Having a paused Shopify website can be frustrating, but unpausing it is usually a quick and straightforward process. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll walk through all the steps you need to get your Shopify store back up and running after it’s been paused.
Why Might My Shopify Website Be Paused?
There are a few common reasons your Shopify website may end up in a paused state:
- Your payment method on file expired or was declined
- You missed a payment or have an overdue balance
- You violated Shopify’s Acceptable Use Policy
- There was suspicious activity on your store
Shopify will pause your store for security and policy reasons to protect both you and your customers. Having an expired card, missed payment, or policy violation doesn’t necessarily mean your store is gone for good. In many cases, you can reactive your store quickly after addressing the underlying issue.
How Do I Know if My Shopify Store is Paused?
There are a few clear signs your Shopify store has been paused:
- Your products will be unpublished and unavailable for purchase
- You’ll see a “paused store” message when you try to access your admin
- Shopify will send you an email notification that your store was paused
If you can’t access your storefront or products normally, that’s the telltale sign your store has been paused by Shopify.
Steps to Unpause a Shopify Website
Follow these steps to get your paused Shopify store back up and running:
- Log in to your Shopify admin
- Go to the Billing section
- Update your payment method if declined or expired
- Pay any outstanding balance if you missed a payment
- Reach out to Shopify support if policy violation
- Request reactivation once issue resolved
- Shopify will review and unpause store if appropriate
- Confirm store is live again via admin and storefront
Let’s go through each of these steps in more detail below.
1. Log Into Your Shopify Admin
First, you’ll want to log into your Shopify admin panel. You can access your admin dashboard by going to:
yourstore.myshopify.com/admin
Use your regular Shopify login email and password to access your admin account. If your store has been paused, you’ll immediately see a notice at the top of your Shopify admin informing you that your store is paused along with an explanation as to why.
2. Go to the Billing Section
From your Shopify admin dashboard, click on the Billing tab. This is where you can view and update the payment details, view transaction history, check balances, and more. If your store was paused due to payment issues, you’ll need to resolve them in the billing section.
3. Update Expired Payment Method
If your payment method on file is expired or was declined, Shopify will pause your store. In the Billing section, you can enter and confirm a new valid credit card or other payment method. Make sure it’s a card you expect to be active and usable going forward, not one that will decline again.
4. Pay Outstanding Balance
Another reason your store may be paused is if you have failed to pay your Shopify bill, resulting in an overdue balance. Check the Current Balance and see if you have an amount outstanding you need to pay. Select Pay Outstanding Balance and submit payment via your updated payment method.
5. Resolve Policy Violations
If your store was paused due to a policy violation, you’ll need to resolve that before requesting reactivation. Common policy violations include selling prohibited items, illegal content, trademark or copyright infringement, etc. Reach out to Shopify support via email or live chat to discuss and resolve policy violations.
6. Request Reactivation
Once you’ve addressed the underlying cause for the store pausing, such as updating your payment method, paying outstanding balances, or resolving policy issues, you can request reactivation within Shopify. You can usually find the reactivation request option within the notice on yourpaused Shopify admin dashboard.
Depending on the reason for pausing, after submitting your reactivation request it may take a few hours or up to a full business day for Shopify to review and unpause your store once the issues have been resolved on your end.
7. Confirm Store Is Live
After some time has passed since your reactivation request, login to your Shopify admin and check if your store status has been updated to Active. Try accessing your online storefront to confirm it is live again for customers. Test some product pages to make sure listings are visible again now that your store has been unpaused.
Troubleshooting Issues with Unpausing
In most cases, the steps outlined above should get your paused Shopify store back up and running smoothly. However, if you run into any trouble getting the store unpaused, try the following:
- Double check billing details are all accurate
- Try an alternate payment method if first option doesn’t work
- Contact Shopify support via live chat for assistance
- Check spam folder for any emails from Shopify
- Wait the full business day for changes to process
Getting your Shopify store paused can be stressful, but it’s usually just a minor hiccup that can be quickly resolved. Follow the steps in this guide, and you should be able to get your online store unpaused and active again within a day or two in most cases.
Can I Add or Edit Products in a Paused Store?
No, you cannot add or edit products in your Shopify admin when your store is paused. Your products will become unpublished, and any changes made will not take effect until the store is reactivated.
However, it can be a good idea to prepare your product updates, new listings, and inventory changes in a separate document. That way, once your store is live again, you can quickly make those needed changes.
How Long Does it Take to Unpause a Store?
It typically takes 12-24 hours after resolving the issues and requesting reactivation for Shopify to unpause your store. In some cases where additional review is needed for policy violations, it can take up to 3 business days to complete the process of reinstating your Shopify store.
Can I Still Receive Orders if My Store is Paused?
No, your Shopify store will not be able to receive orders while it is in a paused state. Your buying functions are essentially turned off until the store is reactivated. Any orders attempted during the paused period will not go through.
Should I Pause My Store Temporarily or Permanently?
Pausing your Shopify store temporarily is recommended if you plan to continue selling in the future but need to take a break for a limited period of time. However, you can also permanently pause your store if you plan to shut down selling indefinitely.
Temporary reasons to pause a store include:
- Taking a vacation
- Rebranding your business
- Making seasonal closures
- Dealing with payment issues
Reasons you may want to permanently pause a Shopify store:
- Closing your business entirely
- Moving to a new sales platform
- Stopping online selling activities
Evaluate whether your reasons for pausing are short-term or permanent to decide if you should temporarily or permanently pause your Shopify website.
Can I Pause My Shopify Store to Avoid Fees?
Pausing your Shopify store will not enable you to avoid paying subscription fees. Your recurring shop subscription fees will continue to be charged even while your store is paused.
Shopify will continue charging your monthly basic subscription plan fees as outlined in your original pricing agreement. So pausing your store is not an effective way to take a break from paying Shopify costs.
Key Takeaways
Having your Shopify store paused can be inconvenient but getting it resumed is straightforward for most temporary issues:
- Update payment details, pay balances to resolve financial issues
- Work with Shopify to rectify any policy violations
- Request store reactivation after fixing problems
- Wait up to 24 hours for Shopify to review and unpause
- Confirm store is live by accessing storefront
With the steps in this guide, you should be able to get your paused Shopify website back up and running smoothly in just a few days at most.