How do I close, pause, or reopen my Shopify store?

Sometimes you may need to pause, close, or reopen your Shopify store. Doing this properly ensures your data, custom domains, and financials are handled correctly.

Step 1: Considerations before deactivating

Before deactivating, review these important points:

• Store information: Export CSV files to save products, customers, and orders. You cannot reuse the same myshopify.com domain for a new store.
• Themes: Download backups of purchased themes. Theme licenses are tied to your store, but Shopify Support can help transfer them if needed.
• Financial obligations: Resolve pending payouts, third-party fees, or other charges.
• Customer orders: Resolve gift cards, preorders, or subscriptions. Chargebacks can still occur even if your store is deactivated.
• Custom domains: Transfer or remove domains before deactivation to avoid issues or unexpected charges. Be aware of Shopify’s 90-day HSTS policy for HTTPS.

Step 2: Deactivate your store

To close your store:

• Go to Settings > Plan in your Shopify admin.
• If on a free trial, click Cancel trial. If on a paid plan, click Cancel plan.
• Optionally, review options to pause your store with the Pause and Build plan instead of closing completely.
• Select a reason for deactivation, optionally add a comment, and click Continue.
• Enter your password to confirm.

You’ll receive an email confirming deactivation. Your store’s information is kept for 2 years in case you want to reopen it.

Step 3: Pause your store

Pausing your store is useful if you want to take a temporary break. This keeps your store data intact while restricting checkout functionality. You pay a reduced monthly fee during the pause.

Step 4: Reopen your store

To reopen a paused or deactivated store:

• Log in as the store owner.
• Click Re-open <your-store-name>.myshopify.com.
• Select a plan from the available options.
• Enter payment details and click Subscribe to reactivate.

Your products, customers, orders, and settings are restored exactly as they were before pausing or closing.

By following these steps, you can safely manage your Shopify store’s status while protecting your store data, customer information, and billing details.