Managing Units of Measure in Sortly (Standard, Custom, and Partial Quantities)

What Are Units of Measure?

Units of measure help you define how your inventory is tracked — by weight, volume, count, area, or length. For example: pounds, meters, boxes, or liters.

You can choose a unit of measure when creating or editing an item. The selected unit will appear across Sortly, including on item pages, reports, activity history, and the dashboard.

Standard Units of Measure

Sortly includes a built-in list of commonly used units, each defined by a name, abbreviation, and type. All standard units support up to four decimal places for precision.

Examples of standard units you can select:

The full list appears in-app when adding an item and selecting a unit of measure.

Custom Units of Measure

If Sortly's standard units don't meet your needs, you can create custom units that better reflect your workflows, such as "Tube," "Panel," or "Pouch."

Create a Custom Unit

1. 1Go to Settings in the web app
2. 2Select Units of Measure
3. 3Click Add Custom Unit
4. 4Enter the name, abbreviation, and select a type (e.g., Count, Volume, Weight)
5. 5Click Create

The custom unit will now be available when creating or editing items.

Delete a Custom Unit

1. 1Go to Settings > Units of Measure
2. 2Find the custom unit you want to delete
3. 3Click the trash icon next to the unit

Assign a Unit of Measure

1. 1In the web app, click Add Item
2. 2Fill out the item details
3. 3Use the Unit of Measure dropdown to select a unit. If the unit you need isn't listed, click Manage Units from the dropdown to add it.
4. 4Click Add to add the item

Change the Unit of Measure

You can update the unit of measure associated with any item — whether it's a standard unit or a custom unit. For example, you can change an item listed as "1 unit" to "1 pack" by editing the unit of measure.

To Change the Unit on a Single Item

1. 1Open the item from the item list or folder view
2. 2Click Edit
3. 3In the Unit of Measure dropdown, select the new unit
4. 4Click Save

All items that share the same SID (Sortly Item ID) will also be updated with the new unit of measure.

To Change the Unit for Multiple Items (Bulk Edit)

1. 1In the item list view, hover over each item and check the box in the top-left corner
2. 2Once items are selected, the Bulk Edit Bar will appear
3. 3Click Edit to begin updating fields
4. 4Select the new Unit of Measure
5. 5Click Apply to save the change across all selected items

You can bulk edit up to 100 items at a time. All items in the selection that share the same SID will also reflect the change.

Partial Quantities

Partial quantities let you track items in decimals (up to four places). This is useful for raw materials, bulk goods, or anything measured by weight, volume, or length rather than sold as whole units.

Enter Partial Quantities

You can enter quantities using up to four decimal places (e.g., 2.3750) when creating or editing an item.

1. 1Open the Add Item screen or an existing item
2. 2In the Quantity field, enter a fractional value
3. 3Select a unit of measure (e.g., lbs, liters)
4. 4Save the item

Moving Partial Quantities

You can move part of an item's total quantity from one folder to another.

1. 1Navigate to the item
2. 2Click Move
3. 3Enter the partial quantity to transfer (e.g., 1.25)
4. 4Choose the destination folder
5. 5Confirm the move

The source and destination item quantities will update accordingly.