How to recover image alt-text after an app overwrote it on Shopify

Many SEO and image-optimizer apps bulk-rewrite your image alt-text. Shopify keeps no history for alt-text, and most full-store backups skip it entirely — so once it's gone, it's gone.

If you didn't already have a backup, those old values are gone — Shopify keeps no history.

The steps below recover what you can. To make the next time a 1-click undo instead of hours of CSV work: a daily snapshot of every SEO field. Free to monitor, no card — and SEO Vault only reads your store unless you click restore.

Protect my SEO free — never lose it again →

Step by step

Pause the image/SEO app that ran the bulk change before it overwrites your fixes again.
If you exported product data (with the Image Alt Text column) before the change, re-import only that column.
If you have no export, the alt-text has to be rewritten by hand — there is no native undo.
Going forward, snapshot alt-text daily alongside your other SEO fields so a bad bulk run is a one-click restore, not a manual rebuild.

Source: Shopify Community: image SEO / alt-text threads

Related fixes

Never lose your SEO to an app again

SEO Vault keeps a daily snapshot of every SEO field on your store — meta titles, descriptions, alt-text, tags, handles (products AND collections) — and emails you the moment something changes in bulk, with the likely app responsible. One click restores yesterday's state, just the SEO fields. Free to monitor and get alerted; $14/mo for 1-click restore.

Protect my SEO — free →

✓ Free forever to monitor✓ No credit card✓ Read-only — never edits your store unless you restore✓ Installs in 1 click