How a product enters a catalog and what that means

Step by step: assign from the product list

This is the most common method and the only one that handles multiple products at once.

1. Go to Catalog → Products.
2. Select the products (Bulk actions on products).
3. Click Catalog in the selection toolbar.
4. In the Assign to catalog window, open Select catalog. Catalogs are listed by code, not name.
5. To remove products from a catalog, select the first list item, Without Catalog. It is in English and looks like a regular catalog, but means “no catalog.”
6. Click Assign. The button stays disabled until you select something; leaving the field empty does not remove anything.
7. Read the operation message and check the Catalog column in the list.

After assigning a product, read the section “Changing a catalog does not move the rest” below; there is more to do.

Four ways to assign a catalog

1. Edit product — use the catalog field on the product card.
2. Bulk operation from the product list — choose a catalog for selected products; follow the steps above.
3. File import — use the Catalog or Katalog column. It matches by name or code.
4. Integration — through a connection to an external system.

A product belongs to exactly one catalog or none (What is a catalog).

For imports, note that an unrecognized catalog value is silently ignored—there is no error or warning, and the product remains in its current catalog. Exports put the name in this column, so re-importing an export file works as expected.

Import row matching (by SKU, EAN, or ID, depending on the selected key) searches the entire company, not just the catalog targeted by the file. If a row matches a product with the same key that is assigned to a different catalog, the import does not create a duplicate or silently move it. The row fails to match, with an error identifying the catalog that actually contains the product. Resolve this manually before importing again.

Changing a catalog does not move the rest

This is the most important point in this article:

Changing a product’s catalog moves only the assignment itself. Categories and attribute values stay as they were, pointing to elements from the old catalog.

Consequences:

• The product has categories from a different catalog, which violates the rule used for regular saves (Assigning products to categories, including in bulk).
• The completeness score is recalculated according to the new catalog’s requirements and usually decreases (Completeness indicator).
• Attributes may disappear from the product card if their groups are not assigned to the new catalog (Attribute pitfalls).

After moving a product to another catalog, review its categories and attributes. This does not happen automatically.

Without a catalog, the product is limited

A product without a catalog:

• shows no attributes on its card;
• has no completeness score;
• has no translations, because it gets languages from the catalog (Catalog languages).

This state is allowed but is not the intended end state.

You cannot delete a catalog with products

Deletion is blocked as long as a catalog has products. This safeguard operates on two levels and cannot be bypassed. Despite refusing the deletion, the catalog screen may display Catalog deleted; check the list, because the catalog will still be there (What is a catalog, Catalog pitfalls).