How to print barcode labels in Shopify from a purchase order or transfer

Shopify admin has purchase orders and transfers, and neither one has a button that prints the barcode labels for what arrived. If you sticker products when stock comes in, the labels come from an app or from a spreadsheet you build by hand. This page walks through both, with the printer settings that decide whether the barcodes scan.

Published by Aislekit. I make a Shopify label printing app, I name it where it is relevant, and I say plainly when you do not need it.

The three ways to get the labels

A label app that reads the transfer. When you receive a purchase order, Shopify moves the goods onto a linked transfer, and an app can read that transfer's products and quantities. Mine does this (it's called AK: PO & Barcode Label Printer), and so do other apps on the Shopify App Store.
Shopify's free Retail Barcode Labels app. It prints labels for products you pick. Its 2026 reviews say it cannot print from purchase orders, so the quantities are typed in by hand.
A spreadsheet and label software. Copy the SKUs, barcodes and quantities into a sheet and print with the software that came with your labels or printer. It's fine for twenty labels and slow for two hundred.

From a received purchase order to a printed sheet

Receive the purchase order in Shopify admin. Shopify moves the goods onto a transfer linked to it, and the transfer's own number starts with #T.
Open that transfer in the app. Pick it from the list, or search for its #T number. Each line arrives with the quantity on the transfer, so the label count matches the delivery.
Pick the label stock. Choose the preset for your sheet or roll: Avery sheets, Dymo and Brother rolls, Zebra rolls, or thermal rolls for printers such as Rollo, Munbyn and Phomemo. Custom sizes in millimetres or inches are on the Pro plan.
Read the warnings. Before anything prints, the app flags a barcode whose bars would come out too narrow, a title that will not fit, and a line with no usable barcode.
Print. Download the PDF and print it at 100%, or on the Pro plan send native ZPL straight to a Zebra printer.

No transfer, just a file from your supplier? Upload the CSV they sent, or paste the lines, and the quantities come from the file.

Which barcode goes on the label

If a product has a valid UPC or EAN in Shopify's Barcode field, that is the barcode that prints. If the field is empty, the SKU prints as a Code 128 barcode, which handheld and phone scanners read. A number that looks like a UPC or EAN but fails its check digit prints as Code 128 with a warning, because printing it as a UPC would scan as the wrong number.

Printer settings that decide whether it scans

Avery and other sheets on a laser or inkjet printer. Print the PDF at 100% or "Actual size", never "Fit to page", which shrinks every label off its place on the sheet. To use up a part-used sheet, tell the app which label to start on.
Dymo LabelWriter and Brother QL. Choose the preset that matches the roll in the printer, pick the same label size in the print dialog, and print at 100%.
Zebra. The PDF prints through the Zebra driver like any other printer. ZPL skips the driver and sends the printer its own language.
Thermal rolls such as Rollo, Munbyn and Phomemo. Set the paper size in the printer's settings to the roll you loaded, then print the PDF at 100%.

Bars that come out too narrow for the printer are the usual reason a label will not scan, and that is the warning to read before printing a whole delivery.

A one-off run with no store connected

For a short list, the free barcode label generator needs no account: paste SKUs or barcodes, pick the sheet or roll, and download a print ready PDF. It uses the same renderer as the app, so it's also a cheap way to check your printer and label stock first.

Common questions

Can Shopify print barcode labels from a purchase order?

Not on its own. Shopify admin has purchase orders and transfers, and neither one has a button that prints the barcode labels for what arrived.

How do I print labels for a Shopify transfer?

Open the transfer in a label app that reads transfers, pick your label stock, and print. When you receive a purchase order, Shopify moves the goods onto a linked transfer, so the same steps cover purchase orders.

Why does my barcode label not scan?

Usually the bars came out too narrow for the printer, or the PDF was printed with "Fit to page" instead of at 100%.

AK: PO & Barcode Label Printer is on the Shopify App Store, and the free plan needs no card. Leaving Stocky? The Stocky exit checklist covers the rest of the move.