How to Pause Shopify Store for the Holidays: Tips and Tricks

Key Takeaways

• Shopify does not have a dedicated “Pause Shopify Store” setting.
• For a short break, password protecting your online store is usually the simplest option.
• Password protection blocks visitors from accessing products, pages, and checkout, but subscription and recurring charges continue. 
• For a longer break, Shopify’s Pause and Build plan lets you keep working on the store while checkout is disabled.
• Pause and Build costs $9 USD/month, but third-party app charges can still continue unless you uninstall those apps. 
• Pause and Build is not available for Shopify Plus stores and can only be selected by eligible paid stores after the free trial. 
• If you only want to stop orders but let visitors browse products, hide the buy buttons or use Pause and Build.

Running a Shopify store during the holidays or vacations can be difficult if you are unable to fulfil orders on time. You may want to stop new orders for a few days, hide your storefront, password-protect your store, or move to Shopify’s Pause and Build plan if you are taking a longer break.

But these options do not work the same way.

Password protection hides your online store from visitors, but your Shopify subscription and recurring charges continue. Pause and Build keeps your store online but disables checkout and lets you keep working on the store at a reduced monthly fee.

In this guide, we will explain when to pause your Shopify store, how to prepare customers, and the safest ways to temporarily stop orders in 2026.

Whether you run a retail, wholesale, B2B, or mixed Shopify store, staying open while you are unavailable can create problems.

Customers may place orders that you cannot ship on time. Wholesale buyers may expect quick replies. Inventory may go out of sync. Support messages may pile up while you are away.

Before taking a break, decide how you want to handle the store:

1. Keep the store visible but stop new orders.
2. Hide the full storefront with a password.
3. Move to Shopify’s Pause and Build plan for a longer break.

The right option depends on how long you will be away and whether you still want customers to browse your products.

1. Decide when you want to pause Shopify store

The first thing you need to do is to decide when you want to pause your store. And this will obviously vary depending on your business and your sales. 

For example: If you’re a retail business, you’ll likely want to pause closer to Christmas Eve. If you’re an online business, you may want to pause it a few days before Christmas Eve. Either way, it’s important to give yourself enough time to properly prepare for the closure.

I. How do I know if pausing my Shopify store is the right decision for my business?

There is no definitive answer to this, as each business is different. However, here are a few things to consider that’ll help you make your decision:

(a) How much business do you typically do during the holiday season?

If your business sees a significant drop in sales during the holiday season (or the time you want to temporarily shut down your store), it may be worth pausing it for a few weeks. By pausing your Shopify store, you can also reduce the Shopify subscription plan fee to $0-9 per month.

(b) What are your operating costs?

Take into account things like rent, inventory, staff wages, etc. If your costs are high and sales are low during the holidays, it may make sense to close your physical store temporarily and so your Shopify store where you’re selling products online to your customers. 

(c) Are you taking time off anyway?

If you’re planning to take some time off for the holidays regardless of whether or not you close your Shopify store, it may make sense to temporarily shut it down so you can enjoy a stress-free vacation.

These are just a few things to consider when making your decision. Ultimately, it’s up to you to compare the pros and cons of pausing your Shopify store for holidays.

II. Why temporarily pause Shopify store on holidays?

There are a few possible reasons why you should consider to pause Shopify store on holidays:

(a) To prevent overspending

The holidays can be an expensive time of year, both for personal and business expenses. By closing your store during this period, you can avoid the temptation to overspend on inventory or marketing or other business-related costs.

(b) To focus on family and friends

The holidays are a great time to catch up with loved ones and enjoy some much-needed relaxation time. By temporarily closing your Shopify store, you can free up some time to do just that.

(c) To take advantage of slow periods

Many businesses experience a lull in sales during the holiday season. If this is the case for your business, it might make sense to pause your store for a few weeks and save on operating costs.

2. Start preparing for your temporary closure

Once you’ve decided when you’re going to pause your store, the next step is to start preparing for temporary closure. This includes things like creating holiday-themed messages for your store and social media platforms, updating your shipping deadlines, and creating any special offers or discounts that you’ll be offering during the closure.

There are a few different ways you can go about this, depending on your needs and preferences. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

I. Notify your customers in advance

Give your customers a heads up that you’ll be closing shop for the holidays. Notifying your customers beforehand will help them plan to make necessary purchases on your store before your store is closed.

To notify your customers about the temporary pause, you can inform them via emails, put up site banners/pop-ups on your Shopify store or announce it on your social media handles.

II. Stop accepting orders ahead of time

Once you’ve notified your customers, stop accepting orders at least a week before you plan to close shop. This will give you time to fulfill any outstanding orders and tie up loose ends before taking some time off.

3. Decide a method and take steps to pause Shopify store

When it comes to actually pausing your Shopify store sales, there are a few different methods to do that, such as:

1. Hide the Add-to-cart button
2. Temporarily hide your entire storefront
3. Password-protect your storefront

Now, let’s discuss these in detail and see the steps to pause Shopify store.

1. Hide the Add-to-cart button

To close your Shopify store, you can simply disable the add-to-cart function on every product page of your Shopify store. This will prevent any new orders from being placed, but it will still allow customers to browse your products.

• To hide the add-to-cart button from your store visitors with a single click, you can add the Wholesale Lock Manager B2B app to your store and do it.

2. Temporarily hide your entire storefront

You can also temporarily hide your entire storefront from your Shopify store visitors. This means that customers won’t be able to access anything in your store, but it’s a good option if you’re worried about people placing orders that won’t be fulfilled until after the holidays.

To hide your entire Shopify storefront, follow these steps: 

i. Go to Settings in your Shopify Admin.

ii. Click on Plan in the menu.

iii. Click on Pause or cancel subscription > Pause for 90 days.

iv. Read the terms and conditions carefully and do it.

Note – If you only want to lock or hide Shopify store content for certain products, pages, or buyers, use a proper access control setup instead of pausing the full store.

3. Password-protecting storefront

This is the most preferred way for merchants to temporarily close or pause their Shopify stores during the holidays or vacations. Password protecting the entire Shopify storefront allows store owners to only display the store to visitors that have the secret passcode. 

You can also password-protect specific products that are almost out of stock or difficult to deliver to specific locations. This way, you can keep the products you can sell when you’re on vacation and hide those which are difficult to deliver on time.

This option will allow you to still accept orders, but customers will need a password to access your site. This can be a good option if you want to keep your store open but want to limit who has access to it.

To password protect your entire storefront, follow these steps:

i. Go to Online Store > Preferences in Shopify Admin.
ii. Click on the Password protection checkbox.

iii. Create a password and hit save.

Final Thoughts

If you are thinking to pause Shopify store, ensure that the process is properly implemented for your customers and make sure to take the necessary steps to ensure that your store is properly closed for the holidays. 

By following the guidelines we’ve outlined in this article, you can ensure that your temporary Shopify store closure is handled smoothly and without any major issues.

Frequently Asked Questions