How to Bulk Create Product Variations in WooCommerce (Complete Guide)

Do you need to learn how to bulk create product variations in WooCommerce? If you manage an online store, you already know that manually creating and configuring product variations can take an enormous amount of time. Instead of spending hours doing repetitive data entry, we will show you how to add WooCommerce variations in bulk, saving you days of tedious work.

By using an optimized spreadsheet interface, you will be able to mass generate product variations much faster than you ever could using the default WooCommerce editor.

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What Are WooCommerce Product Variations?

WooCommerce product variations are the different options, styles, or versions of a single product that you offer to customers in your online store. They belong to a “Variable Product.”

These variations allow shoppers to choose between different product attributes or features before adding the item to their cart. For example, if you sell apparel like T-shirts, your variations would likely include different Sizes (Small, Medium, Large) and Colors (Red, Blue, Black).

Each unique variation functions almost like its own product. It can have its own dedicated price, stock quantity, weight, image, and SKU (Stock Keeping Unit), allowing you to perfectly customize your inventory tracking and meet your customers’ needs.

Why Is Adding WooCommerce Variations So Difficult?

In default WooCommerce, you have to configure and manage these variations through the standard WordPress admin interface. While this works fine for a handful of items, it becomes a major bottleneck when scaling your business.

There are many scenarios where you need to create hundreds of variations for your WooCommerce catalog. Consider this common situation:

You have 100 simple products that need to be converted into variable products.
To do this natively, you must open the first product, go to the Product Data box, assign product attributes, check the “Used for variations” box, and save.
Only after adding attributes can you go to the Variations tab and click “Generate variations from all attributes.”
You then have to manually input the price and SKU for every single variation generated.

Assuming that configuring variations for just one product takes you about 5 to 10 minutes, you will need between 8 and 17 straight hours to add variations to just 100 WooCommerce products. This is why you need a reliable method to create WooCommerce product variations in bulk.

The Solution: Bulk Adding WooCommerce Variations with WP Sheet Editor

We have seen that converting simple products into variable ones and generating their variations is incredibly time-consuming. Here, we will show you the absolute simplest way to bulk create product variations using a familiar spreadsheet interface.

You will be able to view and manage your entire WooCommerce catalog in a fast, Excel-like table. This table editor will allow you to bulk generate product variations and edit them with just a few clicks.

To achieve this, we will use the WP Sheet Editor – WooCommerce Products plugin. It is the best tool on the market for mass managing WooCommerce variations.

You can download the plugin here:

Download WooCommerce Products Spreadsheet Plugin - or - Check the features

WP Sheet Editor comes packed with features that simplify taxonomy and variation management. With it, you can:

Display variations directly in the spreadsheet and manage parent products and child variations in one unified place.
Create variations in bulk for every possible combination of attributes automatically.
Copy existing variations from one product to hundreds of other products instantly.
Search and filter your catalog by keyword, category, attribute, price, stock status, or SKU.
Bulk edit product variation prices, weights, and descriptions with mathematical formulas.
Duplicate variable products along with all their underlying variations.
Bulk export and import variations using CSV files for Excel or Google Sheets management.

Keep reading and follow the step-by-step instructions below to master bulk variation creation.

Step 1. Open the WooCommerce Products Spreadsheet

Once you install and activate the WP Sheet Editor plugin on your WordPress site, open the interface by navigating to WP Sheet Editor > Edit products.

You will see a clean spreadsheet containing all your products and their complete database information organized into columns.

In the sections below, you will learn multiple methods for creating WooCommerce product variations, copying variation data, and converting simple products.

3 Ways to Create Product Variations in Bulk

WP Sheet Editor provides several flexible methods to add variations to your variable products. You can target specific items, filter your catalog to target a group of products, or generate variations storewide.

To start, click on the Create variations tool located on the plugin’s top toolbar. This Variations Manager is the ultimate WooCommerce bulk variation creator!

Inside the popup, click on the Create variations option.

Now you have three distinct options to execute your bulk creation.

Method 1: Create variations for specific variable products

You can manually target individual variable products. Use this method if you know exactly which specific products in your store need new variations generated.

Configure the following values in the Variations Manager:

The variations are for these products: Select individual products.
Select products: Type the names of the variable products you want to target. In our example, we selected 4 specific items.
Action: Choose to create one variation for each combination of product attributes, or specify a custom number of variations.
Click on Execute to generate the variations for the selected products instantly.

Method 2: Search for products and create variations

If you want to edit a large group of variable products that share similar characteristics (such as a specific category, attribute, tag, or shipping class), you can use the search tool to filter them first.

For example, we are going to find all the variable products in the “Clothing” category and mass add variations to them.

Under The variations are for these products, select the Select all the products from a search option. This will automatically open the advanced Search tool.

Inside the Search panel, enter your search terms. To find all variable products within the “Clothing” category, enter “Clothing” in the category field and ensure your product type is set correctly. Click on Run search.

