Shopify Checkout Not Working
Checkout problems on Shopify are emergencies. Every minute your checkout is broken, you're losing sales from customers who are ready to buy. But Shopify checkout is also mostly out of your direct control — most of it runs on Shopify's servers.
That makes debugging tricky: is it your theme, an app, a payment gateway, or Shopify itself?
Quick diagnosis checklist
Check these in order, stopping when you find the problem:
| Check | How | If broken |
|---|---|---|
| Shopify status | status.shopify.com | Wait it out |
| Payment gateway | Try test transaction | Fix gateway config |
| Specific product | Test checkout with different products | Product setup issue |
| Theme code | Test with default theme | Theme is the problem |
| Apps | Disable third-party apps | App conflict |
Rule out Shopify first: Check status.shopify.com. If there's a known issue, there's nothing you can do except wait.
Common checkout problems
"There was a problem with checkout"
This vague error usually means a payment gateway configuration issue.
Check:
- Are payment gateway credentials current?
- Is the gateway enabled for your currency/region?
- Are test mode vs live mode settings correct?
Fix:
- Re-enter gateway credentials
- Verify API keys aren't expired
- Check gateway's own status page
Customers can't enter shipping address
Usually a shipping rate or zone configuration problem.
Check:
- Does the customer's country/region have shipping rates defined?
- Are shipping rates set up for the cart weight/price?
- Is there a default "rest of world" rate?
Fix:
- Add shipping rates for missing regions
- Check weight/price limits on shipping rates
- Test checkout from the customer's perspective
Cart empties on checkout
Products disappear when moving from cart to checkout.
Check:
- Are products in stock?
- Are variants available?
- Check for inventory tracking issues
Fix:
- Verify inventory counts
- Check product status (active vs draft)
- Test with inventory tracking disabled
Checkout displays incorrectly
Layout broken, buttons missing, or styling issues.
Check:
- Does it work with Shopify's default theme?
- Does it work with all apps disabled?
- Check browser console for JavaScript errors
Fix:
- Theme customization breaking checkout
- App injecting broken code
- Clear theme cache
When to contact Shopify support
Contact support when:
- Checkout is completely non-functional on fresh theme with no apps
- Error messages reference Shopify-side problems
- Payment gateway works independently but fails in Shopify
- status.shopify.com shows all green but checkout is broken
Provide:
- Steps to reproduce
- Screenshot of error
- Browser console errors
- When it started (after any changes?)
Document everything: Before contacting support, document the exact error message, time it started, and any changes made recently. Support resolves issues faster when you've already ruled out obvious causes. Include browser type and version — some checkout issues are browser-specific.
Related pages
Parent: Shopify Issues — Common Shopify problems and fixes
Siblings:
- Payment Gateway Errors — When payment processing fails
Pillar: Common Fixes — Solutions for frequent issues