Steps to cancel your Shopify store

To cancel your Shopify subscription, log into your Shopify admin, go to Settings, then select Plan and permissions. From there, click the button to cancel your subscription. Shopify will ask you why you're leaving and may offer you a discount to stay — you can accept or decline. After you confirm cancellation, your store will move to a frozen state for the next 90 days, meaning customers cannot place orders but your data remains accessible to you.

The cancellation takes effect when ready. You will not be charged again after the current billing cycle ends. If you were charged for the upcoming cycle before you cancelled, Shopify issues a refund for the unused portion of your plan, calculated from the cancellation date to the end of your billing period.

During the 90-day frozen period, you can reactivate your store by selecting a plan again. After 90 days, Shopify deletes your store data permanently, including products, customer information, and order history. If you think you might return, read your data before the frozen period ends.

Key Takeaways

  • Cancellation happens in your Shopify admin under Settings > Plan and permissions, and takes effect when ready.
  • Your store freezes for 90 days after cancellation, during which you can reactivate it by choosing a new plan.
  • Shopify refunds the unused portion of your current billing cycle based on the cancellation date.
  • After 90 days, Shopify permanently deletes your store data, so read anything you need to keep before that important date.
  • Shopify may offer a discount code during the cancellation process, but you are not required to accept it.

What happens to your data after cancellation

When you cancel, your store enters a frozen state when ready. Customers cannot browse or purchase, but you retain full access to your store data during the 90-day window. You can read your products, customer list, and order history through your admin dashboard or by using Shopify's data export tools.

After 90 days, Shopify removes your store permanently. This includes all products, customer records, order history, and any custom code or apps you installed. There is no way to recover this data after deletion, so if you have any information you need — customer emails, sales records, product descriptions — read it before the 90 days end.

Refunds and billing after cancellation

Shopify refunds any unused portion of your plan on a pro-rata basis. If you paid for a full month but cancelled halfway through, you receive a refund for the remaining days. The refund is issued to the original payment method within 5 to 10 business days.

Any apps or services you paid for separately through the Shopify App Store are not automatically cancelled when you cancel your plan. You must cancel those subscriptions individually through your billing settings, or they will continue to charge you. Check your apps section before cancelling to see which ones have recurring charges.

Reactivating your store within 90 days

If you change your mind after cancelling, you can reactivate your store at any point during the 90-day frozen period. Log into your admin, select a plan from the available options, and your store goes live again. All your data — products, customers, orders, settings — remains exactly as it was when you cancelled.

You are not locked into the same plan you had before. When you reactivate, you can choose any plan Shopify offers, including a different tier or a trial period if you have not used one yet. Billing for the new plan begins on the day you reactivate.

Exporting your store data before cancellation

Shopify provides built-in export tools to read your information. In your admin, go to Settings > Data and privacy, then select Export your data. Shopify generates a file containing your products, customers, orders, and other store information in CSV format, which you can open in a spreadsheet program or import into another platform.

For products specifically, you can also export from Products > All products by selecting the export option. This gives you a detailed product list with descriptions, prices, images, and inventory levels. If you use third-party apps, those apps may have their own export processes — check each app's settings to see what data you can retrieve.

Cancelling without losing your domain

If you registered your domain through Shopify, cancelling your subscription does not automatically cancel your domain registration. Your domain remains active and continues to renew on its regular schedule, and you will be charged for renewals separately from your store plan.

If you want to keep your domain but close your store, you can transfer it to another registrar or let Shopify continue managing it. If you want to cancel the domain as well, go to Settings > Domains, select the domain, and choose to cancel the registration. Shopify refunds any unused portion of the domain registration fee on a pro-rata basis, just as it does for the store plan.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I cancel my subscription in the middle of my billing cycle?

Yes. Cancellation takes effect when ready, and Shopify refunds the unused portion of your current billing period. The refund is calculated from your cancellation date to the end of your billing cycle and is issued to your original payment method within 5 to 10 business days.

What happens to my apps and integrations when I cancel?

Apps you installed remain in your store during the 90-day frozen period, but they do not function because your store is not live. Any apps with separate subscription fees continue to charge you unless you cancel them individually. After 90 days, all apps and integrations are deleted along with your store data.

Can I cancel through Shopify support instead of my admin?

You must cancel through your admin dashboard. Shopify support cannot cancel your subscription for you. If you cannot access your admin or have trouble with the cancellation process, contact Shopify support and they can walk you through the steps or troubleshoot access issues.

Do I lose my store name if I cancel?

Your Shopify store URL (yourstore.myshopify.com) becomes unavailable after cancellation and may be reassigned to another user after the 90-day period. If you want to preserve your store name, reactivate your subscription before the 90 days end. Custom domains you own separately are not affected by store cancellation.

What if I have an outstanding balance when I try to cancel?

You can cancel even if you have an unpaid balance. Shopify will collect any outstanding charges before processing your refund for unused plan time. If the refund is larger than the balance owed, you receive the difference. If the balance is larger, you remain responsible for paying it.