What is the default category of a product?
A product can belong to several categories in your shop. It has one default category, selected from those associated categories. This defines its primary placement; PrestaShop uses it in breadcrumbs, URLs and structured data, among other places.
Where is the default category?
- Open Catalog > Products and edit the product.
- In PrestaShop 9.2, open the Description tab and find the Categories section.
- Identify the associated categories, then the separate Default category field. Choose a relevant category from the associated categories and save if you change it.
Labels and locations can vary by version: on older 1.6 product pages, look for Associations; on older 1.7 pages, find Categories under Basic settings.
Why does this choice matter for modules?
Some settings use the default category, while others use all associated categories. Check the rule for the module concerned.
For example, in Google Merchant Center, the product’s default category determines which feature to use for the material and pattern tags. The exported value is then read from each product’s feature: products in the same category can therefore have different materials or patterns. Choose that category carefully before configuring these values; see the material tag example.
This is separate from selecting categories to export: a product can be exported because it belongs to a selected category, even when that category is not its default category.