Shopify Capture Payment: Which Setting to Use and What to Do When It Expires

Last updated: 2026-10-06 · Platform policies and payment rules change. Verify with official sources before acting.

An order came in, the customer’s card went through, and the payment status says Authorized instead of Paid. Or worse, it says Expired, and you are not sure whether you were paid at all.

Both come from one store setting. Shopify capture payment is the step that actually charges the card; authorizing only checks that the card is valid and has the funds. Until the capture happens, the money is not yours, and on Shopify Payments the window to capture closes after 7 days.

This guide covers which capture setting a one-person store should use, the timeline once an order is authorized, and how to recover an order that has already expired.

Quick answer

• Capture is the charge. Authorization is only the check. Capturing payment moves an order from Authorized to Paid.
• Shopify Payments gives you 7 days to capture. Other payment providers set their own period.
• Shopify says you need to capture within that period to collect money for the order. Treat an Expired order as unpaid.
• The 1.75% late-capture charge is not a fee every store can pay to capture late. It applies only to Shopify Plus stores on Shopify Payments, whose extended authorization lets some cards be captured after day 7, depending on the card’s issuing bank.
• For most solo stores, automatic capture at checkout is the right default. The other two settings are for specific reasons, listed below.

Who this is for

Store owners who see Authorized or Expired on orders, or who are thinking about manual capture to review orders before charging. If every payment shows Paid immediately, you are on the default setting.

The three Shopify capture payment settings, and what each costs you

The setting lives in Settings > Payments > Payment capture method. Shopify’s payment authorization page lists three options. On Shopify Plus, capture per fulfillment is available instead of capture when the entire order is fulfilled.

Two details from the same page change the choice:

• Capture at fulfillment does not work with fulfillment apps that need a paid order before they start. If a 3PL or print-on-demand app waits for Paid, orders can sit Authorized until they expire.
• Do not run two capture systems at once. If a third-party app captures payments, Shopify says to set the store to manual, since combining the two “can lead to potential conflicts and unexpected behavior.”

The authorization timeline on Shopify Payments

Shopify documents the pieces on two different pages. Put together, an order that is authorized and not captured runs like this:

Sources: the 7-day period and the warning email are on the payment authorization page; the Expiring badge and the Expired definition are on the order status page. On another provider, replace 7 with its period, and do not count on the warning email: in the manual capture setup, Shopify notes the emails are not sent if you do not use Shopify Payments.

The quickest way to work the list is the one Shopify suggests on its capturing payments page: filter orders by Payment status: Authorized and save the view.

Who the 1.75% late-capture charge actually applies to

It is easy to read the 1.75% figure as a late fee that any store can pay to capture after the 7-day period. Shopify’s page does not say that.

The charge sits under Extended authorization periods, which carry a plan requirement: they are “available only to stores on the Shopify Plus plan that use Shopify Payments.” On those stores, some cards stay capturable longer. Shopify adds that periods differ by the card’s issuing bank and some cards might not support extended authorization at all, so the table shows maximums:

When you manually capture one of those payments after the standard 7 days, a 1.75% charge applies on top of standard card fees. Shopify’s own workaround, if you would rather not pay it, is to cancel the order and create a new one.

On Basic, Grow or Advanced with Shopify Payments, there is no paid extension: the window is 7 days, and Shopify says you need to capture within it “to receive any money from that order.” Other providers set their own period.

Forvendo decision rule: which setting to use

Pick the setting from how you ship, not from how cautious you feel.

Quick ROI test for manual capture. Add up the card fees you did not get back on orders you refunded for suspected fraud in the last 90 days. That is roughly the fee side of what manual capture could have saved (check your provider’s terms for any charge on voided authorizations). Compare it with checking the Authorized view every day, including days you are away. If the saving is a few dollars a month, manual capture costs more than it returns.

Do not do this yet: do not switch to manual capture right before a trip, a sale, or a week you cannot check the admin. Every order placed in those days starts its own 7-day clock, and none of them will be charged until you capture.

For reading the fraud analysis before you capture, see Shopify order risk. For disputes once money has moved, see the Shopify chargeback and refund SOP.

What to do when an order shows Expired

Shopify’s definition is short: payment “wasn’t captured before the date that was set by the payment provider.” Work through it in this order.

1. Do not ship anything more. Treat the order as unpaid. An Expired order is one of the statuses Shopify groups under Unpaid.
2. Do not count on capturing it. Shopify’s pages say you need to capture within the authorization period to collect money for the order. If you use an alternative payment provider, Shopify says to contact that provider to find out whether the payment can still be captured.
3. Ask the customer to pay again. Create a draft order and send the invoice from it. Shopify’s draft orders page says the invoice carries a secure checkout link, and a paid draft order becomes a regular order. Which route fits depends on whether anything has shipped:
   – Nothing shipped yet: cancel the expired order first, then put the same items on the draft order. Shopify’s canceling orders page says an uncaptured payment moves to Voided when the order is canceled. Keep Restock inventory selected so the reserved units are free for the new order (otherwise a low-stock item can show as out of stock at the customer’s checkout), and clear Send a notification to the customer so they do not get a cancellation email before your payment request.
   – Some items already shipped (Partially fulfilled): the same page says a partially fulfilled order cannot be canceled. Put a custom item on the draft order for the amount owed, such as “Payment for order #1042”, with the taxable and physical-product options cleared, so no stock is reserved twice and no tax or shipping is added on top. The help pages describe Mark as paid only for orders in Payment pending status, so do not rely on it here. Add a note to the original order naming the new one, then, once the payment is in, fulfill the remaining items on the original order so its stock and fulfillment status stay right, and archive it. The sale now appears on two orders, so reconcile it against your payout, not against order totals. If the original order included sales tax, make sure that tax is still reported as collected, since the custom item carries none.
4. Tell the customer about the old hold. Shopify notes that an authorization can still show on the customer’s bank statement for up to 30 days, even after the order is canceled. Without a heads-up, a customer may read the old hold and the new charge as a double charge.

