---
title: "Inventory"
description: "The Inventory screen gives you a single place to check and update stock levels across all your products."
url: "https://docs.j2commerce.com/v6/catalog/inventory"
markdown_url: "https://docs.j2commerce.com/v6/catalog/inventory.md"
last_updated: "2026-10-23T02:33:38+00:00"
version: "J2Commerce 6"
breadcrumbs:
  - title: "Home"
    url: "https://docs.j2commerce.com/"
  - title: "J2Commerce 6"
    url: "https://docs.j2commerce.com/v6"
  - title: "Catalog"
    url: "https://docs.j2commerce.com/v6/catalog"
  - title: "Inventory"
    url: "https://docs.j2commerce.com/v6/catalog/inventory"
---

# Inventory

The Inventory screen gives you a single place to check and update stock levels across all your products. You can see how many units are available, turn stock tracking on or off for individual products, and manually mark items as in stock or out of stock — all without opening each product individually.

## Accessing Inventory

There are **two** ways you can access Manufacturers.

**Option A:** Go to the **J2Commerce** icon at the top right corner **-> Catalog -> Manufacturers**

**Option B:** Go to **Components** on the left sidebar **-> J2Commerce -> Dashboard -> Catalog -> Manufacturers**

![Inventory Management screen reached through Components, J2Commerce, and the J2Commerce menu with Catalog and Inventory highlighted](https://docs.j2commerce.com/images/docs/shared/inventory1.webp)

## Understanding the Inventory List

![Inventory list with the column headings highlighted: Product ID, Product Name, SKU, Quantity, Manage Stock, Stock Status and Actions](https://docs.j2commerce.com/images/docs/shared/inventory2.webp)

Each row in the list represents one product. The columns are:

**Product ID:** The internal ID number for the product.

**Product Name:** The product title. Click to open the product for editing.

**SKU:** The Stock Keeping Unit code for this product or its master variant.

**Quantity:** The current number of units available.

**Manage Stock:** Whether J2Commerce tracks inventory for this item. Toggle **Yes** or **Never**.

**Stock Status:** A manual flag — **In Stock** or **Out of Stock**.

**Actions:** A **Save** button to apply your changes to that row.

### Variable Products

Products with selectable options (such as size or color) show a **Variants** button instead of editable fields in the main row. Click **Variants** to expand a panel showing each option combination with its own quantity, manage stock, and stock status settings.

![Inventory list with the Variants button highlighted on Heart Box and its expanded variant rows highlighted: quantity, manage stock, stock status and Save for each](https://docs.j2commerce.com/images/docs/shared/inventory3.webp)

## How Inventory Tracking Works

There are two separate settings that control how a product behaves when stock runs low:

**Manage Stock** (Yes / Never) : When set to **Yes**, J2Commerce actively tracks the quantity for this item. Customers cannot add more to their cart than you have in stock. : When set to **Never**, J2Commerce ignores the quantity field entirely. The product is always purchasable regardless of what the quantity shows.

**Stock Status** (In Stock / Out of Stock) : This is a manual override that you control directly. Setting a product to **Out of Stock** prevents customers from purchasing it, even if the quantity is greater than zero. : This is useful when you need to pause sales temporarily — for example, while waiting for a restock shipment.

> **Tip:** Use **Manage Stock: Yes** for physical products where you want automatic enforcement. Use **Stock Status: Out of Stock** when you need a quick manual hold on purchases.

## Updating Stock for a Simple Product

1. Find the product in the list. Use the search bar or filters to narrow it down.
2. Edit the **Quantity**, **Manage Stock**, or **Stock Status** fields directly in the row.
3. Click the **Save** button at the end of that row.

The page confirms the save with a brief "Saved" message next to the button. No page reload is needed.

![Inventory list with the Square Box row highlighted: SKU gift-wbx, Quantity 100, Manage Stock Yes, Stock Status In Stock and its Save button](https://docs.j2commerce.com/images/docs/shared/inventory4.webp)

## Updating Stock for a Variable Product

1. Find the product in the list.
2. Click the **Variants** button to expand its variant panel.
3. Each variant row shows its own SKU, quantity, manage stock toggle, and stock status.
4. Update the fields for the variant you want to change.
5. Click **Save** on that variant row.

