Find unfulfilled orders in Shopify
The morning question is always the same: what still needs to ship? This tutorial finds the 12 unfulfilled orders from this week's 47, and keeps the 4 held orders out of the count, because held orders do not show in the Unfulfilled tab.
Written · Shopify admin, desktop steps · 4 minutes read
The worked example
| Orders this week | 47 |
| Fulfilled | 31 |
| Unfulfilled | 12 |
| On hold | 4 |
| Not yet fulfilled | 16 |
Download the worklist: unfulfilled-orders-worklist.csv (250 bytes).
A worklist of the 12 unfulfilled orders, oldest first, with how many days each has waited. It is a planning record, not a file Shopify imports.
1Open Orders
From your Shopify admin, go to Orders. The list shows every order with its payment and fulfilment status.
2Click the Unfulfilled tab
Click the Unfulfilled tab to filter the list to the orders that still need action. The tab shows 12 orders: the ones packed this week that have not shipped yet.
3Sort oldest first
Sort the list so the oldest unfulfilled orders sit at the top. Order 1051 has waited 3 days; order 1062 arrived today. The oldest orders ship first, before the new ones.
4Open each order before you count parcels
Open an order to check its fulfilment sections. An order split across locations shows more than one Unfulfilled section inside, so one row in the list can mean two parcels to pack.
5Check On hold too
The Unfulfilled tab does not show the 4 orders on hold. Open the held orders separately and check whether their holds can be released, or the backlog is bigger than the tab says.
6Save the view for tomorrow
To keep this view, filter the orders by a tag, then save the results as an order view. Tags help categorize orders, and a saved view brings back the same filter each morning.
The arithmetic
The week's 47 orders split three ways.
| Status | Orders |
|---|---|
| Fulfilled | 31 |
| Unfulfilled | 12 |
| On hold | 4 |
| Total | 47 |
| Not yet fulfilled | 16 |
31 + 12 + 4 = 47, so every order this week is in one of the three counts. The not-yet-fulfilled count is 12 + 4 = 16: the 12 on the Unfulfilled tab plus the 4 on hold that the tab hides.
Held at the counter
Orders on hold are excluded from the Unfulfilled list. An order On hold does not appear in the Unfulfilled tab. If you pack only what the tab shows, the held orders sit untouched until someone checks them.
A split order is one row, two parcels. The Orders list shows one row per order, but a split order has two Unfulfilled sections inside it. Open the order before you count the parcels for the day.
Fulfilled orders leave the tab while they stay fulfilled. An order that is already fulfilled cannot be marked as fulfilled again, so it stays out of the tab for as long as it remains fulfilled. It returns to the tab only if a fulfilment is cancelled or the order is marked as unfulfilled. If one is missing from the list, it may already be shipped.
Sources
- Fulfilling your own orders in bulk — Shopify's help pages: the Unfulfilled tab filter and the rule that held orders cannot change status.
- Marking your order as on hold — Shopify's help pages: that orders On hold are excluded from the list of Unfulfilled orders.
- Viewing and managing order details — Shopify's help pages: that tags categorize orders and a filtered list can be saved as an order view.