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Frozen stores after missed bill payments

This page provides information about what happens if you miss a bill payment, some of the reasons that a bill payment might fail, and how to reactivate a frozen Shopify store.

If you missed paying your Shopify subscription bill, or if a payment fails multiple times, then your store is frozen until you settle your bill with Shopify. Your store doesn't freeze until your bill's due date. If your store is frozen, then you can't access your Shopify admin and customers can't view your store.

If you're facing payment difficulties and want to explore options before your store becomes frozen, then refer to options if you can't pay your bill on the due date.

A payment might fail for some of the following reasons:

  • The credit card that you have on file expired.
  • Your account has no payment method on file.
  • Your payment method has insufficient funds.
  • You aren't using a valid credit card from Mastercard, Visa, or American Express to pay your Shopify bills.
  • Your credit card doesn't allow for recurring payments in USD.

For more information, refer to Managing billing.

If your store is frozen, then you need to reactivate it before you can take actions such as accessing your store information, transferring a domain, or beginning to sell again.

You can access your billing history without having to reactivate your store. When you try to log in to your store as the store owner, or as a staff member with the View billing and receive billing emails permission, you get a message about the status of the store, and you can click View your past bills or View past invoices.

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Reactivating your frozen Shopify store

To reactivate or unfreeze your store, you need to pay any outstanding charges. In addition, you need to pay any other outstanding charges that were incurred during the time between when the payment was missed and when your store was frozen. These might include the following charges:

If you reactivate your store more than 30 days after your last bill was issued, then you also need to pick a plan and pay for the upcoming subscription cycle. If you can't log in to reactivate your store, then contact Shopify Support.

Reactivate your frozen Shopify store

  1. Log in to your store as the store owner.
  2. Successfully pay the outstanding balance on your account. If you have multiple outstanding bills, then you're prompted to pay each invoice completely to reactivate your store. To download your bills, you can export your billing history.
  3. If you reactivate your store more than 30 days after your last bill was issued, then do the following:
    1. Pick a new plan.
    2. Pay for the upcoming subscription cycle.

Troubleshooting a frozen store

Payment processing can take some time. If you've paid your outstanding balance but your store is still frozen, then wait a few minutes and refresh your browser. If your store is still frozen after 30 minutes, then contact Shopify Support with proof of payment.

If you can't log in to your store directly, then visit https://admin.shopify.com and enter your store URL or email address. When your store is frozen, you're prompted with a message about the store status and can click View past invoices to access billing without full admin access. If you still can't access your account, then contact Shopify Support.

If your payment is being declined, then check the following details:

  • Confirm that your credit card hasn't expired and that the billing address matches what's on file with your card provider
  • Verify that your card allows recurring international payments in USD
  • Try adding a different payment method by visiting Settings > Billing
  • Contact your bank to check if the transaction is being blocked

Learn more about payment methods for your Shopify bills.

If you have more than one unpaid bill, then you must pay each invoice separately and in full before your store is reactivated. You're prompted to pay each bill in sequence during the reactivation process.

If your store is frozen, then all billing attempts stop until you reactivate. App charges that had already been generated before the store froze may still be included in bills you owe. Learn more about app charges on frozen stores.

Before you contact Shopify Support about a frozen store

Before reaching out to Shopify Support about a frozen store, gather the following information to help resolve your issue faster:

  • Your store URL and the email address associated with your account
  • The invoice number(s) for any outstanding bills
  • The date your store was frozen
  • Your payment method details (card type, last 4 digits) and whether the payment attempt failed
  • Screenshots of any error messages that are displayed when trying to pay or log in
  • Proof of payment if you believe you've already paid
  • Steps you've already tried from the troubleshooting section above

Having this information ready helps Shopify Support assist you more efficiently.