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How to Set Up a Warehouse and Storage Locations in Odoo 19

By · · Updated · 6 min read · Odoo Odoo 19 Setup Inventory Warehouse Warehouse Management Logistics Inventory Management

Short answer: Odoo 19 already creates one warehouse (short name WH) with your company address. To organise stock inside it, enable Storage Locations in Inventory ‣ Configuration ‣ Settings, then create locations under WH/Stock in Inventory ‣ Configuration ‣ Locations. Add putaway rules if incoming products should go to specific locations automatically, and enable Multi-Step Routes only if you receive or ship in more than one step.

This is the step-by-step setup guide. For the concepts behind warehouses, locations and operation types, see my explainer: Warehouses, locations and operation types in Odoo.

Applies to

  • Odoo version: Odoo 19. Odoo 20 was released in September 2026; check its documentation before applying these steps to an Odoo 20 database.
  • Edition: Community and Enterprise. The Barcode app mentioned below is Enterprise only; everything else is in the Inventory app in both editions.

Before you start

  1. Draw the layout first. List your sites, then the areas inside each one: receiving, main storage zones, racks or bins you really pick from, quarantine or damaged stock, and dispatch. Only model the level of detail your team will actually scan or select every day.
  2. Agree naming. Location names build into paths such as WH/Stock/Zone A/Rack 01, so keep them short and consistent.
  3. Decide whether you need a second warehouse. A separate building with its own address is a warehouse. A room or zone in the same building is a location.

Step by step

1. Check or edit your main warehouse

  1. Go to Inventory ‣ Configuration ‣ Warehouses and open the existing warehouse.
  2. Set a clear Warehouse name, and a Short Name of up to five characters. The short name appears on warehouse documents, so pick something memorable, such as MOH for a Mohali site.
  3. Confirm the Address and Company, then save.
  4. For an additional site, click New and fill in the same fields.

2. Enable storage locations

  1. Go to Inventory ‣ Configuration ‣ Settings.
  2. In the Warehouse section, tick Storage Locations. Tick Multi-Step Routes too if you plan to receive or deliver in more than one step; it switches Storage Locations on automatically.
  3. Click Save.

3. Create your locations

  1. Go to Inventory ‣ Configuration ‣ Locations and click New.
  2. Location Name: for example Zone A.
  3. Parent Location: WH/Stock, so the full path becomes WH/Stock/Zone A.
  4. Location Type: keep Internal for anywhere you physically store stock. Other types (Vendor, Customer, Inventory Loss, Production, Transit, Virtual) are for Odoo’s own accounting of where stock comes from and goes.
  5. Optional fields:
    • Barcode, if you’ll scan locations with the Barcode app.
    • Inventory Frequency (days), to schedule regular cycle counts for this location.
    • Removal Strategy in the Logistics section: FIFO, LIFO, Closest Location, Least Packages or FEFO.
  6. Save, then repeat for each zone, rack or room. Create the parent locations before their children.

4. Add putaway rules (optional)

  1. Go to Inventory ‣ Configuration ‣ Putaway Rules and click New. (If the menu is missing, enable Multi-Step Routes in settings.)
  2. Choose the Product or Product Category the rule applies to.
  3. When product arrives in: the receiving location, for example WH/Stock.
  4. Store to: a sub-location of that location, for example WH/Stock/Cold Room.
  5. Save, and repeat for other products or categories.

5. Choose receipt and delivery steps (optional)

  1. Open the warehouse in Inventory ‣ Configuration ‣ Warehouses and go to the Warehouse Configuration tab. (These options appear once Multi-Step Routes is enabled.)
  2. Incoming Shipments: one step (receive straight into stock), two steps (input, then stock) or three steps.
  3. Outgoing Shipments: one step (deliver straight from stock), two steps (pick, then ship) or three steps (pick, pack, ship).
  4. Save.

6. Load opening stock

Use inventory adjustments to record the opening quantity in each location, so stock history and valuation start from a proper, documented count.

Worked example: a food distributor with a cold room

A distributor of packaged foods runs one site. Most products sit on racks, fast movers are kept near dispatch, and chilled items need the cold room.

Location Purpose
WH/Stock/Fast Movers Top sellers near the dispatch bay
WH/Stock/Racks Everything else
WH/Stock/Cold Room Chilled products

Putaway rules:

  • Product category Chilled, arriving in WH/Stock → store to WH/Stock/Cold Room.
  • An empty rule (no product or category) arriving in WH/Stock → store to WH/Stock/Racks, so nothing is left in the parent location by accident.

Receipts stay one-step because the team puts goods away as they unload. Deliveries become two-step (pick, then ship) so a supervisor can check orders in the dispatch bay before they leave. FEFO is set on the cold room, because chilled products are tracked by lots with expiry dates.

What you should see

  • Locations listed in Inventory ‣ Configuration ‣ Locations with full paths such as WH/Stock/Cold Room.
  • When a receipt into WH/Stock is validated, chilled products are directed to WH/Stock/Cold Room and everything else to WH/Stock/Racks.
  • With two-step delivery, each confirmed sales order creates a pick operation followed by a delivery operation.
  • On-hand quantities can be filtered or grouped by location.

Troubleshooting

There is no Locations menu. Enable Storage Locations in Inventory ‣ Configuration ‣ Settings.

The warehouse form has no receipt or delivery step options. Enable Multi-Step Routes in the same settings.

Putaway rules are ignored. The Store to location must be a sub-location of When product arrives in, and the rule’s product or category must match the product received. Check that the receipt’s destination is the location named in the rule.

FEFO has no effect. FEFO picks by expiry date, so it only works for products tracked by lots that carry expiry dates.

Stock appears in the parent location. Products without a matching putaway rule stay where they arrive. Add a general rule, as in the example, or move them with an internal transfer.

Picking takes longer than before. The structure is probably too detailed. Merge locations nobody needs to search by, and keep bin-level locations for the areas where they save time.

Official references

How this guide was checked: menus, settings and field names were checked against the Odoo 19 documentation in October 2026. The example is illustrative and wasn’t run on a live database, so there are no screenshots; labels can vary slightly with your installed apps and language.

? Frequently asked questions

Why can't I see the Locations menu in Odoo Inventory?

The Storage Locations setting is off. Enable it in Inventory, Configuration, Settings, under the Warehouse section. Enabling Multi-Step Routes also switches Storage Locations on.

Should I create a warehouse or a location?

Create a warehouse for a separate physical site with its own address, such as a second depot. Create locations for areas inside a site, such as zones, racks, shelves or a cold room.

How many steps should receipts and deliveries use?

Start with one step unless you have a clear reason for more. Two-step receipts suit sites with a receiving or inspection area, and two- or three-step deliveries suit sites that pick, pack and ship separately.

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