Place a test order and make your store public

Before you start

A test order checks your checkout, order processing, inventory, shipping, email notifications and taxes in one pass. Place at least one during setup, and again whenever you change your payment settings³. Test orders through Shopify's test modes aren't charged, and they don't appear in payouts or reports³.

• Plan. You need a paid plan before you can test a payment gateway³. Selecting a plan is also one of the steps Shopify requires before launch. If you pick a plan during a free trial, you don't pay subscription fees until the trial ends⁴.
• Store address. Add it in Settings > General, under Business details⁴.
• Live orders stop while you test. Customers can't place live orders while a payment provider is in test mode³. Don't turn test mode on in a store that is already selling¹.
• New stores are private. New Shopify stores start in private mode, which shows a password page to visitors and search engines⁵.

Worked example: a candle shop with 40 products, selling in the US and Canada, about to launch.

Steps

1. Pause anything that ships orders for you. Turn off fulfillment services or apps that fulfill orders automatically, so the test order isn't sent out².
2. Turn on test mode for Shopify Payments. From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Payments. In the Shopify Payments section, click Manage. In the Test mode section, select Enable test mode, then click Save¹. You can only do this after Shopify Payments setup is complete¹.
3. Or activate the Test payment gateway. If you don't use Shopify Payments, deactivate your live credit card provider first. Then in Settings > Payments, click See all other providers (or Choose a provider if Shopify Payments isn't offered in your country), select Test payment gateway, activate it and click Save¹. Every order is a test order while it is active, and the purchase must be worth more than the equivalent of $1 USD¹.
4. Add products to the cart as a customer would. Open your storefront, add a few products to the cart and go to checkout². Use an email address that ends in @example.com². For the candle shop, add one candle shipped to a US address and repeat with a Canadian address to check both shipping rates.
5. Pay with test card details. For Shopify Payments test mode, enter 4242424242424242 (Visa) with any future expiry date, any 3-digit security code and a name of at least 2 words¹. For the Test payment gateway, enter Test payment gateway as the name, 1 as the card number, any 3-digit CVV such as 111 and any future date¹. If several payment methods are active, choose the one in test mode².
6. Try a declined payment. In Shopify Payments test mode, 4000000000000002 simulates a generic decline¹. With the Test payment gateway, card number 2 simulates a declined transaction¹. This shows you what a customer sees when a card fails.
7. Review the order in your admin. Open the order in your Shopify admin and confirm that totals, taxes, shipping and inventory look right². Check that the confirmation email arrived at the address you used³.
8. Archive or delete the test orders. Archive from Orders > More actions > Archive². Only orders paid through the Test payment gateway or Shopify Payments test mode can be deleted².
9. Turn test mode off. Go back to the Test mode section in Settings > Payments and turn it off, or deactivate the Test payment gateway, so customers can place live orders^1,2,4. Turn your fulfillment services back on.
10. Preview the store. Go to Online Store > Preview store to see the storefront as customers will⁴.
11. Make the store public. From your Shopify admin, go to Online Store. Click the Private label, select Public, then click Launch store^4,5. You can also go to Online Store > Preferences, turn off Private mode in the Store access section and click Save⁵. A Launch store button also appears on the admin Home page and in the theme editor⁴.

Check your work

• Open your store address in a private browser window. The password page should no longer appear⁵.
• In Settings > Payments, confirm that test mode is off and the Test payment gateway isn't active¹.
• Confirm that the test orders are archived or deleted, so they don't confuse your first real orders².

Common problems

• "I can't find test mode." Test mode only appears once Shopify Payments setup is complete¹. If you use a third-party provider, use the Test payment gateway instead¹.
• "I can't test my payment provider at all." A paid plan is required to test a payment gateway³. Development stores can't process real transactions².
• "I need to test cash on delivery or bank transfer." Manual payment methods can't be tested in test mode. Place a real order with them instead².
• "My third-party provider has no test mode." Pay with a real card, check the funds in your provider account, then cancel and refund the order right away. Third-party transaction fees aren't refunded, so read your provider's terms first².
• "Test mode isn't available on my card reader." Shopify Payments test mode doesn't cover Shopify POS card readers, Shop Pay Installments or PayPal Wallet¹. The Test payment gateway doesn't work with Shopify POS either, so use a cash payment for POS tests¹.
• "I was charged duties on a test order." Duties and import tax transaction fees apply to test orders. Consider turning off duty collection at checkout while you test².
• "The test order isn't in my sales report." Test orders and simulated transactions don't appear in payouts or reports³.

Further reading

• Placing test orders³
• Preparing to launch your store⁴