You remove products in your import list, and that is also how you free up product slots. A product with the status In shop that you remove from your import list is removed from your webshop at the same time. Deleting a product directly in your webshop does not remove it here and does not free up a slot.
There are several ways to do it, depending on whether you want to delete one product, empty your import list, or start over completely.
Delete a single product
Open your Import List, or find the product on the search page.
Click Delete on the product. Products that are live in your shop first get the status Pending delete and then Deleting while they are removed from your webshop. See Product statuses explained.
Changed your mind? While the status is Deleting you can still cancel from the product card (in the portal: Click to cancel).
Product variants are linked, so deleting one variant removes the product with all its variants.
Delete a selection
In your Import List, tick the checkboxes of the products you want to remove.
Click Delete selected.
In the portal, a confirmation explains: "This will delete all selected products from the import list and your shop". Click Delete.
When does a product slot become free?
Only once the deletion has actually finished. As long as a product still has the status Pending delete or Deleting it keeps its slot. So if you delete products to make room and immediately try to import again, you can still see Product limit reached for a moment. Wait until the products have disappeared from your import list and try again. See Supplier and product limits explained.
Clear your import list
Use Clear import list at the top of the import list to remove everything that has not been imported yet:
"This will clear all products from your import list which are not pending import or in shop"
"This will not clear products which are already in your shop or products which are pending import to your shop"
This is the safe option: your live shop is untouched. Note that it therefore does not free up any product slots, because the products it removes were not using one.
Delete all products (import list and shop)
Delete all wipes everything. The dialog warns you:
"Warning! This will clear all products from your shop and your import list. Your import list will be completely empty!"
"Our support team is unable to recover your products if you confirm this action"
To confirm, type the word DELETE in the Confirmation field and click Delete all. The deletion runs in the background and can take a while for large shops.
Delete per supplier category (Shopify app)
On a supplier's categories page you can remove all products of a category branch at once with Delete products or Delete products from selected categories. See Import whole categories automatically (Shopify app).
Products can also be removed automatically
The supplier setting Delete after days removes products from your shop automatically when they are discontinued at the supplier. See Supplier settings explained.
Deactivating a supplier?
Remove the supplier's products first and wait for the deletion to finish - then deactivate. See Deactivate a supplier.