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Managing created gift cards

You can view, organize, and edit created gift cards from the Gift cards page in your Shopify admin. You can also export your gift cards to a CSV file for your reference.

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Search for a gift card

You can search for gift cards by code or by customer. Use the search bar on the Gift cards page to search by keyword or apply filters to the list. To search by the full gift card code, enter it without spaces.

Because gift cards are treated as currency, only the customer can see the full gift card code after it's created. Only the last 4 characters are displayed in the list of gift cards in your Shopify admin.

Filter gift cards

You can filter gift cards on the Gift cards page. Filtering is useful when you're trying to find gift cards that match particular criteria. For example, you could filter by Status to list all the gift cards that have been deactivated.

The following filter options are available:

  • Status - displays gift cards that are either active, deactivated, or expired
  • Balance - displays gift cards based on whether the balance is full, partially used, or empty
  • Gift card value - displays gift cards based on whether they're equal to, not equal to, greater than, or less than a certain value. You can also filter by currency.
  • Currency - displays gift cards issued in a specific currency. This filter is available when you have gift cards in multiple currencies.
  • Date created - displays gift cards based on the time period when they were issued
  • Issue method - displays gift cards based on whether the cards were issued, purchased, or generated by an app

All filters display in-line in the search bar, so you get a full view of the criteria influencing your search results. You can also use is/is not and or/and logical operators to create more advanced views with specific filter criteria.

Learn more about searching and filtering your lists using views.

Steps:

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Products > Gift cards.

  2. Optional: Click All to open the view menu, and then select the view that you want to filter.

  3. Select an operator and value for your filter. The available values are different depending on the filter that you select.

  4. Optional: Continue typing keywords to continue adding different filters and values to refine your search:

    • To include an additional filter with an and operator to your search, click Plus Circle Icon or add a space, and then start typing the name of the additional filter that you want to include.
    • To include an additional value with an or operator to a filter, add a comma, and then start typing the name of the additional value that you want to include.

  5. Optional: Click the filter tags of any filter in the search bar to edit the filter.

  6. Optional: To save your current sequence of filters as a new view, click Save and then give the new view a name.

To remove a filter, click the x next to the filter value.

Sort gift cards

You can sort gift cards on the Gift cards page. Sorting is useful when you're trying to find gift cards that match particular criteria. For example, you could sort by Expiry date (ascending) to view the gift cards that are closest to expiring first.

The following sort options are available:

List of the options available for sorting the order that gift cards are displayed in.
Sort optionDescription
Customer last name (A-Z)Displays gift cards alphabetically in ascending order by the customer's last name.
Customer last name (Z-A)Displays gift cards alphabetically in descending order by the customer's last name.
Gift code ending (ascending)Displays gift cards in ascending order by the last digits of the gift card's code.
Gift code ending (descending)Displays gift cards in descending order by the last digits of the gift card's code.
Total balance (low to high)Displays gift cards in order of the lowest total card balance to the highest.
Total balance (high to low)Displays gift cards in order of the highest total card balance to the lowest.
Date created (newest first)Displays gift cards in order by the date the card was created, starting with the most recent.
Date created (oldest first)Displays gift cards in order by the date the card was created, starting with the oldest.
Date edited (newest first)Displays gift cards in order by the date the card was edited, starting with the most recent.
Date edited (oldest first)Displays gift cards in order by the date the card was edited, starting with the oldest.
Expiry date (ascending)Displays gift cards in ascending order by the expiry date.
Expiry date (descending)Displays gift card in descending order by the expiry date.

Steps:

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Products > Gift cards.

  2. Optional: Click All to open the view menu, and then select the view that you want to review the sort option for.

  3. Click the Layout Columns 3 icon to open the display option panel.

  4. Click the Sort Sort by menu, and then select a sort criteria option, as well as a sort order.

  5. Optional: In the Columns section, customize your view's columns by doing any of the following actions:

    • To hide a column, click View.
    • To unhide a column, click Hide.
    • To rearrange a column, click Drag handle and drag the column up or down.

To save the sort option as a view, click Save and enter a view name, and then click Save again.

View a created gift card's detailed information

You can view detailed information about a gift card by clicking the gift card listing from the list in Products > Gift cards in your Shopify admin.

From the gift card details page, you can review the following information about the gift card:

  • The initial balance and current balance in the gift card's currency.
  • The order number associated with the initial purchase of the gift card.
  • The name of the customer who ordered the gift card or who the gift card was created for.
  • The expiration date, if applicable.
  • The timeline of events associated with the gift card, including orders where the gift card was used as a payment method. The currency is reflected on the timeline events.
  • The last four characters of the gift card code.
  • The cross-currency redemption strategy that determines whether the gift card can be redeemed in currencies other than the one that the gift card was issued in. If the gift card is a store currency gift card, then All currencies is displayed.

Refund to a gift card

If your customer used a gift card to pay for the purchase, then you can apply the refund to the gift card and its balance is updated automatically. If you only refund part of an order that was purchased using a gift card and other methods of payment, then you can manually change the refund amount that is applied to each payment method.

