How to Bulk Edit Product Images in Shopify

Q: Can I set alt text for all images at once?

Yes — using templates with variables like `{product}` and `{vendor}`, so each image gets unique, descriptive alt text.

Product images are easy to neglect at scale. Alt text — which helps both SEO and accessibility — gets left blank because writing it per image is tedious. Imports leave duplicate photos behind. The wrong image ends up first in the gallery. None of it is hard to fix on one product; it's just impossible to keep up with across hundreds.

Here's how to manage product images in bulk.

Part of the BulkEditly tutorial series — ▶ Watch all 15 tutorials on YouTube.

Why this is tedious the manual way

Shopify handles images inside each product page — upload, set alt text, drag to reorder, one product at a time. There's no way to set alt text across the catalog, no bulk duplicate-image cleanup, and no catalog-wide reordering rule.

The fix: BulkEditly's image manager

BulkEditly's image manager handles images across your whole catalog. You can:

Bulk add images to products
Set alt text using templates — e.g. {product} by {vendor} — so every image gets descriptive, SEO-friendly alt text automatically
Remove duplicate images left behind by imports
Drag-and-drop reorder images
See image count badges so you can spot products with too few (or no) images at a glance

The image manager is available on the Pro plan. Every plan includes a 7-day free trial of all features.

How to bulk edit images with BulkEditly

Install BulkEditly from the Shopify App Store and open it from your admin.
Go to the Images section.
Choose an operation — add images, set alt text, remove duplicates, or reorder.
For alt text, write a template using variables like {product} and {vendor}.
Filter to the products you want to work on.
Preview, then apply.

Common scenarios

Fill in blank alt text: Template alt text across every product image for SEO and accessibility in one pass.
Clean up after an import: Remove duplicate images that a migration or re-import left behind.
Fix the gallery order: Reorder so the right photo shows first.
Find thin listings: Use image count badges to spot products with no images or only one.
Add a shared image: Bulk-add a size chart or care-instructions image to a product line.

Staying safe

Every image operation shows a preview before it runs, and the image manager has full undo support — every job is recorded in History and can be reversed, with up to 180 days of history depending on your plan.

FAQ

Can you bulk edit product images in Shopify? Not natively — Shopify manages images per product. BulkEditly's image manager works across your whole catalog.

Can I set alt text for all images at once? Yes — using templates with variables like {product} and {vendor}, so each image gets unique, descriptive alt text.

Can it remove duplicate images? Yes — it finds and removes duplicate images, which is useful after imports or migrations.

Can I undo image changes? Yes — the image manager has full undo support; every job is recorded in History and reversible.

Ready to get your product images in order? Install BulkEditly free on the Shopify App Store →