What's the difference between replace and update feed uploads?
A replace upload swaps your whole previous feed for the new file, adding, updating and deleting products to match it. An update upload only adds new products and changes existing ones, ignoring anything you removed from the file. Update is faster, but deleting products or values with it needs a delete field or an emptied field.
Every time Commerce Manager reads your feed file, it has to decide what the file means. Is it the complete list of products, or only the changes? That choice is the upload setting. Pick the wrong one and products you deleted can linger in your catalog, or a sale price you removed can keep showing. You choose it for each upload schedule and for one-time uploads.
How do replace and update compare?
| What happens | Replace | Update |
|---|---|---|
| New products in the file | Added | Added |
| Changed products | Updated | Updated |
| Products removed from the file | Deleted from the catalog | Ignored, so they stay |
| Fields removed from the file | Data is replaced by the new file | Ignored, so old values stay |
| Processing time | Longer | Faster |
| Default? | Yes, for a new feed with a schedule | No |
How do you delete products with an update upload?
- Add a column named delete to your feed.
- Enter true for each product you want removed.
- Upload the feed once.
- Remove those product rows from the file afterwards.
To clear a single value, such as a sale price, keep the field in the feed but leave it empty, or set sale_price to 0. Upload once, then drop the field if you like. Meta warns that just deleting the sale_price column won’t remove the price with the update setting.
Can you use both on one feed?
Yes, and Meta suggests it. If you only ever run update uploads, your catalog can keep growing, because nothing gets deleted unless you use the delete field. Meta’s example combination:
- An hourly update schedule to refresh fast-changing data like prices and availability.
- A weekly or monthly replace schedule to clear out old or outdated products.
Replace and update schedules on the same feed must be at least 10 minutes apart. For large files, Meta recommends the update setting for faster processing.
How do you set or change a schedule?
- Go to Commerce Manager, select your catalog and open Data sources in the Catalog tab.
- Click the feed and open its Settings tab.
- Under Schedules, click + Update schedule or + Replace schedule.
- Choose how often it runs, enter the file’s URL and add login details if it’s password protected.
- Click Save.
Schedules run hourly, daily or weekly. Meta suggests timing them just after you usually update the file, such as 9:15 am if your file updates at 9 am.
FAQ
How do I push a change before the next scheduled upload?
Open the feed’s Settings tab, find the schedule and click Request update now. Or scroll to Single upload, add the file from your computer or by URL, choose Replace or Update, and click Upload file.
Why didn’t my new product image show after an update?
Meta says that when you change a product image, the new image must have a different URL from the old one, or the change won’t be recognized. Save the new image at a new link and put that link in the feed.
Which setting should I use for a one-time upload?
Either. For a single upload you choose Replace your data feed or Update your data feed each time. Use replace when you removed products or values and want the catalog to match the file exactly; use update for quick additions and edits.
Sources
- About scheduled data feed uploads for catalogs (Meta, checked 2 Oct 2026)
- Update a data feed in your catalog in Commerce Manager (Meta, checked 2 Oct 2026)
- Edit product availability and prices using a data feed (Meta, checked 2 Oct 2026)
Drafted with AI and checked claim by claim against the pages linked under Sources. Found a mistake? Tell us via the corrections policy.