Canceling orders

You can cancel, archive, and delete orders. Canceling an order means that you're stopping an order that's in process. Archiving an order means that you're done with the order and want to remove it from your open orders list. Deleting an order means that you're removing it from your Shopify admin.

Canceling orders

Canceling an order indicates that you're halting order processing. For example, if a customer requests a cancellation or you suspect the order is fraudulent, then you can cancel the order to help prevent staff or fulfillment services from continuing work on the order. You can also cancel an order if an item was ordered and isn't available.

Depending on the state of the order when you cancel it, you might need to do follow-up actions.

After you cancel an order, the details about what items are restocked and refunded is stored in the order's Timeline.

When you cancel an order, the payment status changes as follows:

• If the payment wasn't captured, then the payment status changes to Voided.
• If the payment was fully refunded, then the payment status changes to Refunded.

Later, if you issue a partial refund for a canceled order, then the payment status changes to Partially refunded.

Cancel orders individually

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Orders.

2. Click the order that you want to cancel.

3. Click More actions > Cancel order.

4. In the Refund payment section, choose how you want to refund the payment:

   • To issue a full refund to the original payment method, select Original payment method.
   • To issue a full refund to store credit, select Store credit, and then select the store credit expiry from the drop-down menu.
   • To issue a refund later, select Later.

5. In the Reason for cancellation drop-down menu, select the reason of order cancellation.

6. Optional: In the Staff note field, enter an internal note about the order cancellation.

7. Optional: To restock the refunded items to your inventory, select Restock inventory.

8. Optional: To notify your customer about the order cancellation, select Send a notification to the customer.

9. Click Cancel order.

Cancel orders in bulk

You can cancel multiple orders in bulk using the Cancel order bulk action. When you cancel orders in bulk, an indicator in your admin displays the progress of the order cancellations.

Steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Orders.

2. Select the orders that you want to cancel using the checkboxes.

3. Click …, and then click Cancel orders.

4. In the Refund payment section, choose how you want to refund the payments:

   • To issue a full refund to the original payment method, select Original payment method.
   • To issue a full refund to store credit, select Store credit, and then select the store credit expiry from the drop-down menu.
   • To issue a refund later, select Later.

5. In the Reason for cancellation drop-down menu, select the reason for order cancellation.

6. Optional: In the Staff note field, enter an internal note about the order cancellation.

7. Optional: To restock the refunded items to your inventory, select Restock inventory.

8. Optional: To notify your customers about the order cancellation, select Send a notification to the customer.

9. Click Cancel orders.

Orders that can't be canceled

You can't cancel some orders due to reasons such as the order's current state, payment status, or other restrictions. If you don't have the Cancel order option, then you can't cancel the order.

Individual order restrictions

• If an order is in Pending payment status with scheduled payments, then you might be unable to cancel it. Learn more about orders with pending payments.
• After an order is partially fulfilled, you can't cancel it. You can cancel the fulfillment to make the order eligible for cancellation, or issue refunds and manage returns.
• If your order is being processed by a third-party fulfillment service, you might need to cancel the order through that service's system before canceling in Shopify. Check with your fulfillment partner for their cancellation process.
• Orders placed through Checkout on Facebook and Instagram that were previously edited in Facebook Commerce Manager can't be canceled from the Shopify admin. Make changes through Facebook Commerce Manager instead.
• Orders created through third-party apps might have restrictions that prevent cancellation through the Shopify admin. Contact the app developer for guidance on managing these orders.
• Orders that are already canceled or deleted can't be canceled again.

Bulk cancellation restrictions

• To ensure accurate refund calculations, you can only cancel up to 250 orders at one time. If you need to cancel more orders, process them in smaller batches.
• If your search returns more than 250 orders, narrow your search criteria before canceling.

Permission restrictions

• You need the appropriate Orders permissions to cancel orders and issue refunds.
• If an order appears ineligible for cancellation but you believe it should be cancelable, check the order's Timeline section for detailed status information that might explain why cancellation isn't available.

Archive orders manually

Most orders that you're done with are automatically archived by default, but you can archive orders manually if you need to. If you deactivated automatic archiving, then you can keep your open orders view tidy by manually archiving orders.

Archived orders are displayed on the Closed order view.

Steps:

The order status is Archived.

You can also perform a bulk action to archive or unarchive multiple orders.

Delete an order

Deleted orders are removed from your Shopify admin and are no longer tracked in reports. Only the following order types can be deleted:

• test orders
• orders that were paid with a manual payment method
• orders that started as a draft and were then marked as paid
• orders that were imported through the Shopify API
• draft orders

Before you can delete an order, it must be archived or canceled. Orders where payment has been paid for with a gift card can be archived, but not deleted.

If you purchased a shipping label for the order but didn't use it, then void the label before deleting the order.

Steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Orders.

2. Click an archived or canceled order.

3. Click Delete order, and then click Delete order to confirm.