
• Thousand separator glitches: If a stock of 1,700 is being read as 1, adjust the quantity delimiter settings to match your supplier’s file format.
• Duplicated feed issues: If you cloned a working feed and the new one fails, double-check that all specific Smart Settings (prefixes, postfixes, and warehouse locations) were updated to match the new data source.

Connection & Source File Failures

• Supplier IP blocking: If your feed URL cannot be accessed, your supplier may be blocking the connection. Ask them to whitelist Stock Sync’s outbound IP address: 52.20.189.51.
• Broken FTP/SFTP details: If the connection fails entirely, verify the hostname, port, and credentials with your supplier. Test the login outside of Stock Sync using a tool like FileZilla.
• Missing or renamed files: If you are using Google Sheets or an FTP server, changing the file or tab name will stop the sync. Update the source filename/sheet name in your feed settings.
• Multiple feeds sharing one file: If multiple feeds download the exact same source file from an FTP/SFTP server, ensure the "After Process" setting is set to "Do nothing." If the first feed moves or deletes the file, subsequent feeds will fail.
• Email feed issues: If email-based feeds stop updating, ensure the supplier is sending attachments to the correct, unique Stock Sync email address generated for that specific feed. Send a fresh email to force-trigger it.

System Pauses & Limits

• Halt Threshold triggered: If a feed suddenly tries to set a large percentage of your products to zero stock, Stock Sync will automatically pause the feed as a safety measure. Review the Halt slider in your feed settings to adjust this threshold.
• Auto-disable safety: If a scheduled feed fails repeatedly due to continuous source errors, the system will auto-disable the schedule. Fix the underlying file issue and contact support to re-enable it.
• Shopify variant limits: If the feed says "success" but nothing changes, verify if your store has exceeded Shopify's max variant limits. Stock Sync will skip updates until your variant count drops or your plan is upgraded.
• Skipping zero quantities: If missing items aren't importing via an Add Feed, check if "Skip product(s) with zero quantity" is enabled, as this intentionally filters out out-of-stock items.

Display Glitches & General Fixes

• Stuck in queue / Processing slowly: Only one feed can process at a time per account. If other feeds are queuing, wait for them to finish. During rare high-traffic periods or temporary backend incidents, feeds may process slower than usual.
• Feed not loading or appears frozen: In rare cases, clearing the cache and reconnecting the feed can resolve a state where the feed does not load or process at all.
• Incorrect row separator errors: If you see errors such as "Incorrect row separator", adjust the row separator to match your source file format; this typically resolves blocked updates.
• Empty error lists: If the interface shows an orange warning or error state but no specific error text appears, it is likely a temporary interface lag. Wait a few minutes and trigger a Force Run.
• Broken image URLs: If product images fail to import because their URLs start with // instead of https://, use Smart Settings to automatically add the https: prefix.

Still stuck? Run a manual sync using the Start Process / Force Run button (this ensures the system pulls the absolute latest file). If the issue persists, contact support with your Feed Name and a sample SKU so our team can investigate immediately.

Additional Edge Case

• Metafield type caching: If you recently added metafields and your feed begins showing errors like "Multiple feeds are running", the issue may be caused by outdated metafield type caching. Remove the metafield mapping and re-add it to refresh the cached type.
• Preview runs don’t update products: A Preview Sync only shows expected changes without applying them. Run the feed normally to apply updates.
• Unmatched SKUs: If a SKU does not exist in the feed file or in your store, it will not be updated. No action is required unless you want to archive or modify those products.
• Incorrect sheet or file name: For Google Sheets or other file-based feeds, ensure the correct tab or filename is selected. Renaming a sheet will stop updates until adjusted.
• Separate feeds needed: Adding new products and updating existing ones must be done in separate feeds. Use an Add Feed for new items and an Update Feed for stock/price updates.
• Schedule delays: If a feed is not running at the expected scheduled time, it may be due to temporary system delays. Support may escalate for investigation if the issue persists.

Updated on: 16/07/2026