Back in the Variations Manager, tick the checkbox that says I understand it will update the products from my search. Choose your combination generation preference, and click Execute to apply the changes to the entire filtered batch.

Method 3: Create variations for ALL variable products

If you have recently imported a massive catalog of products, assigned attributes, but haven’t generated the actual variations yet, you can do it storewide with one click.

Select these values in the Variations Manager:

The variations are for these products: All the variable products.
Action: Choose to create one variation for each combination of product attributes.
Click on Execute to generate the combinations for every single variable product in your database.

How to Convert Simple Products into Variable Products and Create Variations

What if your products are currently set as “Simple Products” but you need them to be “Variable Products” so you can add size and color options? With WP Sheet Editor, you can perform this structural conversion and bulk generate the variations in a streamlined process.

1. Select the simple products you want to edit

First, isolate the simple products you want to convert. You can achieve this by:

Editing all products: If your entire store currently consists of simple products that need converting.
Filtering simple products: Click the Search tool, select Type = Simple, and hit Search to isolate them in the grid.
Selecting manually: Use the checkbox picker on the left side of the spreadsheet rows to hand-pick specific items.

Once you run the search, you will see all the targeted simple products displayed neatly on the spreadsheet.

2. Convert simple products into variable products

To convert the product type in bulk, open the Bulk Edit tool located on the top toolbar.

Configure the tool with these exact values to change the product type:

Select the rows that you want to update: Edit all the rows from my current search (or edit manually selected rows).
What field do you want to edit: Type
Select type of edit: Set value
Replace existing value with this value: Variable
Check the box for Edit only parent products.
Click on Execute now.

3. Bulk Add Product Attributes

Before you can generate variations, the variable product must have attributes assigned to it. If you haven’t added attributes yet, you can do it rapidly using the spreadsheet.

Option A: Add attributes manually via the spreadsheet cells

Scroll to the column of the product attribute you want to edit (e.g., “Product Color”). Click the cell and enter the terms from the dropdown list, or type to create new ones. Click Save when done.

Option B: Add attributes in bulk

If hundreds of products share the exact same attributes (like a clothing line that all come in Small, Medium, Large), use the Bulk Edit tool.

Set up the Bulk Edit tool with these values:

Select the rows that you want to update: Edit all the rows from my current search.
What field do you want to update: Product Color (or your specific attribute column).
Select type of edit: Choose “Set value” to overwrite, or “Append” to add to existing data.
Terms: Enter the new attributes separated by commas (e.g., Red, Blue, Green).
Click on Execute now.

4. Make Attributes Usable for Variations

Just adding attributes isn’t enough; WooCommerce needs to know they should be used to build variations. Open the Bulk Edit tool one more time and apply this crucial setting:

Select the rows that you want to update: Edit all the rows from my current search.
What field do you want to update: Product Attributes.
Select type of edit: Change attribute settings.
What setting do you want to change? Used for variations.
New value: Yes.
What attribute do you want to edit? All.
Click on Execute now.

5. Generate the Variations in Bulk

Now that your products are set as variable and contain the correct, variation-enabled attributes, simply open the Create variations tool (as shown earlier in Method 3) and generate the combinations storewide!

Advanced: Bulk Edit WooCommerce Variation Data

Once you have successfully created the variations in bulk, they are essentially blank slates. You must assign prices and inventory data before customers can buy them. WP Sheet Editor makes bulk updating this variation data incredibly easy.

Edit variations directly in the spreadsheet

Click the Display variations button on the toolbar to expand the parent products and reveal the child variation rows. You can type prices, adjust stock, and paste image URLs directly into the cells. Click Save when finished.

Bulk update variations

Need to increase all variation prices by 10%? Open the Bulk Edit tool. Just make sure you select “Edit variations” instead of parent products when configuring the target rows.

Time-Saving Tip: Copy Data Between Variations

If you have a variable product with 100 unique variations, but 90 of them share the exact same price and weight, you don’t need to type it 100 times. WP Sheet Editor allows you to copy data between cells instantly, just like in Excel.

1. Sort your columns (Optional)

Use the Hide/Display/Sort columns tool on the top toolbar to hide irrelevant columns and bring the columns you need (like Regular Price) closer together.

2. Copy and paste the data

Click on the cell containing the correct price, right-click, and select Copy (or use CTRL+C). Then, highlight the empty variation cells below it and press CTRL+V to paste the data downward. Click Save to commit the changes.

Simplify Your WooCommerce Inventory Management

Managing variable products doesn’t have to cause headaches. WP Sheet Editor is the ultimate companion for bulk creating WooCommerce variations. With this powerful spreadsheet, you can bypass the clunky default interface, automate your attribute generation, and focus on growing your e-commerce business.

Want to learn more? Check out these related tutorials to master variation management: