The short version
You can put up a coming soon page on Shopify now: Shopify calls it the password page, and it shows while your online store is in private mode, the default for a new store.
Set the password and visitor message in Online Store > Preferences, edit the Password template in the theme editor, and test its email signup with your own address before you announce the page.
Private mode also hides your store's pages from search engines, so a page that must appear in search before the store is finished needs a public store with a landing page, and going public uncovers every page at once.
Opening the store takes 3 required steps: a plan, a store address and a payment method with test mode off.
The Quick Verdict
Find what you need to show before launch; the sections below give the steps for each route.
Which route fits your store right now
| Your situation | Pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| The store isn't ready and nobody should browse it | Private mode with the password page | It hides every page from visitors and search engines, and a new store starts there by default |
| You want a list of people to email at opening | Password page with its email signup | Shopify intends the banner for this; test it first, and note Shopify Messaging can't send to subscribers on a free trial plan |
| One page must appear in search before the store is finished | Public store with a landing page | Private mode hides pages from search, and search engines don't index trial stores; going public takes 3 required steps and uncovers every page at once |
| You want a scheduled opening, or coming soon on chosen products | A coming soon app | That is what the app listings we read on November 6, 2026 describe |
A coming soon page on Shopify is a landing page that stands in front of your whole store until you are ready to open. The basic version is built in: you turn on private mode, write a message, edit the page in your theme and, if you want a list for opening day, use its email signup.
This guide is for a store that isn't open yet. If you only want your theme's "Sold out" label to read differently, changing "Sold out" to "Coming soon" is a theme text edit, not a per-product setting. Protecting one page while the store stays open is a different job this guide doesn't cover.
Does Shopify Have a Coming Soon Page?
Key takeaway
"Coming soon" is the merchant's word, not the admin's. In the Help Center it splits in two: private mode is the setting, and the password page is what visitors see.
In private mode, all of your online store's pages are hidden from visitors and search engines, and your online store displays a customizable landing page instead.
None of the Help Center pages we read on November 6, 2026, on the password page, launch preparation, the free trial, adding themes, SEO, Rollouts and Shopify Forms, describes a separate coming soon feature.
Shopify's blog does use the phrase, and names two paths: the built-in password page for speed, or a separate theme page for full customization.
Your store may already be showing it
Key takeaway
When you first register for a Shopify plan, store access is restricted to private mode by default. For the free trial, two Help Center pages read on November 6, 2026 word it differently. The launch preparation page says your online store is "automatically in private mode"; the free trial page says a store is "initially in private mode, or its checkout is inactive".
You don't have to settle that before you act. Shopify's help says the access setting menu on the Online Store page displays your store's current level of access, with a Private or Public label. Go by that label.
Do you need a paid plan yet?
Not to put the page up: a plan is one of the steps for launching, not for staying private. If you are starting from nothing, a Shopify free trial is enough for this stage. The free trial page also says that if the trial ends before you upgrade, you're prompted to pick a plan and your store is frozen until you choose one.
Set Up the Page in Private Mode
Key takeaway
Set the switch and the words first, then the design.
Turn on private mode and write the message
Key takeaway
- From your Shopify admin, go to Online Store > Preferences.
- In the Store access section, activate the Private mode setting. In the Shopify mobile app it is called Password protection.
- In the Password field, enter the password visitors will need. Don't use the password you use to log in to your Shopify admin.
- Optional: in Message to your visitors, enter what the password page should say, or leave it blank for no message.
- Click Save.
- Online Store
- Preferences
Edit the page in the theme editor
Key takeaway
- Open your theme in the theme editor. While your store is in private mode, you can also click Edit on the preview in the access setting menu on the Online Store page, which opens the password page directly.
- Click the Home page drop-down menu and select Password.
- Edit the text, colors and typography. Theme settings such as typography and color also apply to the rest of your theme. Optional: add other sections and blocks.
- Click Save.
- Online Store
- Theme editor
- Password
Shopify says the specific settings depend on your theme's developer and theme version. By default, its help lists Password header, Email signup banner and Password footer sections; Horizon, as of November 6, 2026, shows the Password section and Password footer in the frame above, with the signup form on the page itself.
