How to Let Customers Edit Shipping Addresses After Checkout in Shopify

It’s a scenario every Shopify merchant dreads: A customer places an order, and five minutes later, you get a panicked email: “Help! I put the wrong house number!” or “I forgot to add my apartment number!”

If you catch it in time, you have to manually edit the order in the admin panel. If you don’t? The package gets lost, returned, or delivered to a stranger. This results in lost revenue, shipping fees, and frustrated customers.

By default, Shopify does not allow customers to edit their orders after checkout. Once the “Buy” button is clicked, the order is locked for them.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to solve this problem permanently by enabling self-service order editing.

The Problem with Native Shopify

Shopify is built for stability. Once an order is placed, it assumes the details are final to trigger inventory deduction, fraud analysis, and payment capture.

As a merchant, you can edit orders in the admin (add items, remove items), but you cannot easily let the customer do it themselves. This creates a bottleneck where every typo requires your support team’s intervention.

The Solution: Self-Service Editing

The best way to handle this is to give customers a short “grace period” (e.g., 30 minutes or 1 hour) after purchase where they can modify details before the warehouse starts processing.

What details should customers be able to edit?

1. Shipping Address: Correcting typos or street names.
2. Order Quantities: “I actually wanted 2 of those.”
3. Variant Changes: “I meant to pick Blue, not Red.”
4. Cancellation: “I changed my mind.”

How to Enable Address Editing with “Order Undo”

Order Undo is a powerful Shopify app designed specifically to solve this gap. It adds an “Edit Order” or “Cancel Order” button to the Thank You page and Order Status page.

Step 1: Install Order Undo

Visit the Shopify App Store and install the app on your store.

Step 2: Configure the “Grace Window”

You don’t want customers editing orders that have already been shipped.

• Go to the app settings.
• Set a Modification Window (e.g., 60 minutes).
• Alternatively, set it to “Until Fulfillment” (customers can edit until you mark the order as fulfilled).

Step 3: Enable Address Editing

In the settings, ensure “Allow Shipping Address Updates” is checked. When a customer updates their address:

1. The app updates the order in Shopify immediately.
2. Risk analysis checks are re-run (optional).
3. You get a notification that the order was updated.

Step 4: Customize the Look

Match the button to your brand colors so it looks native to your store theme.

Benefits of Enabling Self-Editing

1. Reduce Support Tickets by 40%

“Wrong address” and “Cancel order” are consistently among the top 3 reasons customers contact support. Automating this eliminates those tickets.

2. Save on Shipping Costs

Shipping a package to a non-existent address costs you the outbound shipping + return shipping. Fixing the address before the label is printed saves this money.

3. Better Customer Experience

Customers feel anxious when they make a mistake. Giving them an instant “Undo” or “Edit” button provides immediate relief and builds trust.

Conclusion

While Shopify lacks native self-edit functionality, adding it via an app like Order Undo is a “quick win” for your store operations. It pays for itself by preventing just one or two mis-shipped orders per month.

Ready to automate your order management? Install Order Undo Today and give your customers the control they expect.