Rule status and testing

Use Active, Testing and Deactivated to control when a rule runs, and test rules without affecting customers.

Every rule has one of three statuses. You set it in the Rule status card on the right side of the rule editor, then click Save.

Status	Who it applies to	Use it when
Active	Every customer	The rule is ready for your live store.
Testing	Only checkouts that use the test email	You want to try the rule before customers see it.
Deactivated	Nobody	You want to pause the rule but keep its settings.

The Home page shows how many of your rules are in each status, and each rule in My Rules has a badge with its status.

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Test a rule safely

In Testing, a rule only runs when the email entered at checkout is [e-mail]. Any other customer goes through checkout as if the rule didn’t exist. You can click the email in the Rule status card to copy it.

1. Set the rule to Testing

   Open the rule, choose Testing in the Rule status card and click Save.

2. Start a checkout with the test email

   In your online store, add a product to the cart, go to checkout and enter [e-mail] as the email.

3. Enter details that break the rule

   For example, for Prevent P.O. Box, enter PO Box 123 as the address. For address rules, fill in every required shipping or billing field.

4. Check the result

   Continue the checkout. You should see your error message, and you should not be able to complete the order. Change the details so they follow the rule, and the checkout should continue.

5. Make the rule live

   When you are happy with the result, set the rule to Active and save.

The email match ignores upper and lower case, so [e-mail] also works.

Testing still runs on your live checkout. Use it with the test email only, and don’t place real orders with [e-mail].

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Deactivate or delete a rule

• Deactivate keeps the rule and all its settings, but it no longer checks or blocks any checkout. You can switch it back to Active at any time.
• Delete removes the rule from the app and from Shopify’s checkout rules. You can’t undo this. To delete a rule, open it and click Delete, then confirm.

Deleting a preset rule makes it available to add again from Add new rule.