Updated: 4 November 2026 · Applies to: Magento 1.9 (end of life)
Magento 1 reached end of life on 30 June 2020 and gets no security fixes. If your store still runs it, the most useful step is to plan a move to Magento 2 (Magento Open Source or Adobe Commerce). Until then, this is how the flat catalog works on Magento 1, where it was a common way to speed up category and product pages.
Enable the flat catalog in Magento 1
- In the Admin, go to System › Configuration.
- Under Catalog, open Catalog and expand Frontend.
- Set Use Flat Catalog Category and Use Flat Catalog Product to Yes.
- Click Save Config.
- When the message asks you to refresh the indexes, open System › Index Management, click Select All, choose Reindex Data and click Submit.
On a large catalog the reindex can time out in the browser. Run it from SSH in the Magento root instead:
php shell/indexer.php reindexall
Check the result
- Edit a product, add a few characters to its name and save.
- Open its category on the storefront in a private window and look for the new name.
- If it does not show, reindex again and clear the cache in System › Cache Management.
Moving to Magento 2
The setting has a different place and a different recommendation in Magento 2: Adobe no longer advises using the flat catalog there. See How to Switch Magento v2 to use a Flat Catalog before you copy this setting to a new store.
