How to Lock Your Shopify Store (Password Protect + Pause Store Options)

While setting up privacy, you may also be working on things like theme customization or Shopify SEO setup to improve launch readiness.

Why You Might Want to Lock Your Store

There are many reasons that Shopify store owners want to lock their Shopify store, such as:

• Prevent visitors from seeing incomplete pages during development.
• You want to give access to specific persons, like a developer or collaborator.
• If you want to take a break from selling or moving to another platform.

3 Methods for Locking Your Shopify Store

There are different methods to lock your Shopify Store. Some of these are given below:

1. Lock Your Shopify Store Using the Password
2. Lock a Shopify Store to Specific Customers
3. Temporarily Pause and Lock Your Store
   

Method 1: Lock Your Shopify Store Using the Password

This is the most common and easy to do method in Shopify. Shopify allows you to make your Shopify Store lock using password protection. Follow these steps to lock your Store.

Step 1: Navigate to Online Store > Preferences.

Step 2: Scroll down to the password protection section. 

Step 3: Check Restrict access to visitors with the password and set the password you want.

Step 4: Add a message for the visitors, optional.

Step 5: Save the changes.

Method 2: Lock a Shopify Store to Specific Customers

If you are looking for a more advanced way to lock your Shopify Store or want access to your store for specific Customers based on different conditions like customer tags, customer location, etc. Here is the final result. Check the GIF below to see how it will look before we go through the steps.

Step 1: Navigate to Shopify Admin > Apps.

Step 2: Click on the apps and sales channels button.

Step 3: Visit the Shopify app store.

Step 4: Search for an app like Wholesale Lock Manager: B2B

.

Step 5: Install the app.

Step 6: Reconfirm the installation process from the Shopify Admin.

Step 7: Click on the Choose theme button.

Step 8: Select the theme and click on the Confirm button.

Step 9: Click on the Create lock button.

Step 10: Add the lock name and customize the settings according to your requirements.

Step 11: Select the content that you want to share, like products, collections, etc., and save the changes.

Step 12: Explore other settings as well.

Step 13: Test your lock settings to see if they work on your storefront.

Some popular apps are listed below:

• Wholesale Lock Manager: B2B
• MagicPass Wholesale
• Sami B2B Lock, Password Protect

While implementing custom B2B access, you may also want to structure your wholesale system properly using Shopify B2B & Wholesale Channel Service.

Method 3: Temporarily Pause and Lock Your Store

If you are taking a break from selling products and want to pause or deactivate your Shopify Store, then follow these steps. 

Step 1: Navigate to Shopify Admin > Settings.

Step 2: Scroll down to the Plan Section.

Step 3: Cancel any active paid app subscriptions from here.

Step 4: Click on the Cancel plan button to deactivate the Shopify Subscription.

Step 5: Choose a reason why you're canceling your Shopify Subscription.

Step 6: Enter your password and confirm.

Step 7: After canceling, you should receive an email confirming that your store is deactivated.

If you ever plan to restart, you can also explore Shopify migration experts to move your store data to a new setup safely.

Conclusion  

Locking your Shopify store gives you complete control over who can access it, especially when you’re making changes, planning a soft launch, or taking a break from selling. You can use password protection for quick privacy, restrict access to only specific customers for wholesale or B2B needs, or pause your store if you’re stepping away temporarily. This ensures your store looks professional and remains secure while you work behind the scenes so you can reopen with confidence whenever you’re ready.  

Whether you’re redesigning, integrating apps, or improving conversions, make sure your store is optimized before reopening. Need help?

Explore our Shopify Custom Theme Development Services to ensure your store launches professionally!