Are you contemplating closing your Shopify store? Maybe you just need to take a break from your store for a while, or you’re experiencing supply and shipping issues. Perhaps you can’t afford the monthly Shopify fees and needed a break for financial reasons. Regardless of why you are here, let’s find out exactly what is possible.
So can you re-open a closed Shopify store? You can reopen a closed Shopify store, at any time. Your unique Shopify URL or custom domain name will still be in place as long as you have kept your domain renewed. However, if you wait longer than 90 days, you may lose your store data. So, to keep your theme customizations and product list, you will need to reactivate your store within 90 days.
Whatever your reason for temporarily closing your Shopify store, you can reactivate your store and start making money again.
But, there is certainly a time period to consider here if you want to pick up where you left off.
Otherwise it’s back to the drawing board and you’ll have to start all over again.
Perhaps that’s what you want.
Nevertheless, let’s continue to explore the reopening process and everything involved with temporary breaks to Shopify stores!
How Long Have You Got To Reopen A Closed Shopify Store?
Technically, you can re-open your Shopify store at any time, but be aware that if you wait too long, you can lose all of your data. That being said, Shopify will guarantee that you won’t lose your store data if it’s reactivated within 90 days after it closes. After 90 days, your store and all of its data may be removed.
According to a Shopify staff member, it’s often much longer before Shopify removes the data from a closed store, but they only guarantee it will be there for 90 days.
While you can re-open your store at any time, it’s no fun losing all of the hard work you put into building your Shopify store.
If at all possible, I recommend re-activating your store before the 90 days are up.
If you want to have a longer absence than 90 days, consider utilizing Shopify’s Pause and Build Plan.
You can also create a backup of your store’s data just in case you think you’ll be out of commission for longer than 90 days.
How To Pause A Shopify Store With Shopify’s Pause and Build Plan
If you just want to pause your Shopify store temporarily so that you can work on it, you can opt to use Shopify’s Pause and Build plan. Be sure you uninstall the apps you pay for so that they don’t keep billing you while you’re in pause mode.
When your store is paused using the Pause and Build plan, your customers can still see your products and browse your store.
However, your checkout is disabled, so they can’t purchase products.
A few things about the Pause and Build plan:
- You will be billed for $14 while your store is paused.
- Pause and Build isn’t available for store owners with Shopify Plus.
- You can still access basic reports and your Shopify admin.
- You can still view your store.
- While your store is in pause mode, you can’t use POS, online store checkout, discounts, gift cards, abandoned checkout recovery, and third-party integrations.
- You can still send order invoices, but the customers can’t complete them while your store is paused.
- If you’ve used Shopify Capital, your payments will be affected when you use the Pause and Build plan.
To qualify for the Pause and Build plan, you have to be on a paid plan and past Shopify’s free trial period.
When you unpause your store, you will be required to choose a new plan. When you use the Pause and Build plan, you continue at the same rate when you log back in to reactivate your store.
To re-open your store at the end of the pause period, follow these steps:
- Log into the Shopify admin as the store owner.
- Navigate to Settings > Plan.
- Choose “Pick a plan” and review the plan details.
- Click “Start plan.”
How To Back Up Your Shopify Store
If you know you’re going to be closing your store, I recommend doing a full backup first.
Shopify has a comprehensive guide for backing up your store. Here is what you can save in a CSV file backup:
- Customers
- Products
- Gift card codes
- Orders
- Financial data
- Discount codes
Another option is to back up your store’s information using an app.
To save your Shopify store’s theme, you need to download it from the Shopify admin page.
Note that theme downloads don’t include the images you use to build your store.
How Do I Reopen A Closed Shopify Store?
Follow these steps to reactivate your Shopify store.
- Log into your Shopify store as the store owner.
- Click the “Shopify Admin” button at the top left corner of the page.
- Click the “Reactivate” button and enter your store’s password. If you’ve forgotten your password, click “Forgot password” to reset it. An email will be sent to your designated email address with a link that you can use to reset your password.
- If your store has closed due to non-payment, you’ll be directed to reactivate your store using the credit card on file. If you need to use a different card, you can enter the card info at this point.
- Double-check to be sure that all of your payment and shipping settings are the way you want them.
What Happens To My Domain If I Close My Shopify Store?
If you bought your domain from a third-party service such as GoDaddy, you will still have access to your domain. If you bought your domain through Shopify, you will no longer have access to it after your store closes unless you log in and reactivate your store.
Domains Purchased Through A Third Party
If you bought your domain from a third-party service, you will still have access to your domain.
Your domain remains active, but it won’t be associated with your Shopify store.
You just need to go into your DNS settings and point the domain to a new website or server.
If you point your domain somewhere else, it won’t point to your Shopify store when you re-open your store.
You’ll need to return to the DNS settings and re-direct the domain to your Shopify store.
Domains Purchased Through Shopify
If you bought your domain through Shopify, you will no longer have access to it after your store closes unless you log in and reactivate your store.
Will I Be Charged If I Close My Shopify Store?
You will no longer be charged if you close your Shopify store. However, if you have any paid Shopify apps, be sure to cancel them before closing your store.
Many apps collect money directly through your credit card, and they can keep charging you even if your store is closed.
If your Shopify store has been closed by Shopify for non-payment, they will continue trying to retrieve payment via your designated payment method.
To avoid this from happening, disable your payment method before allowing your store to close.
You also have the option of asking your bank to issue a new credit card or debit card if you’re concerned about Shopify continuing to try to bill you.
Another common question is whether or not you’ll be charged retroactively for the months your Shopify is out of commission.
The answer is no.
If your Shopify store has been closed for 60 days, when you log back in to reactivate your store, you’ll only be charged for the new plan.
You won’t have to pay for the 60 days your store was closed.
Lastly
If your Shopify store has closed for whatever reason, you can re-open it at any time.
If you don’t want to lose your data, products, and other info, be sure to re-open the store within 90 days of the store’s closing.
Shopify guarantees your products and settings for 90 days, although sometimes it may be there for longer.
Other Shopify guides you may want to check out:
Hey, I’m Peter; a seasoned entrepreneur that has been earning his full time income online since 2005. My online business portfolio includes eCommerce stores, affiliate marketing niche sites, content websites and Rank and Rent sites. I also make money through Blockchain and Crypto. I created Unrivaled Review to share my knowledge, experience and recommendations for anyone looking to pursue such ventures.