How-to's · Shopify · 3 min read
How to Pause a Shopify Store: Your Options Now
Short answer
Shopify's Pause and Build plan is now a legacy plan that isn't offered to new stores. If you need a break today, your realistic options are to keep your plan and password-protect the storefront, stop selling by unpublishing products or turning off checkout channels, or deactivate the store, which keeps your data for two years.
Maybe it's a seasonal business, a supplier problem, a new baby or simple burnout. Whatever the reason, you want to stop selling for a while without losing everything you built. Shopify used to make this straightforward with a cheap "Pause and Build" plan. That has changed, so here's what actually works now.
What happened to Pause and Build?
Pause and Build let merchants keep the admin and storefront visible while checkout was turned off, at a reduced monthly price. Shopify's help center now describes it as a legacy plan that isn't offered to new stores. Stores already on it can stay, but once they pick a different plan they can't return to it. Merchants in Shopify's community forums started reporting the plan disappearing from their options in early 2025.
If you see Pause and Build in your plan settings, you're one of the stores that still has access. If you don't, it's not a bug.
Option 1: Keep your plan and put up a password page
This is the simplest "pause" and keeps everything working behind the scenes.
- Go to Online Store > Preferences.
- Under Password protection, tick Restrict access to visitors with the password.
- Write a short message for visitors, such as "We're restocking and will be back in March. Join the list below."
- Save.
Most themes include an email signup on the password page, so you keep collecting leads. You still pay your normal plan fee, which makes this best for short breaks of a few weeks.
Watch out: password protection hides the store from search engines too. For longer breaks, you may lose some search visibility.
Option 2: Stay visible but stop orders
If you want shoppers and search engines to keep seeing your products:
- Mark products as sold out by setting inventory to zero with "Continue selling when out of stock" turned off. Our guide to selling when out of stock explains that setting.
- Add an announcement bar explaining when orders reopen.
- Turn on back-in-stock alerts so returning visitors can sign up. See how to install back-in-stock notifications.
This keeps your SEO intact, but again you're paying full plan price.
Option 3: Deactivate the store
For breaks of several months or longer, deactivation is usually the cheapest route.
- Go to Settings > Plan.
- Click Deactivate store and follow the prompts.
- Pay any outstanding bills. Shopify needs your account settled before deactivation goes through.
Shopify keeps your store information for two years after deactivation. When you come back, you log in, choose a plan and your products, customers and settings are still there.
Before deactivating:
- Export your data: products, customers and orders as CSV files, just in case.
- Uninstall paid apps so they stop billing.
- Sort out your domain: If you bought it through Shopify, decide whether to keep renewing it. If it's at another registrar, keep it renewed so nobody else grabs it.
- Cancel connected subscriptions like email marketing tools if you won't send campaigns.
Which option fits your situation?
| Situation | Best option |
|---|---|
| Break of under a month | Password page or sold-out products |
| Seasonal business, 2-6 months off | Deactivate, or keep plan if SEO matters a lot |
| Unsure if you'll return | Deactivate and export data |
| Selling the business | Keep the store active; buyers want to see a live store. See selling your ecommerce store. |
If you're done for good
If you know you won't come back, closing is a separate process with its own checklist. Read how to delete a Shopify store before you click anything, because transferring the domain and downloading invoices is much easier while the store is still active.
A pause is also a good time to work on the business instead of in it: rewrite product pages, plan your next launch or fix your email flows so you return stronger.
Frequently asked questions
Can I still choose the Pause and Build plan?
Shopify describes Pause and Build as a legacy plan that isn't offered to new stores. If your store is already on it, switching to another plan means you can't switch back.
What happens to my data if I deactivate my store?
Shopify says store information is kept for two years after deactivation, so you can reactivate later and pick up where you left off.
Do apps keep charging while my store is paused?
They can. App subscriptions are separate, so uninstall apps you won't use during the break.
Sources and further reading
Platform features, prices and policies change. Check the official help pages linked above before you act on a detail that matters to your store.