Cancel a paid Shopify order before it ships
A customer cancels an order they already paid for, before anything ships. Cancelling a paid order means the money goes back too, so the refund choice on the cancel dialog matters as much as the cancel itself. This tutorial cancels paid order 1055 for Jordan Hale, $160.00 in total, with a full refund.
Written · Shopify admin, desktop steps · 5 minutes read
The worked example
| Customer | Jordan Hale |
| Order | 1055 |
| 4 × Trail Crew Tee, $28.00 | $112.00 |
| 2 × Canvas Tote, $24.00 | $48.00 |
| Order total | $160.00 |
| Refund | $160.00, original payment |
| Items restocked | 6 |
Download the cancellation record: cancel-paid-record.csv (92 bytes).
The lines for the cancelled order. The two line totals add to the $160.00 order total in the slip above.
1Open the order and check its state
From your Shopify admin, go to Orders and click order 1055. The order is paid but no items are fulfilled. That is the state where cancelling issues a full refund. Check the timeline first: if any item is already fulfilled, the cancel option may be gone.
2Click More actions, then Cancel order
Click More actions, then Cancel order. The cancel dialog shows the refund options, the reason list, and the restock and notification checkboxes.
3Refund the full amount to the original payment method
In the Refund payment section, select Original payment method. A full refund is issued to the customer original payment method, and this option is selected by default. The other choices are a full refund to store credit, or Later, which issues no refund now. For this order, the customer gets the $160.00 back on the card they paid with.
4Pick a reason and leave the defaults on
In the Reason for cancellation drop-down menu, select the reason. Leave Restock inventory selected, which returns the six items to your inventory. Leave Send a notification to the customer selected, which emails them the cancellation.
5Click Cancel order and check the status
Click Cancel order. The payment status changes to Refunded, because the payment was fully refunded. Check the timeline: the details about what items were restocked and refunded are stored there. If you bought a shipping label for this order and did not use it, void the label.
The arithmetic
| Line | Quantity | Unit price | Line total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trail Crew Tee | 4 | $28.00 | $112.00 |
| Canvas Tote | 2 | $24.00 | $48.00 |
| Order total | $160.00 | ||
| Refund to original payment | $160.00 |
The refund is $160.00, the full order total. The customer is out nothing, and the store keeps nothing, except the card fees, which are not returned when you issue a refund.
Held at the counter
Card fees are not returned on a refund. When you refund an order processed through Shopify Payments, you do not get any credit card fees refunded. A $160.00 refund still costs the store the fee on the original sale. Tell the customer the refund is full: the fee is your cost, not theirs.
Never bulk-cancel an already refunded order. Do not cancel an already refunded order in bulk. Bulk cancellation can trigger duplicate refund processing because the refund prompt might not be displayed. Cancel an already refunded order on its own, and select the Later refund option.
Bulk cancels stop at 250 orders. You can only cancel up to 250 orders at one time. If you need to cancel more, process them in smaller batches, and narrow your search before you start.
Sources
- Canceling orders — Shopify's help pages: canceling an order, the refund options at cancel time, restocking, archiving, and what cannot be canceled.