![Inventory list with the Variants button highlighted on Heart Box and its expanded variant rows highlighted: quantity, manage stock, stock status and Save for each](https://docs.j2commerce.com/images/docs/shared/inventory3.webp)

## Searching and Filtering

Use the search bar to find products by **name**, **SKU**, or **product ID**.

To search by an exact product ID, type `id:` followed by the number (e.g., `id:42`).

Click **Search Tools** to show additional filters:

![Inventory screen with Filter Options highlighted and the filter row open: Select Stock Management, Select Availability and a search box highlighted](https://docs.j2commerce.com/images/docs/shared/inventory5.webp)

**Manage Stock:** Show only products where stock tracking is managed or not managed.

**Availability:** Show only products marked In Stock or Out of Stock.

**Product Type:** Filter by product type (Simple, Variable, etc.).

## Sorting the List

Click any column heading to sort the list by that column. Click again to reverse the order. You can sort by:

![Inventory list with the column headings highlighted: Product ID, Product Name, SKU, Quantity, Manage Stock, Stock Status and Actions](https://docs.j2commerce.com/images/docs/shared/inventory2.webp)

- Product ID
- Product Name
- SKU
- Quantity

## Batch Updating Inventory

When you need to apply the same stock settings to many products at once, use **Batch Update** instead of saving each row individually.

1. Check the boxes next to the products you want to update.
2. Click **Batch Update** in the toolbar.
3. Fill in one or more of the batch fields:
   - **Quantity** — sets the stock level for all selected products.
   - **Manage Stock** — turns stock tracking on or off for all selected products.
   - **Stock Status** — marks all selected products as In Stock or Out of Stock.
4. Click **Process**.

Only the fields you fill in are updated. Fields left empty are not changed.

## Toolbar Actions

![Inventory Management toolbar with the Batch Update, Advanced Pricing, Options and Help buttons highlighted](https://docs.j2commerce.com/images/docs/shared/inventory6.webp)

**Batch Update:** Opens the batch update panel to update multiple products at once. At least one product must be checked to activate the Batch Update button.

**Advanced Pricing:** Opens the Advanced Pricing manager.

**Options:** Opens the global J2Commerce configuration settings.

**Help:** Opens the J2Commerce documentation.

## Tips

- Sort by **Quantity** (ascending) to bring your lowest-stock products to the top so you can quickly identify what needs restocking.
- If you do not want to track stock for a product at all, set **Manage Stock** to **Never**. The quantity field becomes informational only and has no effect on purchasing.
- Setting **Stock Status** to **Out of Stock** is the fastest way to temporarily prevent purchases — no need to delete the product or unpublish it.
- For variable products, each variant manages its own stock independently. A product can have some variants in stock and others out of stock at the same time.

## Troubleshooting

### A product shows quantity > (0) but customers cannot add it to the cart

**Cause:** The **Stock Status** is manually set to **Out of Stock**, which overrides the quantity.

**Solution:**

Find the product in the Inventory list and change **Stock Status** to **In Stock**, then click **Save**.

### I updated the quantity but the storefront still shows the old stock level

**Cause:** Joomla page caching may be serving a cached version of the product page.

**Solution:**

1. Go to **Home Dashboard -> System -> Clear Cache** and clear all cache groups.
2. Reload the product page on the front end.

If caching is not the issue, verify that **Manage Stock** is set to **Yes** for that product — if it is set to **No**, the quantity is not enforced and the display may not update as expected.

### I cannot see the Save button for a variant product's main row

**Cause:** Variable products do not have editable fields in the main row. Stock is managed per variant.

**Solution:**

Click the **Variants** button on that row to expand the variant panel. Each variant has its own editable fields and Save button.

### After a batch update, some products were not changed

**Cause:** Only checked items are affected by a batch operation.

**Solution:**

Scroll through the list and verify the correct rows were checked before running the batch. Use the checkbox at the top of the list to select all items on the current page.