Customers are getting a 404 error when trying to unsubscribe from newsletter

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Topic summary

A Shopify store owner encountered issues with their newsletter unsubscribe functionality, where customers received 404 errors when attempting to unsubscribe from marketing emails sent via the Shopify Email app.

Initial Problem:

  • The unsubscribe URL (/account/unsubscribe) returned a 404 error
  • No backend settings were found to control or modify the unsubscribe link
  • In some cases, the unsubscribe button appeared completely unclickable

Suggested Solutions:

  • Community members recommended checking Shopify’s notification settings and testing alternative URL formats
  • Suggestions included verifying customer account settings and theme templates
  • Standard troubleshooting guides for 404 errors were shared

Resolution:
The issue was resolved by configuring the custom domain for Shopify’s new Customer Accounts system. The store had not yet set up accounts.canadianshieldppe.ca following Shopify’s recent changes to how customer accounts are handled. Once this domain was properly configured, the unsubscribe functionality worked correctly.

Summarized with AI on October 31. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
1

We use the Shopify Email app to send marketing emails to our customers who are subscribed to receive emails. However, after our most recent email campaign, we had several customers reach out to let us know that our unsubscribe button is not working and they get a 404 page. This is the URL: https://www.canadianshieldppe.ca/account/unsubscribe

We can’t find anywhere on the back end where this setting exists and we can’t figure out why they would be getting this error.

Thanks in advance!

2

Hey @jbrauninksmith ,

Thanks for sharing your store URL! Since /account/unsubscribe is returning a 404 error, it seems like this is not a default Shopify unsubscribe page.

Fixing the Unsubscribe Link

Try the correct Shopify unsubscribe link format:

https://www.canadianshieldppe.ca/tools/emails/unsubscribe?email={customer_email}

Replace {customer_email} with an actual email to test.

Next Steps:

  1. Check Your Shopify Email Footer Settings:

  • Go to Shopify Admin > Settings > Notifications.

  • Look for the unsubscribe settings and verify if the URL is incorrect.

  1. Test a Shopify-Generated Email:

  • Send yourself a marketing email via Shopify Email.

  • Click the unsubscribe link and check the destination.

If I was able to help you, please don’t forget to Like and mark it as the Solution!

Best,

Rajat

3

Hi there!
The 404 error on your unsubscribe link likely stems from a missing or misconfigured /account/unsubscribe page. Shopify’s default unsubscribe flow should work automatically — no manual setup needed. First, ensure your customer accounts are enabled (Settings > Customer Accounts) and your theme includes the {% layout ‘theme’ %} tag in the unsubscribe template. If you’ve customized account pages, restore the default account.liquid file or re-add the unsubscribe section. Still stuck? Contact Shopify Support — they can check backend routing or domain settings

4

Hey there @jbrauninksmith have you gone through this Shopify guide here https://www.shopify.com/ng/blog/404-error on how to solve 404 errors in your Shopify store?

5

Hello Rajat, I’ve tested out that URL with a few different emails that I know are subscribed to the marketing campaigns but returns a ‘page can’t be found’ error.

I’ve also looked into the the Customer Notification settings within the admin panel but unfortunately there are no settings regarding email unsubscribes. Even when you’re drafting an actual email, there is nothing about the unsubscribe info in the footer that you can change.

We’ve searched all over in the admin panel but can’t find any settings about email unsubscribes.

My only other hunch as to what might be going on is the fact that the way customer accounts are done recently changed I believe. So it perhaps has to do with the fact that account.canadianshieldppe.ca is not set up yet, and instead is “https://shopify.com/36920524937/account”

6

Yes, I’m familiar with fixing 404 errors. However, even if I was able to set up a redirect to the correct unsubscribe URL, there is no way in the admin portal or when creating Shopify Email campaigns to actually change where the ‘Unsubscribe’ text in the footer actually goes to. It’s all automatic. And as far as we’ve found there is no way to edit this. Which is why it’s so odd that it’s returning a 404 because it’s not something we can actually control.

7

Follow-up… it seems that in some cases customers are getting a 404 when clicking unsubscribe as I previously mentioned..

However upon further investigation it appears that the Unsubscribe button is just not clickable in some cases? Very odd.

8

Another update - it’s fixed!

It had to do with the fact that Customer Accounts on Shopify had recently changed, and we had not yet configured the domain for accounts.canadianshieldppe.ca. So once we configured this domain, we sent a test email from Shopify Email and the unsubscribe button worked as it should!