Import GTIN and UPC codes into Square
Check the length and check digit of every barcode before you import. The check works on a supplier file or on one you built from Square's template.
Supplier file
Drag and drop your supplier file hereChoose your supplier file
Why does my UPC have 11 digits?
Most often a spreadsheet dropped the leading zero. A UPC-A has 12 digits and many start with 0, so a column read as numbers loses that first digit. Excel does this without a warning when it opens a CSV, and saving keeps the damage, as Square's import help points out (opens in a new tab).
CatalogRoute adds a 0 in front and works out the check digit again. It offers the fix only when the last digit agrees. If it does not agree, the code is listed as the wrong length, because padding it would make a bad code look valid. In the Square file, GTIN is a text cell, so the zero stays put. For the safe way to open a CSV, read why leading zeros drop from SKUs and UPCs.
| In the file | 36000291452 |
|---|---|
| With the zero | 036000291452 |
| Check digit | 2, which agrees, so the fix is offered |
Are a 12 digit and a 13 digit GTIN the same product?
They can be. Put a 0 in front of a UPC-A and you have the same code at 13 digits, so 012345678905 and 0012345678905 are one product. The tool pads every code to 14 digits before comparing, and those two count as one code. Repeats across rows are caught, because Square wants each variation to have its own GTIN (opens in a new tab).
Dashes and spaces come out before any check, so 0-12345-67890-5 reads as 012345678905. The Square file gets digits only, which is what Square asks for in the GTIN column (opens in a new tab). An empty cell stays empty, since GTIN is not one of the columns Square requires (opens in a new tab).
How the check digit catches a typo
The last digit of a GTIN is calculated from the others, so one mistyped or swapped digit usually throws it off. Working from the right, the other digits are multiplied by 3 and 1 in turn and added up. The check digit is whatever brings that sum to the next multiple of 10.
A code that fails is listed with its row. You fix it by correcting the code or clearing the cell. For the Square error about length, read GTIN must be 8, 12, 13 or 14 digits.
| Valid | 036000291452, check digit 2 |
|---|---|
| Swapped | 036000921452, needs 8, has 2 |