How to Manually Fulfill an Order in Shopify
To manually fulfill an order in Shopify, go to Orders in your Shopify admin, open the order, click Mark as fulfilled in the Unfulfilled section, add the tracking number and carrier if you have them, then click Mark as fulfilled again to confirm. Manual fulfillment lets you decide exactly when each order ships instead of marking everything fulfilled the moment a customer pays.
When manual fulfillment makes sense
Shopify stores fulfill manually by default, and for most stores that is the right setting. You control when orders go out and can check inventory and packing before anything ships. Shopify's own guidance is to stay on manual fulfillment if you make products to order, sell pre-orders, sometimes run out of stock, or want to ship part of an order. Automatic fulfillment fits a narrower set of cases: stores that sell only digital downloads or gift cards, or that use a fulfillment service for every product. If you package and ship products yourself, leave it off.
Steps to manually fulfill an order
First, make sure automatic fulfillment is off. In your Shopify admin, go to Settings, then General, and find the Order processing section. Leave the box labeled Automatically fulfill the order's line items unchecked. If an older guide sends you to Settings, then Checkout, look under General instead.
Then fulfill the order itself:
- In your Shopify admin, go to Orders and click the order you want to fulfill.
- In the Unfulfilled section, click Mark as fulfilled.
- If you ship from more than one location, change the fulfillment location if you need to.
- Enter the tracking number from your shipping provider in the Tracking number field. Shopify tries to select the carrier automatically. If it picks the wrong one or none at all, choose the right carrier from the Shipping carrier drop-down.
- Select Send a notification to the customer so Shopify sends them a shipping confirmation email.
- Click Mark as fulfilled. The order's fulfillment status changes to Fulfilled.
If the tracking number arrives after you have already fulfilled the order, open the order, click Add tracking in the Fulfilled section, enter the number, and click Save.
Fulfilling part of an order
You do not have to ship everything at once. If one item is in stock and another is on backorder, open the order and click Mark as fulfilled as above, but before you confirm, enter the item quantities you want to fulfill now. Add tracking and the customer notification as usual, then click Mark as fulfilled. Shopify keeps the rest open as unfulfilled so you can ship them when the stock arrives. This is useful for pre-orders, split shipments, or anything you send in stages.
When you outsource fulfillment instead
Once order volume climbs, doing this by hand for every order stops scaling. A 3PL connects to your Shopify store, pulls orders automatically, and ships them for you, so fulfillment status updates without you touching the admin. Simpl Fulfillment does exactly that: we sync with Shopify, pick and pack each order, and ship it same-day. Pricing starts at $7 per order.