Merchants are requesting the ability to print or export draft orders without finalizing the sale—a feature currently absent from Shopify’s native functionality.
Primary Use Cases:
Printing packing slips for in-store order picking before payment is received
Sending quotes to customers for approval or procurement/PO processes
Maintaining accounting accuracy by only recording sales when payment occurs
Providing documentation to customers’ accounting departments before checkout
Current Workarounds:
Third-party apps: Order Printer Pro (free up to 50 orders/month) and MS Order Printers can print draft orders, though some require paid subscriptions
Browser print function: Right-clicking the draft order page and selecting “Print” in landscape mode captures order details
“Payment Due Later” method: Creating the order with deferred payment terms allows printing as an unpaid order
Custom development: Building custom apps to generate PDF links (requires developer resources)
Manual processes: Copy-pasting into external documents or spreadsheets, then reformatting
Community Sentiment:
Frustration is widespread (2,926+ views mentioned), with merchants viewing this as a basic feature that shouldn’t require paid apps. Many express disappointment that Shopify prioritizes cosmetic updates over fundamental business needs. Some are actively exploring alternative platforms, though migration challenges keep most users in place.
Summarized with AI on October 23.
AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
We often need to print and/or email a copy of a draft order for approval, or for picking purposes, prior to the order being finalized. We need a way to print it.
You can’t select ‘send invoice’ because that finalizes the sale and then forces that sale into that day’s accounting. We only allow our sales to occur on the same day as the payment to simplify the end of month accounting. Given the challenges already present via Stocky (inventory control for POS with Shopify) we have enough challenges with accounting and need to reduce opportunities for error.
@Shopify_77 help! We continue to struggle with this. We can’t even copy and paste the draft screen because the photos mess up the list. We need to print a packing slip prior to the order being completed.
Trying to bump this up again. We really need a way to email a copy and/or print a copy of the draft order. Adding that link for them to pay online doesn’t help us to pick the order at all in store. We need to be able to print a packing list in order to pick it prior to payment. @Shopify_77 any work arounds that aren’t $50 USD a month? Help!
This is how I worked around it. requires a developer
I created a custom app that hosts the draft order via a link as a pdf. (website.com/draft-order/{id}.pdf). In the end, I copy and paste the pdf link into the email body.
Not perfect, but better than nothing.
Thanks for the idea. We aren’t coders, we aren’t a rich large company. Nickel and dimed to death already with paid apps, so we aren’t going to pay someone for something that needs to be standard in the system.
We are stuck with manually doing copy and paste and then editing it to correct the formatting, which is another example of how using this system takes way more hours than our old true POS system. There is no happy marriage of POS and retail with omnichannel that we have found yet. We have an amazing powerful POS system that works and does everything you could want and more - but it isn’t online.
Agreed! Need to be able to PRINT DRAFT orders. So tired of updates that do NOT make my job easier and the BASIC things that are needed are ignored. (ie. search button at the far right - when it used to be a ready space to fill in ON THE LEFT - WHO is Shopify serving? TINY ecommerce businesses that can see all their orders, products, etc on the first page??)
@Shopify_77 any updates? Lots of things being changed, like the font and rounded corners. How about adding in allowing us to print draft orders? Thanks!
I add myself to the voices of unimpressed customers who’re struggling with printing a copy of any draft orders.
It’s hilarious how Shopify is spending tons of money in nice marketing AD for their platform to lure new customers in while forgetting that they have a huge base of existing customers who needs to be listened to.
But hey, maybe they realized that as we’re already in and now with a running business it’s not a great idea to dump Shopify for some other platform, they don’t really need to address our needs as we’re stuck here and we cannot easily move elsewhere.
It’s honestly hilarious that a platform with all of these bells and whistles rely on 3rd party’s to charge their customers for simple print outs for orders or draft invoices. Like???
This is Shopify’s business model. It’s a double dip. Make money from the app creators and make money from the end user. They have zero motivation to correct the issues in their software service.
Would like to add my voice to this. Seems a logical thing to have. Please look to sort ASAP as I’m inputting orders into other systems to create picking lists.
We also need this! Customers want it for their accounting departments before they’ll check out, so I have to create the invoice twice, once in a doc and once in Shopify.
