Pausing a Shopify store means temporarily putting your online store on hold and restricting public access. Shopify merchants may decide to pause their stores for various reasons, including going on vacation, performing site maintenance, or taking a break from their business.
Why would you pause your Shopify store?
There are several common reasons Shopify merchants choose to pause their online stores:
- Vacation – Pausing your store while you’re away on vacation prevents orders from coming in that you can’t fulfill.
- Site maintenance – You may want to pause your store while you’re performing site maintenance, updates, or migrations.
- Seasonal business – If your business is seasonal, you may pause your store during your off-season.
- Taking a break – Some merchants need to take a break from their business for a period of time and pause their Shopify store.
- Assessing business – Pausing can give you time to assess your business, make changes, and prepare for a relaunch.
Pausing your Shopify store lets you temporarily stop selling without having to delete your store. It gives you the flexibility to reactivate your business when the time is right.
How do you pause a Shopify store?
Shopify makes it easy for merchants to pause or unpause their online stores directly from the Shopify admin. Here are the steps to pause your Shopify store:
- Log in to your Shopify admin and go to the “Online Store” settings.
- Under the “Online Store” tab, toggle your store to “Offline”.
- A pop-up will ask you to confirm that you want to pause your store. Click “Pause Store”.
- Shopify will immediately make your store unavailable to the public.
That’s all there is to it! Your Shopify store is now paused and inaccessible to customers. Shopify will display a “Store Temporarily Unavailable” message when someone tries to access your website URL.
What happens when you pause a Shopify store?
Here’s what happens when you pause your Shopify store:
- Your products become unavailable for purchase and carts/checkouts are disabled.
- Customers cannot view or access your online storefront.
- You stop paying recurring subscription fees for apps and services.
- Any current orders will remain unaffected.
- Your admin access remains active so you can work on your store.
- All your store data, products, and customer information are retained.
Pausing your store essentially freezes your business operations temporarily while preserving your store’s data. You can still work on your store admin and make updates during this paused state.
Can you still access the Shopify admin when your store is paused?
Yes, you retain full access to your Shopify admin dashboard and all your store data even while your shop is paused. This allows you to work on your store background tasks.
You can perform activities like:
- Adding, editing, or removing products
- Modifying orders
- Managing inventory
- Updating business policies
- Changing themes or site content
- Configuring settings
- Viewing reports
Everything except selling to customers and receiving orders remains active in your paused Shopify store admin.
How long can you pause your Shopify store for?
There is no limit on how long you can keep your Shopify store paused. Your store can remain in paused status for as long as you need. Some merchants pause their stores for a few weeks, while others keep their stores paused for several months.
Even if your store is paused for over a year, you can still resume normal operations at any time. All your information and data will be waiting for you when you unpause your store.
Do you still pay Shopify fees when paused?
One of the biggest advantages of pausing your Shopify store is that you can save on monthly subscription fees for add-ons and apps. Here’s how pausing affects Shopify billing and fees:
- Shopify subscription – You still pay your regular monthly Shopify subscription fee to retain your access and admin capabilities.
- Transaction fees – No transaction fees are charged while your store is paused since you aren’t getting sales.
- App subscriptions – Paused stores are charged lower app rates or may pause app billing entirely until unpaused.
- Extra services – Billing for additional services like shipping labels also pauses during inactive periods.
Pausing your store essentially frees up some working capital and reduces your monthly overhead expenses while keeping your business infrastructure ready to go.
Can you edit online store content while paused?
Even though your products are unavailable when paused, Shopify still allows you to modify and improve your store content and information behind the scenes. This can be a productive time to overhaul your brand messaging or site design.
While paused, you can:
- Change product descriptions, images, and other details
- Modify blog posts and news updates
- Improve website copy
- Update policies and terms of service
- Switch to a new theme
- Add new product collections
- Enter upcoming products
Updating your store content and design while paused lets you hit the ground running when you resume selling. Customers will return to a fresh new shop.
Can you still receive email inquiries?
Your Shopify notification settings determine whether you can still receive customer emails during your paused period. There are two options:
- Keep emails enabled – Choose this if you want to respond to customer inquiries about orders or products while paused.
- Disable emails – Select this to hold all non-critical email so you can fully disconnect during your break.
If you disable emails, customers will get an auto-reply that your store is currently unavailable. You can still access previous conversations after unpausing.
Do paused stores affect SEO?
Pausing your Shopify store can temporarily impact your search engine rankings and organic traffic. However, you can take some steps to minimize negative SEO effects:
- Add a pause announcement page – This gives search engines some content to crawl.
- Maintain link-building activities
- Don’t pause for too long – Long periods without content updates can demote rankings.
- Manage redirects – Set up redirects so links don’t lead to broken pages.
With strategic management, you can get your pre-pause SEO status back after resuming your operations. Focus on providing fresh content and great user experience.
Can you still process refunds and exchanges while paused?
Yes, your options for processing refunds, returns, and exchanges remain available even while your Shopify store is paused.
You can still:
- Issue refunds for earlier orders
- Approve/deny return requests
- Manage exchanges
- Modify orders
- Adjust inventory levels
Making sure to handle any pending fulfillment, customer service, or financial tasks during the pause limits future workload when unpaused.
Do paused Shopify stores expire?
Paused Shopify stores do not expire. You can reactivate your business at any point by simply unpausing your store. All your products, information, and previous customization will still be available.
However, if you delete your Shopify account entirely, then your store will be gone. Pausing gives you flexibility without losing your investment.
Can you undo a Store Pause?
It’s easy to resume normal operations of your Shopify store after pausing – simply follow these steps:
- Log in to your Shopify admin and go to the “Online Store” settings.
- Under the “Online Store” tab, toggle your store to “Online”.
- A pop-up will ask you to confirm unpausing your store. Click “Unpause Store”.
- Your Shopify store will become live again to customers!
Your products, checkout, and purchasing capabilities will all be restored after unpausing. Customers will once again be able to shop and order from your store normally.
Tips for unpausing your Shopify store
Follow these tips for a smooth transition when unpausing your Shopify store:
- Review orders and messages – Reply to any outstanding inquiries before relaunching.
- Update inventory – Make sure you have enough quantities for demand when live.
- Test checkout process – Confirm payments and shipping are working properly.
- Send announcements – Notify previous customers through email lists about reopening.
- Monitor closely – Keep a close eye on orders and traffic for the first few weeks.
Preparing your Shopify store properly ensures your comeback is successful. Gradually ramp up marketing efforts in the subsequent months.
Conclusion
Pausing your Shopify store gives ecommerce business owners an easy way to temporarily suspend operations as needed. While paused, merchants can still access their admin and work on enhancements to prepare for reopening.
Knowing how to properly pause and unpause a Shopify store enables flexibility to take breaks or manage seasonal cycles. With strategic timing and planning, merchants can pause their businesses without losing any data or investments.