How to set up abandoned cart emails on Shopify (2 ways)

The short answer: You can set up abandoned cart emails on Shopify in two ways. Free, in Shopify's own Messaging app: go to Apps, Messaging, Automations, Create automation, pick Recover abandoned checkout, choose Email, edit it and turn it on. Or install an email app such as tinyAlbert, which writes the email in your brand voice for you to preview and switch on.

Both ways take minutes. The difference is who writes the email, what else comes with it, and how much control you get over timing. This guide walks through each one using Shopify's own help centre steps and tinyAlbert's app screens, then covers the most common reason the email doesn't send.

Before you start: what Shopify sends, and to whom

Shopify Messaging has three "recover site visitors" automations, and it helps to know which one you want (Shopify Help Center):

• Recover abandoned checkout: for customers who start checkout but don't complete an order. This is what most merchants mean by an abandoned cart email.
• Recover abandoned cart: for customers who add products to their cart but don't start checkout.
• Convert abandoned product browse: for customers who view a product but don't add it to their cart.

Three things to check first, all from Shopify's requirements page:

• Your store is on the Basic plan or higher.
• The Shopify Flow app is installed, which Shopify needs for full functionality.
• Your staff account has the Marketing permission and the Flow app permission.

By default, automations send only to customers subscribed to marketing. For the abandoned checkout email, and only that one, you can change the To: field to All customers. Before you do, check the consent rules where your customers live.

	Way 1: Shopify Messaging	Way 2: tinyAlbert
Cost	Abandoned checkout emails are free and don't count towards the 10,000 free emails a month	From $3 a month for up to 100 contacts, after a 7-day free trial
Who writes the email	You edit Shopify's template	Written for you in the layout, tone and language you pick at setup
Products in the email	Cart details and a link back to checkout	Pulls the shopper's cart products into the email
Timing	Edit the workflow in Shopify Flow	Time delay in the visual workflow builder
Before it goes live	Send test, Save without turning on	Preview on desktop and mobile, Edit, Send test, Regenerate
What else is included	Other Shopify Messaging templates you set up yourself	Welcome, thank-you, product review and win-back emails, a calendar of seasonal campaigns and four signup forms, already written

Sources: Shopify Messaging email pricing; tinyAlbert's Shopify App Store listing and app.

Way 1: How to set up abandoned cart emails in Shopify Messaging

These are Shopify's own steps for a desktop browser:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Apps > Messaging.
2. Click Automations.
3. Click Create automation.
4. Select the Recover abandoned checkout template (or Recover abandoned cart, if that's the moment you want).
5. In the dialog, select Email as the channel.
6. Optional but worth it: click Edit email to change the message, switch the To: field to All customers if you want to, and click Send test to see it in your own inbox. Click Save without turning on if you aren't ready.
7. Turn it on. If you didn't edit the email, click Turn on automation. If you did, click Turn on, then Turn on again in the dialog.

You can also create these three automations from the Shopify mobile app (Apps, Messaging, Automations, then the add icon), but editing an automation's workflow or template needs a desktop.

How to change when the email sends

The wait time lives in the automation's workflow, which runs on Shopify Flow. Go to Apps > Messaging > Automations, click the automation, click Edit workflow, change the wait step, and click Apply changes. Shopify notes that if you create a second abandoned checkout automation, it defaults to a 10-hour wait and sends only to subscribed customers (Shopify Help Center). For a starting point, Klaviyo recommends a first reminder 2 to 4 hours after abandonment (Klaviyo).

How to edit the abandoned cart email in Shopify

Go to Apps > Messaging > Automations, open the actions menu on the automation and click Edit. You can change:

• To: the customer group it sends to.
• Subject: replace the default with your own subject line.
• Preview text: the line shown after the subject in the inbox.
• From: the sender address, through your sender email settings.
• The content: text, logo and colour scheme in Shopify's section editor. You can also add a discount the customer can use when they return to checkout.

Click Save, then Exit. Not sure what to write? Our abandoned cart email examples give nine versions written out in full.

If your store still has the older setting

Some stores still have an Abandoned checkout emails by Shopify automation. In that case, open it from Messaging, Automations, choose Edit settings, tick Send abandoned checkout emails automatically, choose who it goes to under Send to and the delay under Send after, then Save (Recovering abandoned checkouts). Shopify says the older setting will be removed, so plan to move to the new automation in Shopify Messaging.

Way 2: How to set up abandoned cart emails with tinyAlbert

tinyAlbert is a Shopify app that writes your email marketing for you. The abandoned cart email is already written when you finish setup, so the job is to check it and switch it on.

