Shopify Batch Fulfillment and Pick Lists: Pack Faster
Shopify batch fulfillment groups up to 250 fulfillments into a batch on the Orders page and walks you through them step by step: a pick list, shipping labels, packing slips and customs forms, then a scan to check the parcel. Pick lists can also be printed on their own with the Shopify Order Printer app, for up to 50 orders at a time, sorted by order or by product. Both run inside the admin, so a small warehouse can work without a separate fulfillment system.
How batches work comes from Shopify’s Help Center page on batch fulfillment, and pick lists from Order Printer pick lists; both were read on October 23, 2026.
Batches: what they do
A batch is a group of up to 250 fulfillments that you pick, pack and ship together, sorted by criteria such as product type or shipping destination. To use them, your store needs an active location that you manage in a country where Shopify sells shipping labels in the admin (the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland or Spain); a location run by a fulfillment service on your behalf doesn’t count.
You can create a batch in two ways:
| Method | What it takes | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Batch recent orders | Unfulfilled orders from the last 14 days | Up to the 250 most recent |
| Create batch | Orders you select, filtered however you like | Up to 250 fulfillments |
To batch in bulk, go to Orders, open the view options, turn on Group by batch and click Batch recent orders. An order older than 14 days has to be added by hand, either to a new batch or an existing one. Batches are named by their creation date, such as 2026-06-04; rename them under More actions > Edit name if you run several a day (“Morning UK”, “Afternoon EU”).
Set up a batch workflow
Every batch follows a workflow of steps, and each step holds actions you perform together. The default:
- Pick: Create documents with the Pick list.
- Print: Buy shipping labels, then Create documents for packing slips, shipping labels and customs forms.
- Pack: Scan to verify.
To change it, open a batch with Group by batch on, click More actions > Edit workflow, and add, delete or drag steps and actions. For a Create documents action you choose which documents it prints and a page size for each, so labels and slips can each print at the size their printer uses. Click Save. Edits apply to later batches, and to the current one if it hasn’t started.
Then work through the batch:
- Open the batch from Orders with Group by batch on.
- Optional: assign a staff member at the top of a step; the assignment carries over to later steps until you change it.
- Click the action button in each step, such as Create documents, and open each document as a PDF to print.
- When a step is done, move all orders to the next one (for example Move all to Pack & Ship). Orders that hit a problem can go back a step, leave the batch or move to another batch.
- At the final step, Done, click Close batch to complete fulfillment and archive the orders in the batch.
Removing an order from a batch, or deleting the whole batch, doesn’t change any order’s fulfillment status or cancel anything; the orders simply return to the Orders page.
A workflow we would set up for a store packing 40 to 100 orders a day: one batch per carrier pickup, a Pick step assigned to whoever picks, labels and slips printed together in Print, and the Pack step’s Scan to verify kept in the workflow if your products carry barcodes and you have a compatible scanner, which matters most when variants look alike, such as sizes of the same shirt.
Pick lists with Order Printer
If you don’t batch, or want a pick list with more control, the Shopify Order Printer app prints one for up to 50 orders at a time. Select the orders on the Orders page, open the actions menu, choose Order Printer, select Pick list under Document, optionally pick a Location, and click Print documents.
The template is set in Apps > Order Printer > Templates > Pick list. You can keep up to 15 templates, but you can’t edit them with custom code; the options are:
| Setting | By product | By order |
|---|---|---|
| Columns | Product image, product name, variant, order ID, SKU, quantity | Fulfillment, product image, product name, variant, SKU, quantity |
| Sort | Quantity, SKU or variant, either direction | Order ID, oldest or newest first |
| Include | Unfulfilled, fulfilled, on hold, scheduled | Same |
Picking by product means walking the shelves once and collecting, say, all twelve navy mugs, then splitting them into orders at the packing table; it saves walking when many orders share products. Picking by order keeps each order together from the start, which suits stores where most orders are different. Sorting by SKU helps if your shelf locations follow the SKU order.
Bulk actions vs batches
Bulk actions manage fulfillment status in one click, such as marking orders fulfilled, in progress or on hold, requesting fulfillment from a service or changing the location, without documents. Batches are for when you’re about to pick and pack. The status side is covered in Shopify bulk fulfillment, customizing what’s printed in Shopify packing slips, and label buying for many orders in buy shipping labels in bulk. Other delivery guides are in the shipping and returns hub.
FAQ
How many orders can a Shopify batch hold? A batch holds up to 250 fulfillments. Batch recent orders takes the most recent unfulfilled orders from the last 14 days.
Do I need an app to print pick lists in Shopify? Batches include a pick list in their default workflow. For pick lists outside batches, Shopify uses the Shopify Order Printer app, which prints them for up to 50 orders at a time.
Why can’t I see batches in my admin? Batches need an active location you manage in a country where Shopify sells shipping labels. A location managed by a fulfillment service doesn’t make a store eligible.
Can I pick by product instead of by order? The Order Printer pick list template has a Pick by setting with two options, by product or by order, each with its own columns and sort order.