Pick Lists

Create a Pick List in Sortly to quickly gather and prepare inventory for jobs, shipments, or internal transfers. Now with the Invoice to Pick List feature, you can also generate Pick Lists directly from existing Invoices—saving time and minimizing manual entry.

Pick Lists are available to customers on Ultra, Premium, and Enterprise plans. Unfortunately, this feature is not available for Free or Advanced plan users.

Feature Overview

Pick List Statuses

  • Draft: Being created and not finalized. Items are still being added or edited.
  • Ready to Pick: Ready for picking.
  • In Progress: Currently being picked.
  • Partially Complete: Some items picked; inventory has been updated.
  • Complete: All items picked; inventory has been updated.

Choose Assignee

Click the dropdown in the Assign To section:

  • Assign to Me: Assigned to you.
  • Assign to Everyone: Shared with the full team.
  • Select a specific user: Assigned to one individual

Choose Item Outcome

Move to Folder

Moves a specified quantity to a different folder once picked.
Example: If you pick 7 of 10, 7 move to the new folder and 3 remain.

Move to folder screen

The Folder path will show once chosen: 

Decrease Quantity

Automatically subtracts the picked amount from the inventory.
(Example: Pick 7 of 10 → remaining quantity = 3.)

Decrease quantity screen

The Decrease Quantity option will show once chosen: 

Select Items

  1. Search and add items to the Pick List.
    • Items can be added through single item search or Bulk Add.
  1. Add Items to your Pick List from the Item Card:

 

Address and Notes

Manually enter or select an address and add internal notes for your team about the Pick List.

Export Pick List

To export your Pick List for printing or offline reference:

  1. Navigate to the Pick List to be exported
  2. Click Export in the top right of the screen
  3. Select the Fields & Custom Fields you would like included on the export
  4. Click Export
  5. The file will then be downloaded as PDF

 

How to Use

A. Create a Pick List Manually

  1. Go to the Workflows>Pick Lists section in your Sortly account.
  2. Click New Pick List.
  3. Enter a title and any optional notes

  4. Add items manually by selecting from your inventory and entering quantities.  You can also have the option to choose the Folder you would like to take the item from.

  5. Save or update the Pick List status (Draft, Finalized, etc.).
  6. Choose Ready to Pick to begin the process

  7. Begin picking the items from the list to move it to In Progress 

  • You can choose to partially pick or fully pick items

  1. Once you have fully picked all items, click Complete Pick. This will move the status from In Progress to Complete 

  2. NOTE: If you partially pick and choose Complete Pick, you will get the following confirmation which notes that you will not be able to pick the remaining items. Return to the pick list to complete the pick before clicking this option. 
  3. Click Export to export to a PDF, so the user knows what items to pick 

  4. A PDF will be generated with the items along with relevant information such as Item Name, Location, Quantity, and any QR or Barcodes associated.  You can also choose what Custom Fields to include in the export for the items.

  5. Navigating back to the Pick List tab, you'll see any pick lists and their statuses. Click the Filter icon to filter by Status.  


     

B. Create a Pick List from an Invoice

  1. Open the Invoice you want to use.
  2. Click on Create Pick List from Invoice. 

  3. A confirmation message will appear, including a link to the new Pick List

  4. The Pick List is created in Draft status.
  5. You can repeat this process as needed—each time, create a new Pick List with the latest data.

🔁 Pick Lists created from Invoices are not linked—future changes to either will not sync.

 

C. Clone a Pick List

  1. Navigate to the Pick Lists section in your account. 

  2. Choose a Pick List and then click the three dots and Clone

  3. Once cloned, the pick list will be in draft mode with the following items populated: Items, quantities, Ship-to Addresses, and notes (if entered).

D. Add Multiple Items to a Pick List at Once

You can add many items to a Pick List simultaneously in several ways: From the Pick List creation page using Bulk Add Items, from a Folder or via Advanced Search.

