How to create New Category in Magento 2?

Following steps to create a new category in Magento 2:

1. Navigate to Catalog > Categories.

Since Magento naturally has a default category all the following ones are assigned to, once you press Categories in the admin panel you are directed to the Default Category. 

2. Press the Add Subcategory button in order to create a category.

3. Set the New Category Information.

• Enable Category.
• Choose whether to include it in the Menu.
• Give the Category Name.
• Upload the Category Image.

4. Set the New Category Content.

• Add category Description.
• Add CMS Block which will be displayed on the category page above products.

Note: it will be displayed just in case the Static block and products are set in the Display Mode field which is described below.

5. Configure the Display Settings.

Here, you set the arrangement of the products in the category.

• In the Display Mode you choose what to display in the category: products only, static block only or both of these combined.
• Enable the Anchor if you want the Layered Navigation to be enabled on the category page or all product subcategories to be automatically displayed while placing a cursor on the category.
• Available Product Listing Sort By field allows you to choose what customers will be able to sort products by.
• In the Default Product Listing Sort By set the default sorting that will be applied to the products that will be displayed to the customers once they are on the category page.
• Set the price step that customers will be able to sort products by (e.g. 20, 40, 60, etc.) in the Layered Navigation Price Step.

Note: learn more about price navigation steps and basic layered navigation settings in Magento 2.

6. Set the Meta Information. 

In this section set the URL Key for the category and enter Meta-information such as Meta Title, Meta Keywords and Meta Description.

7. Edit Products to Category.

This is the grid where you can see all products in the category: you can search them easily by the Name, SKU, Status, Price, etc. If you want to remove some products from category you can just uncheck them and save the category.

Note: you can bulk update categories in the product grid, if you not only want to remove products from category, but change the category for them from one to another.

8. Configure Design and Schedule Design Update.

There are 2 options available for you in this field. First is you can Use Parent Category Setting, meaning the setting set for the Magento 2 default category. However, in this case, other options won't be configurable.

If you decide to configure the design of the category yourself you have to:

• Choose the category Theme.
• Select the Layout and set the Layout Update XML.
• Choose whether to Apply Design to Products.

Finally, schedule the design update setting the time period for the update.

Once you've finished and pressed the Save button you will see the category appear in the list of categories.

And when you look at the storefront, the newly created category will be displayed there together with others.

So, you see that having a lot of products on your website, the greatest way to organize them is to group them by category. This not only allows you to manage them easily but also improves the website's navigation and simplifies customers' product search.

However, don't you think adding products to categories manually is really time-consuming?

Just imagine what would you spend all that time on if there was a category that added products automatically.

Fortunately, there is such a category — Magento 2 Dynamic Category.

As the name implies, it generates products into categories and removes them automatically under certain conditions. All you need to do is to create a dynamic category rule and set what product attributes you want it to be based on.

The extension will then add and remove products according to the conditions you set.

Go ahead and check out all features of the Magento 2 Dynamic Category Extension!