For the logo, favicon and what each theme lets you change, see what you can change on the password page.
Collect Email Addresses Before You Open
Key takeaway
You may not need to add a form at all. The default password page has a section for this job, and Shopify states what it is for:
The Email signup banner section is intended to provide a way for customers to subscribe to your email marketing from the password page so that they can learn more about your business, such as when your online store will open.
In Horizon, the form is the Email address field and Sign up button in the frame in the previous section.
Where do the addresses end up?
Key takeaway
Shopify's customer contact guide says that when you add a newsletter signup section to your online store, submitted email addresses are stored in the Email subscribers customer segment on the Customers page. It doesn't name the password page, so run one check on your own store before you rely on it:
- In an incognito window, open your password page and submit an address you control that no customer profile has yet. If double opt-in is on, click the confirmation link in the email that arrives.
- In your admin, go to Customers > Segments and open the Email subscribers segment.
- Look for the test address. If it isn't there, don't promote the page yet: ask your theme's support where this form's signups go, because you will want that list on opening day.
- Customers
- Segments
- Email subscribers
Our newsletter guide walks through a full test signup, including which address to use and where a customer's marketing status shows.
Tell the list when you open
Key takeaway
Shopify's subscriber guide says that, for legal and privacy reasons, you should send promotional emails only to customers who have agreed to receive marketing from your online store.
Shopify Messaging has a limit that catches stores before launch. Its requirements page says that on a free trial plan you can create campaigns and send test campaign messages to yourself, but you can't send messages to your subscribers. Draft the announcement whenever you like; sending it through Shopify Messaging requires an active, paid Shopify plan.
Show the Store to Your Team Before Launch
Key takeaway
The simplest route is the password itself. For feedback on a theme, Shopify also lets you share a preview link, in two types:
- Visitor previews are visible to anyone with the URL, with no authentication. They expire 2 days after the URL is created.
- Merchant previews require admin authentication and have access to checkouts. They expire 30 days after the URL is created.
Shopify says you can't share a preview of your published theme, so this route is for a draft or another unpublished theme.
- From your Shopify admin, go to Online Store.
- For the theme you want to share, click the … button to open the actions menu, then click Preview.
- In the preview bar, click the link button to copy a visitor preview link. The merchant preview URL is the one in your browser's address bar.
If a colleague gets the password page instead of the theme, give them the password.
Will Google Index a Coming Soon Page?
Key takeaway
Shopify's SEO FAQ names a separate reason for a store on a trial: "Search engines don’t index trial stores." So a password page works for people you send to it directly, not for people searching.
For what changes once the password is gone, see whether Google indexes a password-protected store.
When an Open Store With a Landing Page Fits Better
Key takeaway
The second path in Shopify's blog is a separate theme page. The blog describes it as a coming soon version of your theme and says to use Rollouts to schedule it to publish at an exact date and time. Rollouts are available on the Basic plan or higher; our Rollouts guide covers how they work.
The catch is private mode, which hides all of your online store's pages from visitors and search engines. Shopify's restrict-access page says that after you complete the required setup steps, you can launch your store to change access to public. Turning private mode off uncovers every page at once.
A free trial is a separate obstacle: as noted above, Shopify says search engines don't index trial stores.
Private mode or an open store
| Private mode with the password page | Public store with a landing page | |
|---|---|---|
| Visitors without a password see | The password page; your store's pages are hidden | Your public store, including the landing page |
| Search engines | Pages are hidden from them | Pages are not hidden by private mode |
| Before you can show it | Nothing extra on a new store: private mode is the default | 3 required launch steps: plan, store address, payment method |
| Where you build it | The Password template in the theme editor | A page that uses its own template, built in the theme editor |
Source: Shopify Help Center, restrict access, launch preparation and templates pages, read November 6, 2026.
A landing page built on its own template is another way to show a coming soon page in a public store: our landing page guide covers the page template and the page that uses it. Shopify says you can create a new template only with a compatible theme, and its Starter plan page says that plan isn't available to new stores and doesn't support creating any new templates, and that you need to upgrade to a higher plan to create other pages.
On a public store, the Shopify Forms app is another way to collect addresses. It is free to install and use, and it doesn't come installed by default with any plan.
