[Complete Guide] How to Use Shopify Metafields | Setup and Configuration Explained

Metafields are a flexible data-management feature essential to running a Shopify store. Beyond the standard fields, they let you freely add any information you need to products, collections, blog posts, and more. This article provides a comprehensive explanation of metafields, from the basics of how to use them to practical, real-world examples.

What Are Metafields

Shopify metafields are custom fields that let you store additional information on products, collections, blog posts, and more. Beyond the standard fields (product name, price, description, etc.), they're a feature that lets you freely add any information you need.

For example, you can add information such as:

• Detailed product specs
• Country of origin
• Size guide
• How to use the product
• Warranty period

Metafield Content Types

Metafields come in a variety of content types, and you need to choose the appropriate type depending on the kind of data you're storing. This section explains each metafield content type along with usage examples.

Category	Content Type	Description	Usage Examples
Date and time	Date and time	・Supports ISO 8601 date values and UTC time values	・Campaign start/end time ・Live stream broadcast time ・Available booking time slots
Date and time	Date	・Supports ISO 8601 date values and UTC time values	・Membership registration date ・Points expiration date ・Product manufacturing date
Dimension	Dimension	・Supports both integers and decimals ・Uses either metric or imperial units of measurement	・Screen size (TVs, monitors, etc.) ・Space required to install furniture ・Clothing size measurements
Dimension	Volume	・Supports both integers and decimals ・Uses either metric or imperial units of measurement	・Recipe ingredient amounts ・Cosmetics net content ・Recommended detergent dosage
Dimension	Weight	・Supports both integers and decimals ・Uses either metric or imperial units of measurement	・Grams of raw materials like sugar or oil ・Shipping weight limits ・Weight capacity ・Portable weight
Number	Decimal	・Supports decimal values ・Accepts values within the range +/-9999999999999.999999999 ・Integers can have up to 13 digits ・Decimals can have up to 9 digits	・Gemstone carat weight ・Discount rate ・Product rating score ・Energy efficiency value
Number	Integer	・Supports integer values ・Accepts values from -4,611,686,018,427,387,904 to 4,611,686,018,427,387,903	・Number of pages in a book ・Stock count ・Minimum order quantity ・Membership points
Category	Content Type	Description	Usage Examples
Text	Multi-line text	・Supports plain text with line breaks ・Lets you set a minimum and maximum text length ・Lets you select a regular expression rule	・Shipping notes ・Return policy ・Product usage precautions ・Care instructions ・Allergy information
Text	Rich text	・Supports text with line breaks ・Also supports inline styles like heading styles, bold, italic, and underline ・However, whether styles are actually reflected depends on the theme's implementation	・Longer brand stories ・Longer product stories ・Product feature descriptions ・Detailed usage instructions ・Collection stories
Text	Single line text	・Supports plain text with no line breaks ・You can also restrict input to specific presets	・Short notes ・Announcements ・Product code ・Catchphrase ・Tagline
Reference	Company or other organization	・Supports links to one or more companies	・Affiliated companies ・Manufacturer ・Business partner ・Partner organization
Reference	Customer	・Supports links to one or more customers	・Related customers ・Product reviewers ・Brand ambassadors ・VIP members
Reference	Product	・Supports links to one or more products	・Featured products ・Related products ・Coordinating products ・Replacement parts ・Components of a bundled set
Reference	Collection	・Supports links to one or more collections	・Featured collections ・Seasonal collections ・Themed collections ・Coordinated sets
Reference	Product variant	・Supports a link to a single product variant	・Other clothing items in the same color ・Size range ・Material variations ・Seasonal limited version
Reference	File	・Supports uploading a single file ・Supported file types include images (PEG, PNG, WEBP, HEIC, and GIF), video (MOV and MP4), and all file types (any format other than HTML)	・PDF product manuals ・Product dimension diagrams ・Material certificates ・Assembly guides
Reference	Metaobject	・Supports links to one or more metaobject entries	・Influencer profile ・Author profile ・Designer profile ・Brand history ・Material information
Reference	Page	・Can link to an existing page ・Supports links to one or more pages	・Product policy pages ・Detailed support guide pages ・Size guide ・Care guide ・Warranty information
Category	Content Type	Description	Usage Examples
Other	True or false	・Creates a checkbox for choosing whether a condition is true or false	・Whether an item can be engraved ・Whether a page should be indexed by search engines ・Whether gift wrapping is available ・Whether customization is available ・Whether a product is members-only
Other	Color	・Supports RGB values in "#RRGGBB" format	・Product color ・Seasonal color ・Color variation ・Interior color
Other	Rating	・Supports decimal values based on the notation configured in the definition	・Product audience score ・Product star rating ・Difficulty level ・Recommended age ・Comfort level
Other	ID	・Supports a unique, single-line text value	・Storing a resource's ID for another system ・Inventory management number ・Serial number ・Membership ID
Other	URL	・Supports "HTTP," "HTTPS," "mailto:," "sms:," and "tel:" URLs	・Book review hosted on a specific website ・Link to a product video ・Demonstration video ・Related blog post
Other	Money	・Supports both integers and decimals ・Currency code must match the store's currency	・Sourcing cost ・Shipping cost to the warehouse ・Detailed product cost breakdown ・Maintenance cost ・Extended warranty fee ・Bundle discount amount
Other	Link	・Supports single-line plain text with no line breaks, and "HTTP," "HTTPS," "mailto:," "sms:," and "tel:" URLs	・Book review hosted on a specific website ・Link to a product video ・Catalog PDF ・Size chart ・Certification information
Advanced	JSON	・Supports raw JSON data for advanced use cases that need a structured data source	・Table of raw materials ・Size range table ・Nutrition facts table ・Color variation information ・Spec sheets covering different products in each column
Advanced	Mixed reference	・Supports any type of reference ・However, using it on the storefront requires developer support	・Creating dynamic landing pages on a Hydrogen storefront