Gift cards can be reloaded during the return and exchange process when the original transaction was processed with Shopify Payments. If Shopify Payments wasn’t used, then the gift card can't be reloaded. You will need to create a new gift card with the refund amount for the customer.

If a customer made a purchase using a gift card and another method of payment, then when you perform a partial refund, the refund is applied to the gift card first, until the gift card reaches the full amount available for refund. The rest of the refund is applied to the other payment methods.

Considerations for refunding to gift cards

Review the following considerations when refunding orders that were paid for with gift cards:

  • Expired gift cards: If a gift card is expired, then you can't refund to it until you edit the expiry date. You can change the expiry date to a future date, complete the refund, and then restore the original expiry date if needed.
  • Deactivated gift cards: Deactivated gift cards can't be reactivated or reloaded. If you need to refund an order that was paid with a deactivated gift card, then issue a new gift card to the customer for the refund amount.

Troubleshooting gift card refunds

If you're unable to refund an order to a gift card, then review the following information.

If you receive an error message that the gift card is expired when attempting to refund an order, then edit the expiry date of the gift card to complete the refund:

  1. Find the last four digits of the gift card in the order timeline (under the payment information or in the "Unable to refund" message).
  2. From your Shopify admin, go to Products > Gift cards.
  3. Search the four digits to locate the gift card used by the customer.
  4. Click the gift card.
  5. Click the pencil icon near the top of the page.
  6. Edit the expiration date to a future date.
  7. Click Save.
  8. Refund the order.

Refunding a gift card product

You can issue a refund for any purchased gift cards. Gift cards created directly from your Shopify admin or from Shopify POS can't be refunded, as no payment was captured for those gift cards. Learn more about issuing refunds.

If you refund a purchased gift card, then it's automatically deactivated. You need to specify the quantity of gift cards that you want to refund, but you don't have to restock them or refund the full amount paid.

Deactivate a gift card

You can deactivate a gift card from its details page. Deactivating a gift card is permanent.

Steps:

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Products > Gift cards.

  2. Click the gift card listing for the gift card that you want to deactivate.

  3. Click Deactivate.

Email a gift card to a customer

If a customer loses a gift card code or needs a balance update, then you can email an updated gift card to its original customer. If a gift card has been partially used, then only the remaining balance is sent to the customer.

Steps:

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Products > Gift cards.

  2. Click the gift card listing for the gift card that you want to resend.

  3. Click Resend gift card.

Export your gift card products to a CSV

You can export your gift cards to a CSV file to view their details in a spreadsheet. This can be useful for reviewing information about outstanding balances, or for other records. You can't import the gift card CSV to create gift card products. The gift card CSV contains the following information about your gift cards:

Titles and descriptions for the fields that are available in a gift card products CSV export.
TitleDescription
IdEach gift card's unique identifier (not the gift card code).
Last CharactersThe last four characters of the gift card code.
Customer NameThe name of the customer who bought the gift card.
EmailThe email address for the customer who bought the gift card.
Recipient NameThe name of the recipient who the gift card was purchased for.
Recipient EmailThe email address of the recipient who the gift card was purchased for.
Order NameThe order number associated with the gift card. If the gift card has no associated order, then this field is empty.
Date IssuedThe date the gift card was bought or issued, with the format yyyy/mm/dd hh:mm:ss -time zone.
Send AtThe date the gift card was sent to the recipient. If the date is in the future, then this is the date that it will be sent. With the format yyyy/mm/dd hh:mm:ss -time zone.
Expires OnThe expiration date. If the gift card doesn't expire, then this field is empty.
Initial BalanceThe balance of the gift card when it was purchased or issued.
Current BalanceThe remaining balance on the card after it has been applied to orders.
CurrencyThe three digit currency code.
Expired?Whether the gift card is expired or not.
Activated?Whether the gift card is activated or deactivated.
Deactivated AtThe date when the gift card was deactivated. If the gift card has never been deactivated, then this field is empty. The format is yyyy/mm/dd hh:mm:ss -time zone.
Issuing Staff MemberThe name of the staff member who issued the gift card. If the gift card was purchased by a customer or generated by an app, then this field is empty.
MessageThe message entered by the customer which is sent to the recipient.
NoteThe note to be applied to the gift card.

If you export up to one page of gift cards, up to 50 gift cards, then the CSV file is downloaded by your browser. If you export more than 50 gift cards, then the CSV file is emailed to you. If you aren't the store owner, then the file is sent to the store owner's email as well.

Steps:

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Products > Gift cards.

  2. Click Export.

  3. In the dialog, select from the following export options:

    • Current page: to export the gift cards on the visible page of the list
    • All gift cards: to export all your gift cards
    • Selected gift card: to export the gift cards that you have checked
    • Current Search: to export a list of gift cards with a search or filter applied

  4. If you're planning on opening your CSV file in Excel, Numbers, or another spreadsheet program, then click CSV for Excel, Numbers, and other spreadsheet programs. Otherwise, click Plain CSV file.

  5. Click Export Gift Cards.