Product and location barcodes¶
Inventory operations like product configuration can be streamlined by taking advantage of barcode scanning features. Assigning barcodes to products and locations is a key step, and users can conveniently populate fields with a barcode scanner. This reduces manual entry, minimizes errors, and speeds up common tasks like product selection, location assignment, and inventory adjustments.
Barcode nomenclature¶
Most retail products use EAN-13 barcodes, also known as Global Trade Identification Numbers (GTIN). To create a new GTIN for a product, a company must have a GS1 Company Prefix. See GS1 nomenclature for more information about using this system.
Odoo supports using any string as a barcode, so users can also create custom internal references to use with barcode scanners. See Default nomenclature to learn about optional conventions around barcodes and default values in Odoo.
Note
The default nomenclature (UPC/EAN) is active for every company out of the box, so no setup is needed to use it. See Default barcode nomenclature and GS1 barcode nomenclature for how to inspect the active rules or switch to GS1.
Set product barcodes¶
Barcodes can be assigned to existing products from a product form, or in bulk from the products list, in the Inventory, Manufacturing, or Purchase apps. The barcode field can be populated either by typing or using scanner input.
From a product form¶
To access a product’s form, go to and select the product to add a barcode to.
In the General Information tab, click the Barcode field to either type in the barcode or use a scanner to input the barcode value.
- menu
- Inventory ‣ Products ‣ Products ‣ (a product) ‣ General Information
- shows
- The "Barcode" field on a product form, with the cursor active in the field.
- highlight
- The "Barcode" field (red frame).
- data
- Demo product with an EAN-13 barcode.
- module
- product
- notes
- English UI, light theme, 1440px width, crop to the General Information tab.
Note
If using product variants, configure barcodes on individual variants and not the product template to allow scanning to retrieve the variants.
From the products list¶
To set several barcodes at once without opening each product form, go to , switch to the list view, click the (Toggle columns) icon at the top-right of the list, and enable the Barcode column. The column can then be edited inline for each product.
- menu
- Inventory ‣ Products ‣ Products ‣ (list view)
- shows
- The products list with the "Barcode" column enabled and one cell being edited inline.
- highlight
- The "Barcode" column (red frame).
- data
- A handful of demo products, some with a barcode already set.
- module
- product
- notes
- English UI, light theme, 1440px width.
Tip
To filter for the products that do not have barcodes yet, click the (Toggle Search Panel) icon to add a custom filter where the Barcode property is is not set.
- menu
- Inventory ‣ Products ‣ Products ‣ Filters ‣ Add Custom Filter
- shows
- The "Add Custom Filter" pop-up with "Barcode" "is not set" configured.
- highlight
- The filter condition (red frame).
- data
- n/a
- module
- product
- notes
- English UI, light theme, 1440px width.
Print location barcodes¶
Barcodes can be assigned to locations to keep track of where products are stored and manage transfers, and are automatically available if the Storage Locations feature is enabled.
To print barcodes for locations, go to , scroll down to the Warehouse section, and click Locations. Tick the boxes for locations and the Print button will appear, downloading a PDF with barcodes for all selected locations.
- menu
- Inventory ‣ Configuration ‣ Settings ‣ Warehouse ‣ Locations
- shows
- The locations list with several rows selected and the "Print" button visible in the list's action bar.
- highlight
- The "Print" button (red frame).
- data
- A handful of internal locations under WH/Stock.
- module
- stock
- notes
- English UI, light theme, 1440px width.