How to Use Metafields

This section shows how to use a metafield to display a product's country of origin.

* This is the method for displaying a metafield on the Rise theme, so for other themes, step 3 may not work exactly as described.

Step 1. Create the Metafield Definition

Here, to display a product's country of origin, we'll create a metafield named "Country of Origin" on products.

(1) From the Shopify admin, go to Settings > Custom data

(2) In the metafield definitions list, click "Products"

(3) Click "Add definition"

(4) Enter a name (here, we entered "Country of Origin")

(5) Enter a namespace and key (here, we entered "custom.country_of_manufacture")

(6) Enter a description (this is optional)

(7) Choose the appropriate content type (here, since we're only entering a country name, we chose "Text > Single line text")

(8) Under Storefront access, choose "Read"

* Since we want to display the country of origin on the product page, be careful not to get this wrong.

(9) Click "Save"

Step 2. Set a Value in the Product's Metafield

Next, enter the country-of-origin data into the metafield created in Step 1 for each product.

(1) From the Shopify admin, click Products

(2) From the product list, select the product you want to enter country-of-origin information for

(3) In the Metafields section, enter a value into "Country of Origin"

(4) Click "Save"

Step 3. Display the Metafield Value in Your Shopify Theme

Finally, customize your Shopify theme so the country-of-origin information displays on the product page.

(1) From the Shopify admin, go to Online Store > Themes

(2) Click "Customize" on the theme where you want to display the country of origin

(3) From the select box in the top center of the screen, choose the product template

(4) On the left, click the plus icon where you want to add a block

(5) From the block list, select the "Text" block

(6) In the "Text" block settings, click the database icon

(7) Select "Country of Origin"

(8) Edit the text field of the "Text" block as needed

(9) Click "Save"

Metafield Use Cases

Beyond displaying metafield values, such as showing the country of origin on the product page as described above, metafields can be used for a variety of other purposes. This section introduces a few metafield use cases.

