Cancel a return in Shopify
A return can be cancelled, but only while it is still open and untouched. This tutorial cancels a return for a Summit Hoodie, $45.00, after the customer decides to keep it.
Written · Shopify admin, desktop steps · 5 minutes read
The worked example
| Return | Summit Hoodie, $45.00 |
| Estimated refund | $31.55 |
| Status before | Return in progress |
| After cancelling | No return |
| Refunded | $0.00 |
Download the record: cancelled-return-record.csv (143 bytes).
A record of the cancelled return in this tutorial. It is a record, not an import file: returns are cancelled in the admin, not by CSV.
1Open the order
From your Shopify admin, go to Orders, then click the order with the return you want to cancel.
2Check you can still cancel
You can cancel a return only when five conditions all hold. The return is not refunded, and it is not restocked. It is open and not Marked as returned. It has no return label. Its fulfilment is not cancelled.
3Open the menu and click Cancel return
On the Return in progress card, click the menu, and then click Cancel return. Click Cancel return again to confirm.
4Check the order
The return is gone, and the $31.55 estimated refund is gone with it. The order total is back to $73.00: the hoodie at $45.00 and the tee at $28.00.
5Create a new return if they change their mind again
After you cancel a return, you cannot reopen it, but you can create a new return for the same items.
The arithmetic
Cancelling removes the estimated refund entirely. The order total is unchanged, because nothing was refunded or restocked.
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Order total, hoodie, and tee | $73.00 |
| Estimated refund before cancelling | $31.55 |
| Refunded after cancelling | $0.00 |
45.00 plus 28.00 is $73.00. The estimated refund was 45.00 less a 10% restocking fee of $4.50 less $8.95 return shipping, which is $31.55. After cancelling, the refund is $0.00.
Held at the counter
A return with a label cannot be cancelled. One of the cancel conditions is that the return has no return label. Do not create the label until the return is certain.
Once refunded or restocked, cancelling is closed. A return that is refunded or restocked cannot be cancelled. Process carefully: a refund issued by mistake cannot be undone by cancelling the return.
Cancelling a return with exchange items needs a second step. To cancel a return with exchange items, you need to cancel the return, and then edit the order to remove the unfulfilled exchange items.
Sources
- Processing and managing returns — Shopify's help pages: the process-return steps, the restock choice, the refund-shipping section, the refund-method choices, and the cancel / remove / close rules.