- Short answer
- For a carrier Shopify doesn't support, the order status page shows a tracking number linking to that carrier's site — no order status, no live pin.
- Is this your case?
- If you can't buy that carrier's labels through Shopify's carrier accounts, it isn't on the integrated list
- No tracking number typed in
- Skip the tracking field and the order sits on "On its way" until you mark it delivered
- How the carrier gets set
- Shopify detects it automatically; if not, pick from the dropdown; Other is for a carrier not listed
- What the Shop app does anyway
- Track with Shop is on by default, and Shop tracks any order with a valid tracking number either way
What the order status page stops showing
Live tracking is conditional, not a default: real-time status and the map appear only if you ship through a supported carrier. With any other carrier, the same help page describes the opposite:
The order status isn't displayed, and the pin on the map doesn't update in real time.
Supported means the integrated-carrier list whose labels you buy through Shopify's carrier accounts. Whether yours is on that list decides everything above.
What your customer still gets
What replaces the map is a link: a tracking number "that links to the shipping carrier's website", where "your customers can get more information about the status of their order". The answer still exists, one domain away.
It gets there because you typed it in at fulfillment. Leave that field empty and the order "remains in the On its way status" until you mark it delivered by hand — a status Shopify defines as "the shipment is in transit" after you mark the order fulfilled or partially fulfilled. What the page names at each stage is a fixed set of shipment statuses.
What you can change, and what happens anyway
One lever sits in the fulfillment dialog: you enter the tracking number and "the carrier is detected automatically". When it isn't recognized — or the wrong carrier is detected — you pick yours from the Shipping carrier dropdown: "Your manual selection takes priority over automatic detection." If yours isn't listed, choose Other and paste its full tracking URL — that decides where the tracking link on the order status page takes your customer.
The status page's own map comes back with a listed carrier. The Shop app is a second place your customer can look: Shopify says Track with Shop "is activated by default for all Shopify stores", and that whether or not it shows on your order status page, customers "can still use Shop to track any order with a valid tracking number".
This article was written entirely by AI under human editorial direction. The editor sets the topic and structure, runs multi-stage validation on facts, links, and interactive elements, and verifies the output is useful from a business perspective. All claims are checked against official Shopify sources. Details may change — always confirm critical data at shopify.com.
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