> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.qrtub.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Editing a Batch's Columns

> Change which Item and Link columns a Draft batch's CSV contains; saving rebuilds the stored file from current data. Locked once the batch leaves Draft.

While a batch is still in **Draft** you can change which columns its CSV contains — useful when
the print shop comes back asking for a serial number you left out. Saving rebuilds the stored CSV
so the file matches the new selection.

Open the batch and choose **Edit included columns**. The button only exists while the batch is a
Draft.

## What you can pick

The **CSV Columns** dialog is the same picker used when you first exported, with two groups:

* **Link Fields** — **Full URL**, **Short URL** and **Active**. Full URL is the column a printer
  normally needs.
* **Item Fields** — the fields defined on the Collection the batch came from.

Toggle a column with the eye icon and drag rows to set the column order in the file. Link fields
are listed first here, matching the order they appear in the exported CSV.

If the batch spans more than one Collection — which happens when you export from the Access Links
page rather than from inside a Collection — there is no single field configuration to read, so the
picker falls back to the standard fields: name, description, item\_id, tags and destination\_url.

Choose **Save** to apply. QRtub saves the selection to the batch and immediately regenerates the
stored CSV.

## The regenerated CSV uses current data

This is the part worth pausing on. Regenerating rebuilds every row from the Items and links **as
they are now**, not as they were at export time. If someone renamed an Item or changed a field
after the original export, the new file reflects that change.

For a Draft batch that has not been sent anywhere, that is almost always what you want. It also
means editing columns is not a way to inspect the original export — once regenerated, the earlier
version of the file is gone.

## Why it locks after Draft

Advance the batch to Printing and the **Edit included columns** button disappears. Attempting the
change anyway is rejected with "Can only edit column config on draft batches."

The reason is the same one that protects the rest of the batch: past Draft, the CSV is the record
of what the printer actually received. Silently rewriting it would leave you unable to tell what
was produced. If a run genuinely needs different columns, revert the batch to Draft first (see
[Batch Status: Draft to Deployed](/print-batches/batch-status)) — Printing can step back, Deployed
cannot.

Adding or removing links regenerates the CSV in exactly the same way, under the same Draft-only
rule.

## Related

* [Adding and Removing Links in a Batch](/print-batches/editing-links)
* [The Batch CSV: Downloading and Reprinting](/print-batches/csv-download)
* [Creating a Print Batch](/print-batches/creating-a-batch)
* [Batch Status: Draft to Deployed](/print-batches/batch-status)