Cancel an unpaid order in Shopify before fulfilment
A customer asks to cancel before they have paid and before anything has shipped. Cancelling the order stops the work, voids the payment authorization, and puts the items back in stock. This tutorial cancels unpaid order 1052 for Lena Brooks, $95.00 in total.
Written · Shopify admin, desktop steps · 5 minutes read
The worked example
| Customer | Lena Brooks |
| Order | 1052 |
| 1 × Summit Hoodie, $45.00 | $45.00 |
| 1 × Wool Scarf, $32.00 | $32.00 |
| 1 × Ceramic Mug, $18.00 | $18.00 |
| Order total | $95.00 |
| Refund | $0.00, payment voided |
| Items restocked | 3 |
Download the cancellation record: cancel-unpaid-record.csv (115 bytes).
The lines for the cancelled order. The three line totals add to the $95.00 order total in the slip above.
1Open the order and check its state
From your Shopify admin, go to Orders and click order 1052. Check the payment status and the fulfilment status. This order is not paid and not fulfilled, which is the state where cancelling is simple. A partially fulfilled order cannot be cancelled at all.
2Click More actions, then Cancel order
Click More actions, then Cancel order. The cancel dialog asks how the payment is handled, what the reason is, and whether to restock and notify. If the Cancel order option is missing, the order cannot be cancelled in its current state.
3Choose the refund option
In the Refund payment section, choose how to handle the payment. The payment on this order was never captured, so there is nothing to refund: cancelling voids the authorization and the payment status changes to Voided. No money moves, and no refund is issued.
4Pick a reason and a staff note
In the Reason for cancellation drop-down menu, select the reason for the cancellation. In the Staff note field, enter an internal note, for example that the customer asked to cancel before paying. The reason is for your records, not for the customer.
5Leave restocking and notification on, then confirm
Leave Restock inventory selected, which returns the three items to your inventory. Leave Send a notification to the customer selected, which emails them the cancellation. Then click Cancel order. The details about what was restocked are stored in the order timeline.
The arithmetic
| Line | Quantity | Unit price | Line total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Summit Hoodie | 1 | $45.00 | $45.00 |
| Wool Scarf | 1 | $32.00 | $32.00 |
| Ceramic Mug | 1 | $18.00 | $18.00 |
| Order total | $95.00 | ||
| Refund issued | $0.00 |
The order total is $95.00. No refund is issued, because the payment was never captured: the authorization is voided instead.
Held at the counter
Cancelling is not deleting. Cancelling stops an order that is in process. The order stays in your admin with a cancelled status. Deleting removes it from your admin, and only some order types can be deleted. Do not expect a cancelled order to vanish.
A partially fulfilled order cannot be cancelled. After an order is partially fulfilled, you cannot cancel it. You can cancel the fulfilment to make the order eligible for cancellation, or issue refunds and manage returns instead.
Not paid and not fulfilled still needs an archive. After you cancel an order that was not paid and not fulfilled, archive it if it is not archived automatically, so it leaves your open orders list.
Sources
- Canceling orders — Shopify's help pages: canceling an order, the refund options at cancel time, restocking, archiving, and what cannot be canceled.