How to Cancel Shopify

Step-by-step instructions

1. 1
   If this applies to you

   Before you cancel: export the store data you want to keep

   You lose admin access when the billing cycle ends, so export CSV files of your products, customers, orders, gift card codes, discount codes and financial data first, and download your billing history from Settings > Billing. If you bought a theme, download a backup of it: themes are licensed only to the store you bought them for. Shopify keeps a deactivated store's information for 2 years, but you can't reuse its .myshopify.com address for a new store, only its name.

2. 2
   If this applies to you

   Before you cancel: stop domain renewals

   Canceling your store doesn't cancel domain renewals, and a Shopify domain that renews before your close date can still be charged. Turn off auto-renewal in your Shopify domain settings, or transfer the domain to another registrar if you want to keep it. For a domain registered elsewhere, remove it from your store and turn off auto-renewal at your registrar. Once the store closes, delete any DNS records still pointing at Shopify: a merchant on r/shopify reported that an old subdomain left pointing there later served a spam site.

3. 3
   If this applies to you

   Before you cancel: stop apps that bill you outside Shopify

   Apps billed through your Shopify invoice are uninstalled when you cancel, and their charges stop once the store deactivates. Some third-party apps charge your card directly, and uninstalling them doesn't cancel that subscription, so cancel each external plan with its developer first. Shopify can't refund third-party app charges, only the developer can, so ask before you uninstall while the app is still easy to reach from Settings > Apps.

4. 4

   Open Settings > Plan as the store owner

   In the Shopify app, tap the menu, then Settings, and under Store settings tap Plan. On a computer, go to admin.shopify.com/settings/plan. Only the store owner can cancel, not staff accounts, and you'll need to pass any two-step authentication check. Stores on Shopify Plus cancel through Shopify Plus Support instead.

   

5. 5

   Tap Cancel plan

   The Plan page shows your plan details with a Change plan button at the top and a Cancel plan button below them. During a free trial the button reads Cancel trial instead, and older help articles and forum answers call it Deactivate store. Shopify may ask for your password here or at the final step.

   

6. 6

   Choose Cancel plan, not Pause and Build or a new store

   A Cancel plan sheet lists three options: Cancel plan, which deactivates the store and charges anything due for the current billing cycle; Switch to Pause and Build; and Start new store, which closes this store and starts a trial on a new one. Tap Cancel plan. Shopify's help center says the sheet can also offer a downgrade, depending on your plan.

   Heads up: Pause and Build is not a cancel. You keep paying a reduced monthly fee, your admin and storefront stay online with checkout turned off on every sales channel, your apps stay installed and keep billing, and you have to pick a new plan when you return. It suits a seasonal store you'll reopen, not a store you're done with. Some accounts also see a banner here about promotional credits they'd lose by canceling; that depends on the account's offer.

   

7. 7

   Pick a reason for closing the store

   Shopify asks What is the main reason you are closing this store?, and Continue stays greyed out until you pick an answer, from I was just testing Shopify out to I'm switching to another platform. The Anything you'd like to add? box is optional. In this capture the testing reason also brought up three Sidekick can help with that suggestions, which you can skip. Tap Continue.

   

8. 8

   Tick Cancel my plan and uninstall all apps, then tap Cancel plan

   The last screen warns All apps will be uninstalled now. Tick Cancel my plan and uninstall all apps, whose second line gives the date your store stays open until, and the red Cancel plan button turns on. The Save payment details to reopen your store faster switch was on in this capture, so turn it off if you'd rather Shopify didn't keep them. Tap Cancel plan, and enter your password if asked. On a computer, Shopify's help center puts this checkbox before the reason, beside a list of your Shopify domains and pending charges, and asks for your password at the end.

   

9. 9

   Check your close date

   Back on the Plan page, a banner reads Store deactivates on and the last day of your current billing cycle, and Shopify emails you to confirm the store is deactivated. The store keeps running until that date, and you can undo the cancellation before then with Reactivate plan. Pending app, transaction and shipping-label charges are billed when you cancel, and the store only closes once they're paid, so keep a working payment method on file. If you don't want new orders in the final days, turn on private mode for your online store.

   

10. 10
    If this applies to you

    Canceling during the free trial or the $1/month offer

    If you never picked a plan, you don't need to do anything: when the trial ends the store is paused and you aren't charged. If you picked a plan during the trial, including the $1/month for 3 months offer, you have to cancel with Cancel trial or Cancel plan. When the offer ends, Shopify's pricing page says the plan switches to standard monthly pricing (Basic is $39/month), and merchants report full-price charges; its free-trial article says instead that you may need to pick a standard-rate plan or the store can be frozen. Canceling partway through the offer doesn't keep the store open to the offer's end: in this guide's capture, a store whose intro rate ran to the end of October was set to close in early September, at the end of its current monthly cycle. Charges from the promotional period aren't refunded.

11. 11
    If this applies to you

    On an annual plan, the prepaid year is not refunded

    Annual billing charges the full year upfront, and canceling takes effect at the end of your current billing cycle, which on an annual plan is the prepaid year. The store stays open until then, and the unused months aren't refunded. Shopify only reviews refund requests on an annual invoice within 30 days of the invoice date. Switching from annual to monthly billing goes through Shopify Support and only takes effect when the annual cycle ends.

12. 12
    If this applies to you

    Still charged after closing? Look for another store

    Every Shopify store is billed separately, and one email address can own several. You get a confirmation email for each store you deactivate, so if you have that email and are still being billed, another store or an externally billed app is the likely source. The Forgot your store? tool at accounts.shopify.com/recovery/stores lists stores tied to your email, and your billing emails should name the store they're for.

13. 13
    If this applies to you

    Want your customers' data erased? Ask after the store closes

    By default Shopify keeps a deactivated store's information for 2 years so you can reopen it. The store owner can ask Shopify Support to delete customers' personal data sooner, but only once the store is deactivated. Deletion happens within 14 days of the request, can't be undone, and means the store can never be reopened.