With over four million active sites, Shopify isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. The ecommerce platform dominates the market with its range of hosting, selling, and marketing features.

But, despite its popularity, you may have decided Shopify isn’t for you. Perhaps you’ve fallen out of love with running an online store or you’ve found yourself increasingly preoccupied with life’s other commitments. Or maybe you’ve noticed Shopify doesn’t suit your business needs as well as another platform.

Whatever the reason, our guide shows you how to delete your Shopify account in four quick moves. We also cover all the alternatives in case there’s another solution to your online store troubles.

What to know before you remove your Shopify account

Before you delete Shopify, there are a few things to consider to make the process hassle-free and avoid issues later. Make sure you’ve checked off these tasks:

• Settle any outstanding payments: You can’t close your Shopify store if you still have pending charges or unpaid balances within the platform.

• Check your subscription: While it’s possible to cancel an account on an annual plan, keep in mind you’re still responsible for the annual fees. Look at the remaining time on your subscription and consider waiting until it’s nearly up.

• Remove any integrations: Shopify integrations will continue to charge you after you’ve deleted your account. You have to go into each app separately and cancel any subscriptions. 

• Back up your data: Deleting your Shopify account is irreversible. Export your store data as a CSV to back up information, including your products, customers, and orders.  

• Transfer your domain name: You’ll also lose your custom website name when you close Shopify. Take advantage of the transfer feature to use your domain with another provider.

• Keep your site secure: Shopify’s HTTPS keeps running for 90 days after you delete your store. Ensure your new platform has the same security features, or visitors will get a warning message that your site isn’t safe. 

• Consider your alternatives: Leaving for another platform? There are many great options, such as Shopify alternative Woo Express but it’s always best to test new software to check it meets your needs.

How to delete your Shopify account in eight steps

When you’re ready, here’s how to close your Shopify store:

1. Log into the account you wish to delete.
2. Go to ‘Settings’ in the sidebar.
3. Click on ‘Plan’ on the settings menu.
4. Click on ‘Cancel subscription’.
5. Select a reason for leaving from the drop-down menu.
6. Click ‘Continue’.
7. Read the disclaimer and enter your password.
8. Click the red ‘Close store’ button.

Once you’ve closed the store, you can double-check that your account is offline by trying to log in or view the site. You should see an error message if you’ve been successful.

What are the alternatives to deleting your Shopify store?

Are you having second thoughts about closing your store? Shopify has a range of alternatives you can try before you permanently delete your account. You can give yourself more time to make a decision, see if your situation changes, or even solve the problems that are pushing you to cancel.

Pause your Shopify account

Let’s say you need to step back from running your Shopify store but you’re not sure for how long. You could be dealing with a supply issue or rethinking your business strategy. Maybe you simply need a long break.

Pausing your account lets you put your store on a temporary hold for a reduced monthly cost. Customers can still visit your store, but they can’t buy items. In the meantime, you can still view your admin settings and edit your website.

Before you pause your account, first check whether you’re eligible. You can’t access this feature if you’re on a free plan or Shopify Plus.

Once you’ve confirmed your eligibility, here’s how to pause your Shopify store: 

1. Log into your account.
2. Go to ‘Settings’ in the sidebar.
3. Click ‘Deactivate’.
4. Choose the ‘Pause and Build’ plan.
5. Check the plan details and click ‘Switch to Pause and build’.

Deactivate your Shopify store

What about if you’re closing your online store, but you’re not 100% sure about your decision? For example, you may have accepted a job that doesn’t leave you enough spare time to run a side business. Or you’ve just had baby number two, and you need to devote all your energy to being a parent.

While you’re excited about these life changes, you might not be ready to let go of your business dreams.

Canceling your subscription allows you to deactivate your Shopify store but leave your options open. You can stop all payments, but your account is still there with all your information intact. All you have to do is enter a valid payment method to access your store and reopen it.

Let’s look at how to deactivate a Shopify store:

1. Log into the account.
2. Go to ‘Settings’ in the sidebar.
3. Click on ‘Plan’ and then ‘Deactivate store’ in the tab.
4. Click ‘Cancel subscription and deactivate store’.
5. Select your reason for closing the store.
6. Click the red ‘Deactivate now’ button.

It’s worth noting that once you’ve deactivated your store, you can’t reuse the same domain name for another Shopify site. You’ll have to log back into your account and delete it permanently.

Sell the Shopify Store

If your business is doing well, but you’re convinced ecommerce isn’t for you, consider selling the store.

