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Testing Shopify Payments

To test your Shopify Payments setup, activate test mode and use test credit cards to simulate payments.

You can test Shopify Payments only if you've chosen a paid plan. Depending on your region, you might need to submit information about your business before you can activate test mode.

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Test mode

Test mode is a feature of Shopify Payments. You can use it to test how your customers pay for their orders, and to test how you and your staff process those orders. While test mode is activated, no real payments are captured. Customers might still be able to complete checkout through express payment options such as Apple Pay or Google Pay, but no real charges are processed. These payment options use real credit cards, so the transactions might complete without errors. You can confirm that no real payment was captured by checking for the test mode banner on the order. Some local payment methods, such as Sofort and iDEAL, aren't available in the checkout when test mode is activated. For these reasons, you shouldn't activate test mode on a store that's in production.

Test mode isn't available to test payments with Shopify POS card readers, Shop Pay Installments, or PayPal Wallet.

After you're finished testing Shopify Payments, deactivate test mode so that real payments are captured when customers complete checkout.

If you're not using Shopify Payments and you want to test the checkout process, then you can place a test order by using the Shopify Bogus Gateway.

Activate test mode for Shopify Payments

Before you can create test orders, you need to activate test mode for Shopify Payments.

Steps:

Desktop

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Payments.

  2. In the Shopify Payments section, click Manage.

  3. In the Test mode section, select Enable test mode.

  4. Click Save.

Mobile

  1. From the Shopify app, tap Menu, and then tap Settings Settings.

  2. In the Store settings section, tap Payments.

  3. In the Shopify Payments section, tap Manage.

  4. In the Test mode section, select Enable test mode.

  5. Tap Save or ✓.

Next steps:

You can create orders and then simulate transactions by using a test credit card number. There are test numbers to create successful transactions, failed transactions, and transactions in different currencies.

Test Shopify Payments with Shop Pay

You can test Shop Pay credit card transactions when Shopify Payments test mode is activated on your store. To add a test card to Shop Pay, use a Shopify Payments test credit card number and enter test_card at the beginning of the Nickname (optional) field when adding the card in Shop Pay.

The test_card nickname isn't case-sensitive. For example, test_card, Test_Card, and TEST_CARD all simulate a test card when entered as the first or only value in the nickname field.

Cards added this way are processed using Shopify Payments test mode and no real charges are processed. The nickname is saved as entered.

Simulate successful transactions

To simulate a successful transaction, use the following information when you're asked for credit card details at checkout:

  • Name on card: Enter at least 2 words.
  • Expiry date: Enter any date in the future.
  • Security code: Enter any 4 digits to test American Express, and enter any 3 digits to test all other cards.
  • Card number: Use any of the following numbers:
Use these test card numbers to verify Shopify Payments setup by simulating successful transactions
Card typeTest card number
Visa4242424242424242
Mastercard5555555555554444
American Express378282246310005
Discover6011111111111117
Diners Club30569309025904
JCB3566002020360505
BCcard and DinaCard6555900000604105
UnionPay6200000000000005
Cartes Bancaires/Visa4000002500001001
Cartes Bancaires/Mastercard5555552500001001
eftpos Australia/Visa4000050360000001
eftpos Australia/Mastercard5555050360000080

Simulate failed transactions

If you want to view the credit card error messages that might display to a customer during checkout, then use the following test credit card numbers to simulate different failed transactions:

Use these test card numbers to verify Shopify Payments setup by simulating failed transactions
Failed transaction typeTest card number
Generic card declined4000000000000002
Insufficient funds4000000000009995
Lost card4000000000009987
Stolen card4000000000009979
Expired card4000000000000069
Incorrect CVC4000000000000127
Processing error4000000000000119
Incorrect number4242424242424241
Disputed transaction, also known as a chargeback4000000000000259
Invalid expiry monthUse an invalid expiry month, such as 13.
Invalid expiry yearUse any year in the past, such as 2000.
Invalid security codeUse any 2 digits.

Learn more

Troubleshooting test mode order confirmation emails

If you're not receiving order confirmation emails from Shopify Payments test mode transactions, then try the following troubleshooting steps:

  1. Check email templates: Go to the Notifications setting in your Shopify admin. Click the Order confirmation email template. If you've customized this template, then it might not include the necessary links or information. You can revert to the default template by clicking the Revert to default button at the bottom of the template page.
  2. Verify email settings: Ensure that your email settings are correctly configured. If you've customized your email templates, then you might need to manually add the order status URL to your templates to ensure customers receive the correct information.
  3. Test functionality: After making any changes, place a test order to see if the confirmation email sends correctly. This helps you verify that your settings are functioning as expected.
  4. Check spam/junk folder: Emails might get sent to your spam or junk folder.
  5. Contact your email provider: Your email provider can check for errors on their end.