Worked example

A composite example, not a real store. A solo store on Basic with Shopify Payments sells made-to-order prints and uses capture when the entire order is fulfilled.

• Monday: order #1042 arrives for two prints, $140. Payment status: Authorized.
• Wednesday: one print ships. The other is waiting on a paper restock. The order is Partially fulfilled, so nothing is captured.
• Saturday: the Expiring badge appears. The owner is at a market and does not open the admin.
• Sunday: the warning email arrives. It is not read.
• Following Monday: the order shows Expired. The owner has shipped a $70 print and holds a $70 print with no payment behind either.

Capturing manually on Wednesday, when the order went to Partially fulfilled, would have charged the full $140 inside the window. And since this store regularly splits orders, the decision rule above points to capture at checkout.

Recovery follows the partially fulfilled branch above. #1042 cannot be canceled, so the owner sends a draft order invoice with one custom item, “Payment for order #1042”, at $140, and a note about the old hold. When it is paid, they note the new order number on #1042, ship the second print, archive #1042, and match the $140 against the payout.

Copy-paste: customer message for an expired payment

Subject: Your order [#1042] - one more step to complete payment

Hi [first name],

Thanks for your order. The payment on it was approved but not
completed in time on our side, so your card was not charged.

To finish your order, please pay through this secure link:
[invoice link]

You may still see a pending amount from the original order on
your bank statement, sometimes for up to 30 days. That is a
temporary hold, not a charge, and your bank will release it.

If you no longer want the order, just reply and let us know.

[Store name]

Send it the day the order expires, from the draft order’s invoice so the link goes to checkout. Handle the original order as in the recovery steps above.

Daily capture checklist

For stores on manual capture or capture at fulfillment, three filters a day:

1. Payment status: Authorized, oldest first. Capture anything 5 or more days old or with the Expiring badge; cancel what you will not ship instead of capturing and refunding it.
2. Partially fulfilled. On capture at fulfillment, capture these manually.
3. Expired. Start recovery on anything new.

The full order triage, including shipping deadlines and holds, is in Shopify unfulfilled orders.

If you sell in more than one currency, capture sooner: Shopify notes that a foreign-currency capture uses the exchange rate at capture time, and you cannot capture more than the authorized amount.

What this article does not cover

• Payments that are Pending because of a manual payment method or payment terms. That is a different status with its own due dates; see Shopify payment pending.
• Point of sale orders. Shopify’s capture settings apply only to online store orders.
• B2B orders with payment terms, which follow the Due status.
• Capture through the API or Shopify Flow. Both exist; this guide covers the admin.

Frequently asked questions

What does capture payment mean on Shopify?
It means charging the customer’s card for an order whose payment was only authorized. Capturing changes the payment status from Authorized to Paid. On the default setting, Shopify captures card payments automatically at checkout, so card orders go straight to Paid.

How long do I have to capture a payment on Shopify?
On Shopify Payments, 7 days. Other providers set their own period. Shopify Plus stores on Shopify Payments can get longer periods on some cards, up to 30 days on Visa, Mastercard and American Express, depending on the issuing bank.

What happens if a Shopify authorization expires?
The payment status changes to Expired. Shopify says you need to capture within the authorization period to collect money for the order, so treat it as unpaid and ask the customer to pay again through a draft order invoice. The steps differ depending on whether part of the order has shipped; see the recovery steps above.

Does Shopify charge 1.75% for capturing late?
Only on Shopify Plus stores that use Shopify Payments, when they manually capture an extended authorization after the standard 7 days. Extended periods depend on the card’s issuing bank. Other plans on Shopify Payments have no paid extension; the window ends at 7 days.

Why was my order not captured when I fulfilled it?
Capture at fulfillment only charges when the entire order is fulfilled within the authorization period, so partially fulfilled orders are not captured. It also skips orders placed before you turned the setting on, and needs a provider that supports authorization periods. Capture those orders manually.

What is the difference between Authorized and Paid on Shopify?
Authorized means the card was validated and the funds are on hold, but you have not been paid. Paid means the payment was captured or the order was marked as paid.

Free sheets and calculators

The free operations sheets include a weekly checklist you can add the daily capture check to. For what happens after capture, see Shopify payout status pending for when captured money reaches your bank, and Shopify unfulfilled orders for the shipping deadlines that run alongside the authorization clock.