Be aware that selling a Shopify store is a time-consuming process. You have to find a buyer and arrange the handover which can take months. While this time may be a worthwhile investment, it’s not the best option if you’re leaving Shopify to focus on other commitments.

Here’s an overview of the sales process:

1. Prepare your store for the sale and ensure financial records are up to date.
2. Use a tool like OpenStore or Flippa to value your business.
3. List your business on an online marketplace such as BizBuySell or QuietLight.
4. Screen and negotiate with potential sellers.
5. Use the escrow service provided by the marketplace to close the sale.
6. Transfer over any assets and access to your Shopify account.

Depending on the complexity of your store, you may need to give the new owner a little guidance. That way you’ll help the sales process go smoothly and you’ll set up the business for continued success.

Switch your Shopify account plan

As you’ve been using Shopify, you may have noticed it’s stopped meeting your needs. You may have found yourself struggling to oversee operations or losing track of finances.

If so, your business might have outgrown your current Shopify plan. Perhaps you need to add more admin accounts to delegate tasks to staff or you could do with more advanced reporting tools. Look at the range of Shopify plans and add-ons to see where you might be missing out on features.

You may even find the opposite—you overestimated the Shopify features you needed and you’re not ready for your current plan. Try downgrading until your operations have grown to see if this makes managing the platform easier.

To change your Shopify plan, take the following steps:

1. Go to ‘Settings’ in the sidebar.
2. Click ‘Plan’ and then ‘Change plan’ in the tab.
3. Review the available plans and choose the one that suits you.
4. Click ‘Start plan.’

Make the most of automation

When you opened your store, you probably dreamed of launching must-have products and creating an exciting new brand. You probably didn’t plan to spend hours on paperwork.

Now you’re open for business, perhaps the reality is different. You may find yourself spending every spare second on accounting, customer outreach, and inventory management. That might be why you’re giving up the dream and considering closing your Shopify account.

Finding the right tools to automate all these repetitive administrative tasks can free up your time to focus on aspects of the business you enjoy.

Here are some popular automation tools:

• Inventory management: Apps like Stocky track your stock levels and forecast your needs.

• Order processing: You can use Shopify Flow or similar tools to create your own automated orders tailored to your workflow.

• Marketing: There is a range of apps that automate customer outreach like MailChimp for messaging and SEO manager to drive site traffic.

• Price management: You can automatically track competitors’ prices with apps like Dynamic Pricing.  

• Reviews and feedback: It’s easier to collect customer reviews with apps like Loox and Judge.me.
• Accounting: Bookkeeping software like QuickBooks and Xero automate a wide range of accounting tasks, such as sales tracking and invoicing.

However, you can’t directly connect Shopify to QuickBooks or Xero to perform accounting tasks. You need an integration tool like MyWorks to link the platforms.

MyWorks syncs everything from your customer and product information to your orders. That way, you can avoid manually inputting the data yourself and risking errors. There are granular settings so you can choose which date gets transferred and how often for the ultimate flexibility.

Closing Shopify: Is it the right time?

Closing your Shopify account is a big decision. Once you’ve deleted your account, you can’t get your store back. 

So, consider whether you’re ready to say goodbye forever or you’d prefer to take another route. Pausing or deactivating your account lets you take a break for as long as you need. You could consider selling if you believe in your business idea and want to see your store continue.

If you’re having operational issues, automation could be the solution you need. You can streamline everything from orders and refunds to inventory management with the right software.

When you’ve got a high-stakes challenge like ecommerce accounting, where one mistake can land you with a heavy fine, consider MyWorks. We integrate your Shopify account with QuickBooks to automatically sync your product, customer, and order details. You can reduce time spent on tedious manual data entry, but be confident your books are accurate and up to date.

Book a demo to see how Shopify QuickBooks integration saves you time, energy, and headaches. 

FAQS about deleting a Shopify account

Why can’t I delete Shopify?

You might be unable to delete Shopify if you have outstanding charges or you don’t have the right permissions. Ensure you’ve made all payments due and that you’re logged in from an admin account. 

How do I delete all data from Shopify?

To delete all data from Shopify, you have to manually remove all product, customer, and order details. Shopify will do this automatically when you cancel your account but it’s best practice to remove sensitive data yourself. 

How do I cancel my Shopify free trial?

You can cancel your Shopify free trial by taking the following steps:

• Go to ‘Settings’ and select ‘Plan’.
• Click on ‘Deactivate trial’.
• Then click on ‘Cancel subscription and deactivate store.’
• Select the reason why you want to cancel.
• Click ‘Continue’.
• Enter your password and click ‘Deactivate now.’