How to Cancel an Order on Shopify

If you run a Shopify store, you will need to cancel an order or issue a refund at some point. It’s the nature of running an ecommerce shop. For example, maybe a customer changed their mind, or the product was defective.

In any case, it’s essential to know how to cancel an order on Shopify and handle these situations to keep your customers happy.

If you need to cancel an order or issue a refund, the first step is to contact the customer. Tell them what happened and why you need to cancel or refund the order. This will help to calm any frustration your customer may feel.

Next, you’ll need to cancel the order in your Shopify admin. Let’s cover exactly how to do that step-by-step now.

Step-by-step guide to canceling an order on Shopify

To cancel an order placed on Shopify, follow these steps:

1. Log in to your Shopify Admin and click Orders.

2. Click on the order you want to cancel.

3. On the Order details page, click Cancel order.

4. In the Cancel order dialog box, select the appropriate options and click Cancel order to confirm.

Important note: If you’ve received payment for the order, you’ll need to issue a refund. Also, any items that have already been fulfilled will remain fulfilled unless you create a return and restock the inventory. For more information, check Shopify’s documentation on refunding and canceling orders.

Issuing a refund on Shopify

To issue a refund for an order placed on your Shopify store:

1. Log in to your Shopify Admin and click Orders.

2. Click the order for which you want to issue a refund.

3. From the Order details page, click Refund.

4. In the Refund dialog box, enter the amount you wish to refund and choose whether to send a notification to the customer. Then, click Refund.

Important note: If you partially refund the order, you’ll need to specify how to allocate the refund amount among the items on the order. For more information, check Shopify’s documentation on refunding and canceling orders.

Canceling vs. archiving an order – what’s the difference?

Canceling a Shopify order voids the order and issues a refund (if you select that option). Archiving an order only removes the order from the list of your open orders on the Shopify Admin.

Here’s a detailed breakdown of the differences between canceling and archiving an order on Shopify:

• Canceling a Shopify order voids the order and issues a refund (if applicable). This cannot be undone.
• Archiving an order removes the order from your list of open orders. It does not affect payments or refunds. You can undo this by restoring the order from the archived orders page.
• Canceled orders appear on your store’s canceled orders page, while archived orders appear on the archived orders page.
• Canceled orders cannot be restored, while archived orders can be restored.

You should only cancel an order if it hasn’t been fulfilled, and you need to void the payment and issue a refund.

If the order has been fulfilled, you can safely archive the order. This will make it easy to see all the orders that must be fulfilled on your Orders page.

What happens to discount codes during a refund or cancelation?

When an order is canceled, any discount codes that were applied to the order will be voided. If it was a single-use discount code, it cannot be used again. Likewise, if a refund is issued for the order, any discount codes applied to the order will be voided.