Do You Need a Coming Soon App?
Key takeaway
Four listings read on November 6, 2026 show what this category sells. This is a snapshot, not every app, and the descriptions are the developers' own claims, not features we tested.
Four coming soon apps on the Shopify App Store
Its listing says it can schedule launch pages to open or close automatically and show coming soon pages on products, collections or tags; its pricing table lists specific URL, collection, product and tag pages under Premium and doesn't name a plan for scheduling.
Its listing says visitors who sign up land in a built-in email list you can export to CSV; its pricing table lists that list from the Pro plan up.
Its listing says you can restrict minor access with age verification on your under construction page.
Its listing says it works through an app proxy and doesn't require theme edits.
Source: Shopify App Store listings as shown to a US visitor, read November 6, 2026, where each says all charges are billed in USD. Opened from another location, a listing may show estimated prices and say you'll be billed in your store's billing currency.
Before you install one, ask the developer what the app's page does while private mode is on, because private mode hides all of your store's pages.
What to Do When You Are Ready to Launch
Key takeaway
Shopify's launch preparation page lists 3 required steps:
- Select a subscription plan. If you pick a plan during a free trial, you won't be charged any subscription fees until your free trial expires.
- Add a store address. Shopify's launch page points to the Business details section of Settings > General, while its business settings page says you set the address in the Store contact details section.
- Set up a payment method, and make sure test mode is deactivated.
- Settings
- General
Before you remove the password, you can preview your storefront: go to Online Store and click Preview store.
Then open the access setting menu on the Online Store page and select Public. The first time you turn private mode off, the menu displays Launch store instead of Update. See where to turn off private mode for the other way in.
If you mean to keep the store closed to the public after launch, that is a different setup: see our members-only store guide.
Coming Soon Page Checklist
Key takeaway
Take your Shopify coming soon page from setup to launchTick each step as you finish it; your ticks stay in this browser.
Take your Shopify coming soon page from setup to launch
Tick each step as you finish it; your ticks stay in this browser.
Open the Online Store page and see whether the access setting menu says Private or Public.
Before you tick this off
- Found the access setting menu on the Online Store page
- Noted whether it reads Private or Public
In Online Store > Preferences, activate Private mode, set a password and write your message to visitors.
Before you tick this off
- Private mode is active under Store access
- The password differs from your admin login
- The message says what you want visitors to read, or is left blank
In the theme editor, pick Password from the Home page menu and edit its text, colors and typography; theme settings such as typography and color also apply to the rest of your theme.
Before you tick this off
- Opened the Password template in your theme
- Text, colors and typography match your brand
- Saved the template
Submit an address you control on the password page, click the confirmation link if double opt-in is on, then look for the address in the Email subscribers segment.
Before you tick this off
- The page shows a signup form in your theme
- Submitted a test address, and clicked the confirmation link if double opt-in is on
- Looked for that address in Email subscribers on the Customers page
Give colleagues the password, or copy a visitor preview link for a draft or other unpublished theme from the preview bar.
Before you tick this off
- Chose the password or a preview link for each colleague
- A colleague confirmed what they can see
Select a plan, add a store address and set up a payment method with test mode deactivated.
Before you tick this off
- A subscription plan is selected
- A store address is on Settings > General
- A payment method is set up and test mode is off
Use Preview store to check the storefront, then select Public in the access setting menu and click Launch store.
Before you tick this off
- Checked the storefront with Preview store
- Selected Public and clicked Launch store
Email the people who agreed to marketing; sending through Shopify Messaging requires an active, paid plan.
Before you tick this off
- If you send through Shopify Messaging, the store is on an active, paid plan
- Sent a test campaign message to yourself
- The send goes only to customers who agreed to marketing
The Bottom Line
Key takeaway
Two questions settle the route: who should see the store before you open, and whether a page has to appear in search before then.
Frequently Asked Questions
Front-end developer specializing in Shopify since 2017. Experienced in building custom Liquid themes, optimizing storefront performance, and integrating third-party apps. Directs the editorial process behind Ecom Store Pro: sets its topics and the rules every AI-written page must pass before publication.
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