Shopify Contact form SUBJECT LINE text : How to change?

Shopify Discussion

Topic summary

Merchants are requesting the ability to customize the subject line of emails generated by Shopify’s contact form, which currently defaults to “New customer message on [date/time].” This generic subject line creates several problems:

Key Issues:

  • Makes inbox management difficult when all messages have identical subjects
  • Prevents effective email filtering and delegation
  • Some email clients group unrelated customer conversations into single threads
  • Customers sometimes mistake replies as spam due to the generic subject
  • Hinders auto-reply functionality

Shopify’s Response:

  • Official staff confirmed this feature is not currently possible to implement via themes or technical settings
  • Feedback has been logged with developers, but no timeline or commitment has been provided
  • Staff continue to acknowledge requests but offer no concrete updates

Community Workarounds:

  • Third-party apps like “G:Form Builder - Contact Form” allow custom subject lines
  • Hidden form fields can add context to email body content
  • Email client rules (Outlook, Google Workspace) can filter and re-route messages based on content

Status:
This request remains unresolved after nearly 5 years (2020-2025), with growing merchant frustration over what many consider a basic, easily implementable feature. The discussion is ongoing with no indication of when or if Shopify will address it.

Summarized with AI on October 28. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
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This example of a simple and valuable improvement for so many customers, after 4 years, demonstrates that Shopify management is either (or all):

  • Oblivious, and has no system to understand customer needs
  • Inept, and has no capability of prioritizing needs and effort to meet customer needs.
  • Uncaring - they have the capability, but choose not to deploy it in their effort to maximize profit

This is one of many examples - poor management is always the culprit. Since Shopify management is not changing, don’t expect any update on this issue for the next 4 years.

Our solution is a simple rule addition to MSOutlook we use. Since we DO have control over the Form Name, that is used as a filter to forward the message using a specific template.