Let customers check their own orders.

A customer who is signed in doesn't need to find an order number, dig up a tracking email or prove who they are. Shopify's new customer accounts make that the default, and they are now the only version Shopify is developing. Here is how they work, how to turn them on, and what changes for support.

New vs legacy

Shopify runs two versions, and only one has a future.

• New customer accounts: passwordless sign-in with an emailed 6-digit code, optional Sign in with Shop and social sign-in, and pages managed separately from your theme. They support self-serve returns, cancellation requests, store credit, order tracking, reordering and app blocks.
• Legacy customer accounts: password-based, built from theme templates. Shopify deprecated them in February 2026: no new stores can adopt them, and they get no feature updates or technical support.

Several features skip legacy entirely. Self-serve returns don't work with it, B2B can't use it, and the order status page shows no sign-in link on it.

Turn them on

Sign-in is one switch, then a check of your storefront.

1. In your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Customer accounts.
2. In the Sign-in links section, turn on Show sign-in links.
3. Click Save.
4. Open your store in a private window. The link usually appears in the header as a person icon, an initial, or "Sign in".
5. Sign in with an email you control and check that the code arrives from your sender email, since every code is sent from it.

On the same settings page you can add social sign-in, manage Sign in with Shop, set a subdomain such as account.yourstore.com, and turn on self-serve returns and cancellations and store credit. Brand the pages in the checkout and accounts editor under Settings > Checkout.

Upgrade from legacy

If you see the "You're using legacy customer accounts" banner, upgrade on a draft first.

1. Review legacy customizations in your theme (loyalty links, subscription links, custom sign-in pages).
2. In Settings > Checkout, duplicate your configuration and add app blocks to replace those customizations.
3. Publish the configuration. The store keeps linking to legacy accounts until step 5.
4. Copy the URL from Settings > Customer accounts and test every sign-in option.
5. In Settings > Customer accounts, click Upgrade in the banner.

Help me upgrade in the banner opens Sidekick, which builds a to-do list from your theme and apps. Old links such as /account/login redirect automatically, and you can revert within 30 days.

What customers can do themselves

Every one of these is a ticket that no longer reaches you.

• See every order they've placed and open its order status page with full details, tracking included.
• Edit their name, email and saved addresses.
• Request a return or a cancellation, if self-serve returns and cancellations is on and the order fits your return and cancellation rules.
• See their store credit balance and spend it at checkout. See Shopify store credit for issuing it.
• Reorder with Buy again.

Why signed-in customers are faster to help

A signed-in customer has already proved who they are with a code sent to their email. Support doesn't need to ask for an order number and the checkout email before discussing the order, and the order status page shows them full details instead of a redacted view. Signing in also prefills checkout with the details saved in their account.

Where Aide helps

Aide treats a signed-in shopper as someone it already knows. With the Aide app embed on your store, no code, logged-in shoppers are recognised automatically, and they count as verified for order actions: Aide can cancel an order, change the shipping address, remove an unshipped item or start a return without asking for an order number and email. See how Aide verifies a Shopify shopper.

Their past conversations follow them across devices, so a question started on a phone continues on a laptop. In customer accounts, "Get help with this order" opens a chat with that order already attached. Refunds Aide offers wait for a teammate to approve them by default.