1. Install tinyAlbert from the Shopify App Store and start the 7-day free trial.
2. Answer the four setup questions: layout (Colourful, Minimalist or Professional), tone of voice (seven options, such as Friendly or Formal), content language (ten options) and a short description of your store, up to 1,000 characters.
3. Check your sender. Sending is authenticated from the start: DKIM, SPF and DMARC show as Verified on a tinyAlbert-managed address. You can add your own domain later under Verify DNS Settings.
4. Open Automations and find the Abandoned Cart card. Click Preview to see the email on desktop and mobile.
5. Edit, test or regenerate. Change any wording in the editor, click Send test to see it in your inbox, or click Regenerate for a fresh AI rewrite.
6. Switch on the Activate toggle. Nothing sends before this step.
7. Turn off Shopify's own abandoned checkout automation (steps below), so shoppers don't get two reminders.

If you want to change the timing or add a step, open Workflows. The visual builder has Shopify triggers (Checkout Started, Order Placed, Order Fulfilled), a time delay, a conditional split and email actions, and shows revenue and attributed orders per workflow. tinyAlbert counts an order towards an email when it's placed within 10 days of the shopper's latest open or click.

See the email and the full flow on the abandoned cart emails feature page, or check plans on pricing.

When Shopify's built-in email is enough

Stay with Way 1 if you only need one reminder, you're happy to write and design it yourself, and you want it to cost nothing. Way 2 makes more sense when you'd rather not write emails at all, or you want the welcome, thank-you, win-back and seasonal campaigns written in the same voice at the same time.

Shopify abandoned cart email not sending? Check these

Shopify lists the cases where it won't send an abandoned checkout email. The most common are:

• The customer isn't subscribed to marketing. The new automation needs the customer to have subscribed, unless you changed To: to All customers.
• They bought before the email was due. No reminder goes out if the order completes first.
• A newer checkout reset the clock. If the customer abandoned a more recent checkout, the wait time runs from that one.
• Nothing in the checkout can be bought, for example because it's out of stock.
• All the items were free and the customer didn't reach the shipping page, or shipping was also free.
• Shopify Payments blocked the checkout as high risk.
• The checkout wasn't on your online store. Recovery covers the Online Store (and Buy Button) checkout, not the Shop app checkout, POS or third-party sales channels.
• The customer gave a phone number instead of an email at checkout.
• The automation is off or back in draft. Shopify returns an automation to draft if its channel becomes unavailable.

To see what happened to a specific email, go to Apps > Messaging > Automations, select the automation, click View recent activity in the Workflow section and open the run. The Orders > Abandoned checkouts page also shows an email status and a recovery status for each checkout. Note that Shopify only treats a checkout as abandoned once it has been incomplete for more than ten minutes after the customer entered their email.

How to turn off Shopify's abandoned cart email

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Apps > Messaging.
2. Click Automations, then the automation you want to stop.
3. Click Turn off automation, then Turn off.

Any customers waiting in the workflow are cancelled, so no further reminders go out. Turn off the old one before you switch on a replacement in an app, and check that only one abandoned cart automation is live.

How to send an abandoned cart email manually

For a one-off, such as a customer who asks for their cart link, go to Orders > Abandoned checkouts, click the checkout number, then click the customer's email address. Your email client opens with the checkout link in the body. Send it only to that customer: Shopify warns that anyone who opens the link can continue the checkout, and the link can't be disabled once sent.

For the bigger picture, including the welcome and post-purchase emails to set up next, read our Shopify email marketing guide.

Frequently asked questions

Is Shopify's abandoned cart email free?

Shopify Messaging's abandoned checkout emails are always free and don't count towards the 10,000 free emails each store gets a month. Its separate Recover abandoned cart and browse automations do count towards that allowance. Shopify Messaging is available on the Basic, Grow, Advanced and Plus plans, and SMS or WhatsApp versions are charged per message.

How long does Shopify wait before sending the abandoned checkout email?

It depends on your workflow. You set the wait in the automation's workflow, and a second abandoned checkout automation defaults to 10 hours. Shopify only counts a checkout as abandoned after ten minutes. Many email platforms suggest a first reminder within a few hours; Klaviyo recommends 2 to 4 hours after abandonment, then a follow-up a day or two later.

Can I send abandoned checkout emails to customers who haven't subscribed?

In Shopify Messaging, yes for email: change the To: field in the abandoned checkout email to All customers. You can't do this for the abandoned cart or browse templates, or for SMS and WhatsApp. Whether you should depends on the law where your customers live; EU and Canadian rules on marketing consent are stricter than US rules.

Can I use Shopify's abandoned cart email and an app at the same time?

You can, but shoppers would get two reminders for the same cart. Shopify itself warns that automations add up, giving the example of two welcome automations doubling the emails customers receive. Pick one abandoned cart automation, turn the other off, and send yourself a test checkout to confirm only one email arrives.

Can I edit the abandoned cart email in tinyAlbert?

Yes. Open Automations, click Preview on the Abandoned Cart card, then edit the wording, send yourself a test, or click Regenerate for a new AI-written version. The email is written in the layout, tone and language you chose at setup, and it sends only after you switch on the Activate toggle.