Tutorial

Delete Everything from Shopify Store

November 22, 2025

Cleaning out a Shopify store manually can be extremely time-consuming and error-prone. DataEase makes it easy: export your data, prepare delete actions for each entity type, and remove everything in bulk with validation—all while following the correct order of operations.

🎯 Goal

Clean out a Shopify store by removing (or archiving, where deletion isn’t possible) data across key entities using CSV/Excel and DataEase.

⚠️ Important Limits from Shopify

  • Live orders cannot be deleted — only canceled (archived)
  • Customers with orders cannot be deleted until orders are unlinked or canceled and the customer is no longer referenced
  • Deletion is irreversible. Always keep a full backup export before you begin

📋 Recommended Order of Operations

  1. Orders — Cancel (archive) live orders; delete Draft Orders
  2. Customers — If needed, first unlink customers from orders (guest orders), then delete customers without orders
  3. Companies (B2B) — Delete company, then its contacts/locations (or delete line-items directly)
  4. Products & Variants — Delete products (removes variants/media) or delete specific variants
  5. Collections — Delete manual/automated collections you no longer need
  6. Content — Delete Pages, Blogs/Articles, Comments, Menus
  7. Catalog extras — Delete Discounts, Redirects, Files, Metaobjects, Translations (per resource/locale)

Tip: Use filters (date ranges, tags, Collection ID, Inventory locations, etc.) to target exactly what you want removed.

🔧 How to Delete / Archive by Entity

Orders (Live)

Action: action = CANCEL (archives the order)

id,action
gid://shopify/Order/123,CANCEL

Draft Orders

Action: command = DELETE

id,command
gid://shopify/DraftOrder/789,DELETE

Action: command = UPDATE and clear customerId (makes a guest order)

id,command,customerId
gid://shopify/Order/123,UPDATE,

Customers

Rule: Customer must have no linked orders

Action: command = DELETE

id,command
gid://shopify/Customer/555,DELETE

Companies (B2B)

Company row: command = DELETE

Contact/Location lines: itemCommand = DELETE (when removing line-items specifically)

CSV (company):

id,command
gid://shopify/Company/111,DELETE

CSV (contact or location line):

id,topRow,itemCommand,contactId
gid://shopify/Company/111,FALSE,DELETE,gid://shopify/CompanyContact/999

Products (Deletes Variants & Media)

Action: command = DELETE

id,command
gid://shopify/Product/123,DELETE

Variants (Keep Product, Remove Specific Variants)

Action: variantCommand = DELETE

variantId,variantCommand
gid://shopify/ProductVariant/111,DELETE

Collections

Action: command = DELETE

id,command
gid://shopify/Collection/222,DELETE

Pages

Action: command = DELETE

id,command
gid://shopify/Page/333,DELETE

Blogs & Articles

Articles first, then blog (or just delete the blog if your workflow supports cascading)

CSV (article):

id,command
gid://shopify/Article/444,DELETE

CSV (blog):

id,command
gid://shopify/Blog/445,DELETE

Comments (on Articles)

Action: command = DELETE

id,command
gid://shopify/Comment/556,DELETE

Action: command = DELETE

id,command
gid://shopify/Menu/777,DELETE

Files (Settings → Files)

Action: command = DELETE

Note: Deleting files that are referenced by themes/pages will break images/links

id,command
gid://shopify/MediaImage/888,DELETE

Redirects

Action: command = DELETE (ID required)

id,command
gid://shopify/UrlRedirect/999,DELETE

Discounts

Action: command = DELETE

id,command
gid://shopify/DiscountAutomatic/1234,DELETE

Metaobjects

Action: command = DELETE

id,command
gid://shopify/Metaobject/abc,DELETE

Translations

Action: command = DELETE per locale/value (removes translations from the resource)

CSV (remove FR translation):

resourceId,command,[fr] value
gid://shopify/Product/123,DELETE,

💡 Best Practices

  • Back up everything: Run full exports (Products, Variants, Collections, Customers, Orders, Draft Orders, Discounts, Redirects, Files, Metaobjects, Blogs, Articles, Comments, Pages, Menus, Translations, Companies)
  • Start with a small sample, validate, review the results, then scale up
  • Prefer IDs for matching; use handles/SKUs only if unique
  • Keep audit files (validation reports + results) for compliance

🎉 That’s it!

Your store cleanup is now complete.
If you run into any issues or have questions, feel free to contact our support team.