A new WooCommerce store is empty, which makes it hard to judge how a theme, the checkout, or your product layouts actually look. Importing a batch of sample products fixes that in minutes. Sample, dummy, demo, and test products all mean the same thing: throwaway items you load to populate the store, then remove later.
Where the official sample CSV lives
WooCommerce ships with a ready-made file. Once the plugin is installed, you can find it at wp-content/plugins/woocommerce/sample-data/sample_products.csv. It contains a mix of simple, variable, and grouped products with images, categories, and prices, which is enough to fill a homepage and exercise the cart.
If you want more rows, different categories, or a specific count, generate your own file with the WooCommerce Sample Products CSV tool instead. It builds the file in your browser, so nothing is uploaded.
Import the products
WooCommerce has a built-in CSV importer, so you do not need a separate plugin.
- Grab a file: use the official CSV above, or build one with the WooCommerce Sample Products CSV tool and download it.
- In wp-admin, go to WooCommerce > Products > Import.
- Click Choose File, select your CSV, and click Continue.
- Map the columns on the next screen, then run the import.
Why column mapping is automatic
The importer matches CSV headers to WooCommerce product fields on its own. Because the sample file (and the tool’s output) uses the default WooCommerce headers like Name, SKU, Regular price, Categories, and Images, every column maps correctly without any manual work. Just confirm the mapping looks right and start the run. If you ever edit headers by hand, double-check that screen, since renamed columns may need to be matched manually.
After the import finishes, WooCommerce shows how many products were added. Open Products and you will see the full list, ready to use for testing.
Removing the sample products later
Sample data is meant to be temporary. When you are done testing, clear it out:
- Go to Products in wp-admin.
- Tick the checkbox in the table header to select everything on the page.
- Choose Move to Trash from the Bulk actions dropdown and click Apply.
- Repeat for any remaining pages, then empty the Trash.
That leaves you with a clean store and no leftover demo items in your catalog.
Related tools
- Need a custom catalog instead of the defaults? Use the WooCommerce Product CSV Generator to build exactly the rows you want.
- Generating SKUs for real products? Try the WooCommerce SKU Generator.
- Setting up store tax rates? See the WooCommerce Tax Rate CSV Generator.
Load the sample products, test your store, then trash them when you are done.