Use as a Filter Field in Product Management

Product metafields can be used as a filter field in product management.

To use it as a filter field in product management, you need to enable "Filter in product index" in the metafield definition's options.

The supported product metafield types are as follows (listed as Category > Content Type):

• Text > Single line text
• Reference > Product
• Other > True or false
• Reference > Collection
• Reference > Page
• Reference > Metaobject

Use as a Collection Filter Condition

Product metafields can be used as a filter condition to pull products into a collection.

To use it as a filter condition for a collection, you need to enable "Smart collection" in the metafield definition's options.

The supported product metafield types are as follows (listed as Category > Content Type):

• Text > Single line text
• Other > Rating
• Other > True or false
• Number > Integer
• Number > Decimal

Use as a Filter Field on the Product Listing Page

Product metafields can be used as a filtering option implemented through the Search & Discovery app.

The blog post below covers Search & Discovery in detail. Please use it as a reference.

Hide a Specific Product from Search Results

Shopify has a feature that lets you hide a specific product from search results by creating a given metafield definition on the product and setting its value.

The blog post below covers how to use a metafield to hide a specific product from search results, along with other ways to hide products. Please use it as a reference.

Hide the Table of Contents for Specific Content Only

With "RuffRuff Table of Contents," a Shopify app that automatically displays a table of contents, you can create a specified metafield definition, and only content that has a value set for that metafield will have its table of contents hidden.

For detailed setup instructions, see the help page below.

Use as a Level in Breadcrumb Navigation

By managing a blog post's main tag with a metafield and using it to build breadcrumb navigation, you can flexibly express a hierarchical structure such as "Home page > Blog list > List of posts filtered by main tag > Post detail."

The blog post below covers not just the implementation method but also the benefits and drawbacks of breadcrumb navigation and how to customize its design, making it a great practical example of using metafields.

3 Handy Apps Related to Metafields

Matrixify

Source: Matrixify | Shopify App Store

Matrixify is a Shopify app that lets you export data from anywhere in Shopify — products, blog posts, and more — and use its import feature to bulk-edit that data. It's handy when you want to bulk-edit metafields using a CSV file.

The blog post below covers Matrixify in detail. Please use it as a reference.

Metafields Guru

Source: Metafields Guru | Shopify App Store

Metafields Guru is a Shopify app that streamlines metafield management for your Shopify store.

You can bulk-edit metafields right from the app's admin screen. It also supports bulk edits via CSV or JSON data, and includes handy features such as preview, scheduling, and the ability to undo changes.

RuffRuff Order Limits

RuffRuff Order Limits is a Shopify app that, in a single app, lets you implement all kinds of purchase restrictions — quantity limits, amount limits, bundling restrictions, customer restrictions, payment method restrictions, shipping restrictions, and access restrictions.

Since you can enforce purchase restrictions based on customer metafields, you can, for example, run a members-only sale limited to customers at the Silver tier or above.

[Bonus] How to Bulk-Update Metafields Using GraphQL

Some of you may want to bulk-update metafields without installing a Shopify app. The article below explains how to bulk-update metafields using the GraphQL API. Please use it as a reference.

In Closing

Metafields are a powerful tool that greatly increases the flexibility of your Shopify store. This article walked through the basic setup and usage of metafields using the concrete example of displaying a product's country of origin. We also covered how metafields can be applied in various other situations, such as streamlining product management, customizing search results, and building breadcrumb navigation.

Using metafields effectively not only improves your store's operational efficiency but also lets you offer a clearer, more appealing shopping experience to your customers. Use this article as a reference and give further customization of your Shopify store a try.

Finally, if you'd like to go even deeper into custom data, including metafields, check out our detailed article on metaobjects, 'How to Use Metaobjects.' Using metaobjects lets you build more complex data structures and further extend your store's capabilities.