Shopify AR: Add 3D Models and Augmented Reality to Products

Shopify AR is a 3D model of your product, in GLB or USDZ format, added to the product’s media like a photo. On a theme that supports 3D, shoppers can turn the model to any angle, and on a phone they can place it in their own room through the camera. Shopify supports it without an app: you upload the file in the product’s Media section, and Shopify converts it so it works on both iPhone and Android.

The rules below come from the Shopify Help Center pages on product media types and adding media, read on October 23, 2026.

What you need before you start

Older guides still tell you to export a separate USDZ file for iOS and check a “Quick Look” setting. With Shopify’s automatic conversion, one good GLB or USDZ file is enough.

If you use a theme from another developer, check its Theme Store page or documentation for 3D model support, and make sure you run its latest version.

Add a 3D model to a product

1. In the Shopify admin go to Products and open the product.
2. In the Media section, click Upload new and choose the GLB or USDZ file, or drag the file into the section.
3. Wait for processing. Large files are optimized and converted at this point.
4. Drag the model to the position you want among the product’s media. The first item is the main media shown on collection pages, the cart and checkout, so keep a photo first and put the model second or third.
5. Open the product page on your phone and on a computer to check how it looks.

You can also add media from the Shopify app. On compatible iOS devices, the Shopify mobile app has a 3D scanner that scans an object and builds a 3D model directly.

How shoppers see it

On the product page, the model appears in the media gallery next to the photos. Shopify describes the experience this way: the customer can view the object from any angle, and the model uses the device’s camera and screen to show the product in the customer’s own space. On a phone, that means the shopper sees the product through the camera in the room where it would stand. On a computer there is no camera view, so the model is turned and zoomed on screen.

AR helps most with scale. A photo of an armchair cannot show whether it fits next to the shopper’s sofa; a correctly sized model can. That also means a model with the wrong dimensions is worse than none: check the real width, depth and height before you upload.

Where to get 3D models

• From the manufacturer. Some furniture, lighting and appliance makers have CAD or 3D files of their products. Ask your supplier first; it costs nothing to ask.
• Shopify’s 3D scanner. The scanner in the Shopify mobile app on compatible iPhones and iPads builds a model from the real object. Try it on one product and compare the result with the real object before scanning a whole range.
• A 3D artist. For products without CAD files, a freelance 3D artist can model them from photos and dimensions. Ask for GLB output, real-world scale and textures from your actual product photos.
• 3D apps from the Shopify App Store. Some apps create or host models and add viewers with extra features. Our guide to Shopify 3D product display apps compares them.

Before uploading any model, open it in a free 3D viewer, check that it faces forward, sits on the ground, and has the right size in centimeters or inches.

Is AR worth it for a small store?

AR pays off where size, scale or shape decides the purchase and photos do not answer it: furniture, rugs, lamps, wall art, large appliances, planters, luggage. For a T-shirt or a candle, a 3D model adds little that good photos and a short video do not.

Compare the cost with the alternatives Shopify already supports. Product videos can be up to 10 minutes long and 1 GB, in up to 4K, or embedded from YouTube or Vimeo. A 20-second clip of a chair being turned around, plus a photo of it in a real room with a person for scale, answers many of the same questions for a fraction of the cost of modeling a catalog. Our product photography guide covers the shot list. More product page topics are in the running a store hub.

Start by modeling your five best-selling large products, check in your reports whether those products’ conversion or return rate changes over the next months, and extend AR only if it does. For clothing, virtual try-on is a different technology; see AR try-on for apparel.

Frequently asked questions

Does Shopify support AR without an app? Yes. You upload a GLB or USDZ 3D model to the product’s media in the Shopify admin, and themes that support 3D models (all Online Store 2.0 themes by Shopify and the Horizon themes) show it, including placing it in the shopper’s room on a phone.

Which 3D file format does Shopify need? Shopify accepts GLB and USDZ files up to 500 MB. It converts every model so that both formats exist, which makes one file enough for iPhone and Android.

Is AR the same as “try before you buy” on Shopify? No. On Shopify, try before you buy is a purchase option set up with an app: you ship the order first and charge the customer later. AR lets shoppers see a 3D model of the product in their room before ordering.