- Short answer
- Pause and Build turns off checkout on every channel, POS included; apps stay active, and no page we read says listings or ads stop
- When it starts
- At the end of your current billing cycle; until then, checkout still takes orders
- Listings and ads already live
- No Shopify, Meta or Google page we read says whether they stay up or keep running
- Private mode as a bridge
- Facebook & Instagram, Google & YouTube and Marketplace Connect require a store that isn't in private mode
- Deactivating instead
- Apps are uninstalled at cancellation, and custom domains disconnect from the store
What Pause and Build switches off on its own
Pause and Build is a reduced plan at $9 USD per month; who can switch to it is a separate question. The change takes effect at the end of your current billing cycle, and until then checkout still takes orders.
Then your checkout is deactivated across all sales channels, Point of Sale included. Customers can still review your products, but they can't buy them. Shopify's Pause and Build page adds:
You can't use online store checkout, POS, discounts, abandoned checkout recovery, gift cards, or third-party integrations such as Facebook and Google to publish your products.
The verb is to publish: the quote says nothing about listings already live. And because Facebook and Instagram shoppers are redirected to your Shopify online store to pay, that funnel ends at the checkout the pause switches off.
Shopify suggests private mode to stop orders sooner, but Facebook & Instagram, Google & YouTube and Marketplace Connect each require a store that isn't in private mode, so weigh that before you switch it on.
What keeps running, and billing, while you are paused
All your apps remain active, so Shopify suggests uninstalling recurring-charge apps you won't use; its billing page says third-party apps active before the pause might continue to incur charges. To pause an app, you cancel it individually.
POS Pro runs on its own billing cycle, separate from your Shopify plan, and Marketplace Connect charges per synced order beyond a free monthly allowance. No Shopify page we read says whether either keeps charging on a paused store.
Ads sit outside the pause: Facebook and Instagram campaigns live in Meta's Ads Manager, the Google & YouTube channel is managed by Google, and no page we read says a Shopify plan change stops either, so plan as if both keep running until you switch them off.
We read, on October 17, 2026: Shopify Help Center pages on pausing, deactivating and billing, its Facebook & Instagram, Google & YouTube, Marketplace Connect and POS pages, Meta Business Help, Google Merchant Center Help and Shopify's changelog feeds. None says what pausing does to listings already live on a channel.
What to switch off yourself, channel by channel
Do this before the pause starts.
| Channel | What the docs say on a pause | What you switch off yourself |
|---|---|---|
| Facebook & Instagram | Checkout off; shoppers are sent to your checkout to pay | Make products unavailable to the channel (removes them from Facebook Shop, Instagram Shopping and ads); pause campaigns |
| Google & YouTube | Checkout off; Google requires a way to buy what you advertise; missing it risks an account warning or suspension | Pause campaigns where you run them |
| Marketplace Connect | Orders are placed on the marketplace, then imported; no Shopify page we read covers listings, import or fees on a pause | Switch listings off in each marketplace's seller account |
| Point of Sale | Checkout deactivated, named by Shopify | To stop POS Pro charges, downgrade every POS Pro location before uninstalling POS; an annual plan can't downgrade until its cycle ends |
| Other apps | Remain active; charges for apps active before the pause might continue | Cancel each one individually |
Shopify, Meta and Google help pages, read October 17, 2026.
Meta's commerce rules require listings available for direct purchase from your website, and failing them may cost access to commerce features; no Meta page we read addresses a paused partner store.
Don't archive products in Shopify as a pause: for Shopify, Meta says archiving on your platform will delete the product from Commerce Manager. Archiving in Commerce Manager hides it from your ads and shop and overrides your platform.
For Amazon, an older staff answer on Amazon's seller forums, not its help pages, says vacation mode makes listings inactive while Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) listings stay active; confirm it in Seller Central first.
For POS, the order of steps comes from Shopify's page on uninstalling POS.
For the last row, cancel each app you won't use while paused:
- Settings
- Apps
What changes if you deactivate instead of pausing
Deactivating runs on two clocks: all apps are automatically uninstalled at cancellation, while the store deactivates at the end of your current billing cycle once outstanding amounts are paid. External app subscriptions keep charging, so cancel them first; our answer on pending app charges covers the billing.
The pages we read don't say whether "all apps" includes sales channels, which your admin shows as sales channels, not apps. To be sure, remove channels yourself.
Custom domains also become disconnected on deactivation, which in Meta's and Google's terms breaks listings: Meta flags broken links, Google disables products with an unavailable landing page, and Google warns live campaigns can end up paying for clicks on an error page. Pause campaigns before you deactivate.
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