The Root Category in the category tree is like the doyen in a family with many offspring's. You will see that the category tree has the upside-down structure because the root is on the top with many subcategories in the lower level. And each category contains many products in it. You can see the following category tree:.

Root Category

In the example, Default Category is the root category and it has many subcategories such as Women, Men, Gear, Training.

To create new category in Magento 2, allowing store admins to create as many root categories with different structures, different stores and different views as needed but there is only one root category that is applied for your store at a time. Moreover, customers can not view the root category and there is no URL Key supported for it

create new category in Magento 2

Take a look at the following steps to help you create a new Root Category in Magento 2

3 Steps to create a new root category in Magento 2

To create a new Root Category in Magento 2 as the following steps:

Step 1: Build a New Root Category

First, start with creating a new root category:

  • On the Admin Panel, Product Inventory Categories.
  • Click on Add Root Category.
  • On the General Information tab, you need:
    • Name for a new root in the Name field.
    • Choose Yes in the Is Active field to activate the root.
    • Create URL Key for the new root.
    • Leave Description about the root category (Optional).
    • Aplly avatar for the root category by hitting the Choose File button to upload an image.
    • Enter the Page Title, Meta Keywords, and Meta Description of the new root for better SEO.
    • Make the new root category visible if choosing Yes in the Include in Navigation Menu field.
  • After finshing General Information, move to the Display Settings tab and choose Yes for the Is Anchor.
  • Click Save Category to use the new root category.

Step 2: Create Subcategories for the New Root Category

Now, let’s move on to creating subcategories:

  • Look at the left of the setting page, choose the new root category you created that appears there to start this step.
  • Click on Add Subcategory.
  • Name for the subcategory in the Name field.
  • Choose Yes in the Is Active field.
  • Click Save Category to complete.
  • Do all again if you need to create another new subcategory.
Create Subcategories for the New Root Category

Step 3: Activate the New Root Category on Your Store

Finally, activate the new root category you’ve just created.

  • On the Admin Panel, Stores Settings All Stores.
  • Under Stores, hit the Main Website Store link.
  • In the Root Category, choose the new root category.
  • Click on Save Store on the top right corner to apply the category.

The bottom line

That’s all for today. We hope you can create a new root category in Magento 2 easily. If not, please give us a message, we are more than happy to support you. Mavenbird also offers you various extensions to assist your business. If you want to find solutions you need, click here.