If you are stepping away from Shopify or busy with other projects, you can pause or stop the monthly subscription for a store you are not using.
Follow these steps to pause or delete your Shopify store.
Things You Should Know Before You Delete Your Shopify Account
Closing a Shopify store takes a few minutes. Review the following points before shutting it down completely.
1. You’ll Have To Pay Outstanding Charges
Settle any outstanding bills before closing your Shopify account.
2. You Can Only Close Your Shopify Store Manually
Only you can close your store. Shopify support cannot do it for you.
3. You’ll Need To Cancel All Apps
Cancel third-party services and apps with recurring charges so they do not keep billing you after the store closes.
4. You Need To Remove Custom Domains
Move a custom domain bought through Shopify to another registrar, or cancel it. Remove any custom domain from the store before pausing or cancelling the subscription; otherwise, you may be unable to use it on another site.
How To Delete Your Shopify Store Completely
Step 1: Go to Account Settings
Sign in to Shopify admin as the account owner to close and delete the account. Select Settings, then Plans and permissions.
Step 2: Click Close Your Store
At the bottom of the page, select Sell or close your store and click Close store.
Step 3: Enter Password and Confirm
When you are ready to close the store, enter its password and click Confirm. There is no going back beyond this point. Give a reason when prompted before saving.
Shopify keeps the store’s data for 30 days after closure. Recovery becomes extremely unlikely if you wait more than 30 days to change your mind.
A new store cannot reuse the old store name or .myshopify. domain name, even after you cancel the old one.
Steps To Close Your Shopify Store
- From the Shopify dashboard, choose Settings and then click Plan and permissions.
- In the Store status section, choose Sell or close store.
- Click Close store.
- Enter your password to continue and confirm.
- Select a reason from the drop-down menu and then click Close store.
How To Pause Your Shopify Store
Pausing is an alternative to deleting the store. Shopify allows a three-month pause for $14 per month, during which you retain control-panel access. Closing the store removes that access.
Store owners can pause through the admin panel in either of these ways:
- Pause your store and still get access to build on it
- Pause your store completely
To pause, your store must have been on a paid plan for at least 60 days after its free trial. Stores that do not meet this requirement cannot pause.
Pause and Build Plan
Pause and Build costs $9 per month and lets you work on the paused store. It requires at least 60 days on a paid plan after the trial.
You retain admin access to optimise the store and edit products. Checkout stays disabled on the $9 monthly subscription, so visitors can view products without buying them.
Seasonal sellers can use this plan to save money while the store is paused. To sell again, choose a new plan in Store Status. There are no additional charges.
Steps to Pause and Build Your Shopify Store
- From your Shopify dashboard, click Settings and then click Plan and permissions.
- In the Store status section, choose Pause and build.
- Read the popup message then click on Pause and build to confirm.
- After you have reviewed the changes, then click Confirm changes. You can look up your domain to check if your store is paused.
Pause Plan
The Pause plan closes the store temporarily without a subscription fee for up to 3 months. Eligibility requires at least 60 days on a paid plan after the free trial, as with Pause and Build.
The Pause plan prevents admin access and store work, as well as product sales. Visitors see a message that the store is temporarily closed. You can still collect email addresses and contact customers.
Choose a new plan to reopen at any point during those three months.
Steps to Pause Your Shopify Store
- From your Shopify admin dashboard, choose Settings, and then choose Plan and permissions.
- In the Store status section, click on Pause store.
- Read the popup message, then click Pause again.
- Finish off by entering a message for visitors to your store and submit.
Reopening A Store
You can reopen a cancelled store if you change your mind within 30 days. Reopening is also available after using a Pause plan.
Steps To Reopen A Shopify Store
- From your Shopify dashboard, select Settings, and then navigate to the Plan and permissions store.
- In the Plan and permissions section, click Select a plan.
- Choose a pricing plan according to the features you need. This will kickstart the billing cycle.
- After you choose a plan, your account will be active again.
- If you set up a password for your store while it was on the Pause plan, you can also remove it.
Conclusion
Shopify settings let you cancel the subscription and delete the store. Pause plans provide another option when you only want a break.
Remove credit-card details when pausing or closing the account. Cancel and uninstall third-party apps to stop their billing cycles. Also remove custom domains and settle outstanding charges.
If you regret closing the store, reactivate it within 1 month.
