Deactivating your store

If you're the store owner and your store is eligible, then you can use your Shopify admin to cancel your subscription and deactivate your store completely.

You can also take a pause from selling on Shopify temporarily instead without deactivating your store.

If you want to deactivate your store, but can't remember your email or password, then you can recover your Shopify login details.

Caution

Before you deactivate your store, make sure that you review and understand the terms of service.

Tip

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Considerations before deactivating your store

Before you deactivate your store, review some considerations for how to prevent potential issues regarding closing your store.

Note

The list below isn't exhaustive. There might be other considerations that apply to your store.

Consider what store information and assets you want to retain:

• You can't create a new online store that uses the same myshopify.com domain. You can create a new store that is branded with the same name, but your myshopify.com domain is unique to each store. For example, you deactivate a store that you named Very Good Things and that had the URL very-good-things.myshopify.com. If you decide to create a new store, then you can still name it Very Good Things, but you can't use the URL very-good-things.myshopify.com.
• Save your store information by exporting CSV files.
• If you've purchased a theme, then consider downloading a backup of your theme. Themes are licensed only to the store you originally buy it for, but you can also contact Shopify Support to have the license transferred to another Shopify store you own.

Consider how your financial obligations will resolve:

• Any outstanding balance that you might have on your account (such as transaction fees, shipping label charges, or app subscriptions) will be charged during cancellation. If you have no outstanding charges against your account, then you won't receive a final invoice. For more information about billing, refer to understanding your Shopify bill.
• Save your bills by exporting your billing history. If you're using Shopify Payments, then consider exporting your payout history and transactions for your records.
• Third-party apps that have your payment information outside of Shopify won't be cancelled when you cancel your store. Cancel your service with those apps to avoid being billed externally after you deactivate your store.
• If you're using a Shopify financial product (such as Shopify Balance, Shopify Capital, or Shopify Credit), then deactivating your store will impact your ability to access and use those products.
• Make sure that you review and understand the terms of service before you deactivate your store to understand any additional financial obligations.
• Deactivating your store cancels your Shopify subscription. If you continue to receive invoices after your store's been deactivated, then it might be due to a third party invoicing you (such as for an app or domain), or a chargeback. If it's a Shopify invoice, then you might have another store that's incurring charges. Learn more about investigating unknown charges.

Consider how your existing customers with unfulfilled orders might be impacted:

• If you sell gift cards, then you might need to resolve outstanding cards. You can export your store's gift card CSV file that contains the information that you need to resolve any outstanding cards.
• If you sell products with different purchase options (such as subscriptions or preorders), then you might need to resolve outstanding orders. Learn more about issuing refunds.
• Chargebacks can still be issued by a cardholder even if the store has been deactivated. Deactivating your store means you won't be able to submit additional evidence via the Shopify admin in the event of a chargeback.

Consider how your custom domain might be impacted:

• If you have a custom domain that you bought through Shopify, then you can transfer it to a third-party domain provider.
• If you have a custom domain that you bought through a third-party, then you can remove it from your store using your Shopify admin. If you don't remove your domain from your Shopify store before deactivating it, then you might not be able to use it for another website.
• Make sure to turn off auto renewal for your custom domain on your registrar's website to avoid unexpected charges.
• If you plan to deactivate your store and transfer your domain to a new platform, then be aware that Shopify's HTTP Strict Transfer Security (HSTS) policy remains in effect on your domain for 90 days after you deactivate your store. This policy helps to ensure the safety of the information about your business and your customers.

If you transfer your domain to another platform that uses HTTPS, then you don't need to take any additional steps.

If you transfer your domain to a platform that doesn't use HTTPS, then for the next 90 days, an error message is displayed in the browser when anyone attempts to visit your domain. The error message might state that the site is not trusted or that the certificate is not valid. Wait until the 90-day period is over, or consider transferring your domain to a platform that supports HTTPS.

Cancel your subscription and deactivate your Shopify store

You can deactivate your Shopify store at any time. After you deactivate your store, your Shopify subscription is canceled and you won't have access to your Shopify admin. If you want to log back in, then you will have to enter a valid payment method to reactivate your store.

Note

For security reasons, Shopify Support can't deactivate your store for you. You need to deactivate the store yourself.

If you're on a free trial and you haven't chosen a pricing plan yet, then you don't need to take any action to deactivate your account.

Steps:

Desktop

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Plan.
2. Click Deactivate store.
3. If applicable, then review the options to switch to the Pause and build plan, or start a new store.
4. If you still want to deactivate, then click Deactivate store.
5. Select a reason for the deactivation.
6. Optional: If available, then add a comment to explain further.
7. Click Continue.
8. Enter your password, and then click Deactivate store.

You receive an email to confirm that your store's deactivated. You can still re-open your store or view your past bills, and your store's information is guaranteed for 2 years. You can also re-open your store and pause your plan.

Delete your data

Your store's information is guaranteed for 2 years, in case you decide to re-open your store. However, you can request that the personal information about your store's customers be deleted before that timeframe.

Learn more about deleting your data.

Reactivate your store

If you decide to reactivate your store, then you can log back in and select a new plan.

Steps:

1. Log in to your store as the store owner.
2. Click Re-open .myshopify.com.
3. Review the available plans, and then select a plan from the plan page.
4. Enter your payment information in the Review and Subscribe section.
5. Click Subscribe to reactivate your store.