# Place a test order and make your store public

Level: Beginner. About 30 minutes. Plans: Paid plan needed to test a payment gateway and to launch. Checked against Shopify's documentation on 2026-10-08.

**Short answer:** Turn on Shopify Payments test mode in Settings > Payments, or activate the Test payment gateway, then buy something on your storefront with test card details and review the order in your admin [1][2]. Turn test mode off afterwards, because customers can't place live orders while it is on [3]. Then go to Online Store, click Private, select Public and click Launch store [4][5].

## Before you start

A test order checks your checkout, order processing, inventory, shipping, email notifications and taxes in one pass. Place at least one during setup, and again whenever you change your payment settings [3]. Test orders through Shopify's test modes aren't charged, and they don't appear in payouts or reports [3].

- **Plan.** You need a paid plan before you can test a payment gateway [3]. Selecting a plan is also one of the steps Shopify requires before launch. If you pick a plan during a free trial, you don't pay subscription fees until the trial ends [4].
- **Store address.** Add it in **Settings** > **General**, under **Business details** [4].
- **Live orders stop while you test.** Customers can't place live orders while a payment provider is in test mode [3]. Don't turn test mode on in a store that is already selling [1].
- **New stores are private.** New Shopify stores start in private mode, which shows a password page to visitors and search engines [5].

Worked example: a candle shop with 40 products, selling in the US and Canada, about to launch.

## Steps

1. **Pause anything that ships orders for you.** Turn off fulfillment services or apps that fulfill orders automatically, so the test order isn't sent out [2].
2. **Turn on test mode for Shopify Payments.** From your Shopify admin, go to **Settings** > **Payments**. In the **Shopify Payments** section, click **Manage**. In the **Test mode** section, select **Enable test mode**, then click **Save** [1]. You can only do this after Shopify Payments setup is complete [1].
3. **Or activate the Test payment gateway.** If you don't use Shopify Payments, deactivate your live credit card provider first. Then in **Settings** > **Payments**, click **See all other providers** (or **Choose a provider** if Shopify Payments isn't offered in your country), select **Test payment gateway**, activate it and click **Save** [1]. Every order is a test order while it is active, and the purchase must be worth more than the equivalent of $1 USD [1].
4. **Add products to the cart as a customer would.** Open your storefront, add a few products to the cart and go to checkout [2]. Use an email address that ends in `@example.com` [2]. For the candle shop, add one candle shipped to a US address and repeat with a Canadian address to check both shipping rates.
5. **Pay with test card details.** For Shopify Payments test mode, enter `4242424242424242` (Visa) with any future expiry date, any 3-digit security code and a name of at least 2 words [1]. For the Test payment gateway, enter `Test payment gateway` as the name, `1` as the card number, any 3-digit CVV such as `111` and any future date [1]. If several payment methods are active, choose the one in test mode [2].
6. **Try a declined payment.** In Shopify Payments test mode, `4000000000000002` simulates a generic decline [1]. With the Test payment gateway, card number `2` simulates a declined transaction [1]. This shows you what a customer sees when a card fails.
7. **Review the order in your admin.** Open the order in your Shopify admin and confirm that totals, taxes, shipping and inventory look right [2]. Check that the confirmation email arrived at the address you used [3].
8. **Archive or delete the test orders.** Archive from **Orders** > **More actions** > **Archive** [2]. Only orders paid through the Test payment gateway or Shopify Payments test mode can be deleted [2].
9. **Turn test mode off.** Go back to the **Test mode** section in **Settings** > **Payments** and turn it off, or deactivate the Test payment gateway, so customers can place live orders [1][2][4]. Turn your fulfillment services back on.
10. **Preview the store.** Go to **Online Store** > **Preview store** to see the storefront as customers will [4].
11. **Make the store public.** From your Shopify admin, go to **Online Store**. Click the **Private** label, select **Public**, then click **Launch store** [4][5]. You can also go to **Online Store** > **Preferences**, turn off **Private mode** in the **Store access** section and click **Save** [5]. A **Launch store** button also appears on the admin **Home** page and in the theme editor [4].

## Check your work

- Open your store address in a private browser window. The password page should no longer appear [5].
- In **Settings** > **Payments**, confirm that test mode is off and the Test payment gateway isn't active [1].
- Confirm that the test orders are archived or deleted, so they don't confuse your first real orders [2].

## Common problems

- **"I can't find test mode."** Test mode only appears once Shopify Payments setup is complete [1]. If you use a third-party provider, use the Test payment gateway instead [1].
- **"I can't test my payment provider at all."** A paid plan is required to test a payment gateway [3]. Development stores can't process real transactions [2].
- **"I need to test cash on delivery or bank transfer."** Manual payment methods can't be tested in test mode. Place a real order with them instead [2].
- **"My third-party provider has no test mode."** Pay with a real card, check the funds in your provider account, then cancel and refund the order right away. Third-party transaction fees aren't refunded, so read your provider's terms first [2].
- **"Test mode isn't available on my card reader."** Shopify Payments test mode doesn't cover Shopify POS card readers, Shop Pay Installments or PayPal Wallet [1]. The Test payment gateway doesn't work with Shopify POS either, so use a cash payment for POS tests [1].
- **"I was charged duties on a test order."** Duties and import tax transaction fees apply to test orders. Consider turning off duty collection at checkout while you test [2].
- **"The test order isn't in my sales report."** Test orders and simulated transactions don't appear in payouts or reports [3].

## Further reading

- [Placing test orders](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/checkout-settings/test-orders) [3]
- [Preparing to launch your store](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/intro-to-shopify/initial-setup/setup-prepare-for-launch) [4]

## Sources

1. [Activating a payment gateway in test mode](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/checkout-settings/test-orders/payments-test-mode), Shopify Help Center, accessed 2026-10-08
2. [Processing a test order](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/checkout-settings/test-orders/processing-test-order), Shopify Help Center, accessed 2026-10-08
3. [Placing test orders](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/checkout-settings/test-orders), Shopify Help Center, accessed 2026-10-08
4. [Preparing to launch your store](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/intro-to-shopify/initial-setup/setup-prepare-for-launch), Shopify Help Center, accessed 2026-10-08
5. [Making your online store private or public](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/online-store/themes/password-page), Shopify Help Center, accessed 2026-10-08

Source page: https://webmerchants.net/guides/test-order-and-go-live