Using Bulk Add Item

  1. Instead of searching, click Bulk Add Items

2. Choose items and select Bulk Add to Pick List

Via Advanced Search

  1. Navigate to Advanced Search and apply any needed filters to narrow down your items.

  2. Click Apply Filters.

  3. Use the bulk-select checkboxes to choose all the items you want to add. 

  4. In the bulk-edit bar, click Add ToPick List

  5. Choose the quantity you want to pick for each item and click Next.
  6. Select whether to create a New Pick List or add the items to an Existing Pick List

  7. Confirm your choice, and the items are added. 

Via a Folder

  1. Go to the desired Folder in your inventory.

  2. Use the checkboxes to select multiple items.

  3. From the bulk-edit bar, click Add ToPick List.

  4. Choose the quantity you want to pick for each item and click Next.
  5. Select whether to create a New Pick List or add the items to an Existing Pick List

  6. Confirm your choice, and the items are added. 

Mobile Workflow

Create a Pick List

  1. In the Sortly mobile app, tap Workflows, then Pick Lists.

  2. Tap the icon to create a new Pick List.

  3. Enter a name for your Pick List.

  4. Tap Add Items to begin adding items:

    • You can add items by manual search, voice search, or scan to search.

  5. Once you’ve added all items, tap Done.

  6. The Pick List will now appear as a Draft with the status Ready to Pick.  

Manually Pick from the Pick List

  1. In the mobile app, tap Workflows, then Pick Lists.

  2. Select the Pick List you'd like to pick from.

  3. Tap Ready to Pick to begin.

Start picking items:

  • Picking any item will move the status to In Progress.

  • You may partially pick or fully pick items.

    Note:
    If you select Complete Pick before picking all items, you’ll receive a warning. Any remaining items will be skipped, and you won’t be able to return to them.
    To avoid this, make sure to finish picking all items before selecting Complete Pick.

    👉 If you pick the full quantity of an item and leave 0 in the original folder, you’ll see an option to complete the pick and remove the item from its original location:

  1. Once all items have been picked, tap Complete Pick to change the status to Complete.

Scan to Pick

With Scan to Pick, you can quickly locate items in a Pick List by scanning a linked QR code or barcode, eliminating the need to manually search for products. 

To enable scan-to-increment quantity feature:

  1. Navigate to your Pick List
  2. Tap the gear icon in the top left corner
  3. Tap Scan to Pick 
  4. Toggle ON and tap Save

      

Once enabled, you can scan repeatedly to increase picked quantity by one per scan.

Start picking items:

  1. In the mobile app, tap Workflows, then Pick Lists.

  2. Select the Pick List you'd like to pick from.

     

  3. Tap Ready to Pick to begin.

  4. Tap the red Barcode icon on the bottom right of the screen.

  5. Scan the item barcode you would like to start picking.

  6. After scanning, the item appears at the bottom of the screen, where you can either pick quantities manually or continue scanning to increment the quantity automatically.

              

  7. Once scanning is complete, tap Confirm & Pick Next.

  8. Continue the above process until all items have been picked.

  9. When all items have been picked, tap Complete.

Export the Pick List to PDF

  1. Tap the three-dot menu at the top-right of the Pick List.

  2. Select Export to PDF.

The PDF will:

  • Open using your mobile device’s default PDF viewer

  • Be sent to your email for easy sharing

It includes:

  • Item Name

  • Location

  • Quantity

  • Any associated QR codes or Barcodes

View and Manage Pick Lists

  1. Return to the Pick Lists tab to view all your Pick Lists and their statuses.

  2. Tap the Filter icon (top-right) to:

    • Filter by Status

    • Sort your Pick Lists
       

 

Related Reports and Visibility

To review the Pick List activity:

  1. Navigate to the Transaction report and look for recent activity
  2. The Transaction note will be similar to "Item picked as per Pick List #PL-000011"
  3. Toggle on filters like Transaction Type: Moved (Picked) and Update Quantity (Picked)

You'll see:

  • When Pick Lists were created
  • Who created them
  • What items were included or modified

 

Frequently Asked Questions

General

Who can use Pick Lists?

Pick Lists are available on Premium, Ultra, and Enterprise plans. All user roles on these plans can access Pick Lists:

  • Owners and Admins: Full access to create, edit, assign, and delete Pick Lists.
  • Team Members: Can create Pick Lists and edit any list they created or are currently assigned to.
  • Custom Roles (Premium and Enterprise): Can create Pick Lists and add items to lists where they have view permissions.
  • Limited Access (Enterprise only): Can create Pick Lists and interact with lists assigned to them.
⚠️ Pick List access cannot be restricted for any role. There is no setting in Manage Permissions or anywhere else that prevents a user from creating Pick Lists. This applies to all roles on all plans that include the feature, including Custom Roles and Limited Access users on Enterprise. If this is a requirement for your team, please contact Sortly Support to share your feedback.
Are there any additional costs for Pick Lists?

No. Pick Lists are included with Premium, Ultra, and Enterprise plans at no extra cost. They are not available on Free or Advanced plans.

How many items can I add to a single Pick List?

You can add up to 100 items per Pick List.

Who receives Pick List notifications?

Email notifications are based on how the Pick List is assigned:

  • Assigned to a specific user: only that user receives an email.
  • Assigned to Everyone: only the creator receives an email.
  • Users who are not the creator and are not assigned will not receive notifications.

Sortly does not currently support notifying all account members when a Pick List is created, updated, or assigned.

Can multiple people work on the same Pick List?

Yes. Multiple users can collaborate on a single Pick List at the same time.

Can I delete a Pick List?

Yes. Owners can delete Pick Lists in any status: Draft, Ready to Pick, In Progress, Partially Complete, and Complete.

What happens if an item on the Pick List is out of stock?

The item can still be added to the Pick List, but during picking you can only pick up to the available quantity.

What happens if a Pick List becomes unavailable while I'm working on it?

If the Pick List is locked or deleted mid-process, an error message will appear and the process will exit. You will need to restart.

How do I view transaction history for picked items?
  1. Go to Reports and select the Transactions tab.
  2. Filter by your desired date range.
  3. Look for Picked in the Transaction Type column.

Cloning Pick Lists

Can I clone a Pick List?

Yes. All user roles can clone Pick Lists. The cloned list is created in Draft status and copies over items, quantities, ship-to address, and notes.

Fields that are not copied: assignees, due date, and item outcomes.

Can I clone a Pick List that is already finalized or complete?

Yes. Pick Lists can be cloned from any status. The new list will always be created in Draft status.

What happens if I clone a Pick List and some items are in folders I can't access?

Only items in folders you have access to will be copied. Items in restricted folders will not appear in the cloned list.

Invoice to Pick List

What is the Invoice to Pick List feature?

It lets you create a Pick List directly from an existing Invoice, copying the line items across so you don't have to add them manually.

Who can create a Pick List from an Invoice?

This is available to Owners and Admins on Premium, Ultra, and Enterprise plans. Other roles can view Pick Lists they have access to but cannot create them from Invoices.

What data is copied from the Invoice to the Pick List?

The following fields are copied:

  • Item name
  • Quantity per line item (if an item appears multiple times on the invoice, it will be duplicated accordingly)

Deleted or hidden items from the Invoice are not copied. Only saved, visible items are included.

Are the Invoice and Pick List linked after creation?

No. Once the Pick List is created, it is completely separate from the Invoice. Changes to either one will not affect the other.

Can I create a Pick List from an Invoice that has already been sent?

Yes. You can create a Pick List from an Invoice in any status, including Draft and Sent.

Scan to Pick

Is Scan to Pick available on web and mobile?

Pick Lists are available on both web and mobile. Scan to Pick is a mobile-only enhancement. Pick Lists sync in real time across both platforms.

Who can pick items and who can finalize quantities?

Who can pick items: Owners, Admins, Creators, Custom Roles, and Limited Access users.

Who can finalize and update quantities: Owners, Admins, and Creators.

Can I scan the same item multiple times?

Yes. Each scan increments the picked quantity by 1. This is designed for fast, high-volume picking.

What happens if I scan an item that is not on the Pick List?

You will see a notification that the barcode does not match any item on the list. Nothing will be changed. You can add the item to the list and continue.

Does scanning update my inventory quantity automatically?

No. Scanning updates the picked quantity on the Pick List, not your inventory. Inventory quantities are updated by authorized users once the pick is completed.

What happens if an item on the list has been moved or deleted?

Deleted or inaccessible items are clearly flagged. You can skip them, remove them from the list, or restore access if needed. The pick can still continue for all other items.

Do I need to do anything to turn on Scan to Pick?

Update your Sortly mobile app from the App Store or Google Play Store first. Then, inside a Pick List, tap the gear icon and toggle Scan to Pick on.

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