Shopify legacy customer accounts are deprecated

Most stores we audit haven't looked at their customer accounts since launch. The login page works, so nobody touches it. On older themes, that usually means legacy customer accounts, with passwords and account templates that were customised years ago.

That setup now has a shelf life. On the 26th of February 2026, Shopify deprecated legacy customer accounts. They still work today, but Shopify has stopped feature updates and technical support. A final sunset date is due later in 2026. If your store still uses them, plan the upgrade now, while you can choose the timing.

What did Shopify change?

The changelog entry is short and clear.

• Legacy customer accounts are no longer available to new stores, or to existing stores that weren't already using them.
• Shopify will stop providing feature updates and technical support for the older version.
• A final sunset date will be announced later in 2026.
• Stores still on legacy accounts are encouraged to upgrade to the newer version.

Nothing breaks on the day of the announcement. The change is about direction. Every new account feature from here lands on the newer version only.

What do the newer customer accounts include?

Shopify lists three reasons to move.

• Sign-in without passwords. Customers enter their email and receive a one-time code.
• Built-in features. Store credit, self-serve returns and B2B support come as standard.
• No-code customisation with apps. App blocks can be added through the visual editor.

For a lot of stores, that's a straight upgrade. Self-serve returns alone can take a steady stream of emails off your team. Store credit gives you a cleaner way to handle goodwill and exchanges. Signed-in customers also get a quicker checkout, as our note on checkout remembering the last payment method explains.

For wholesale, the B2B support matters most. If you sell to trade buyers on Shopify, the newer accounts are where company accounts and buyer tools live. Our B2B commerce service is built on that foundation.

Which stores should worry about this?

Any store still running legacy accounts should plan the move. Some need more care than others.

You'll want a proper plan if any of these apply.

• Your theme has heavily customised account pages, such as a reorder list, loyalty panel or saved addresses view.
• An app adds features to the account area, like wishlists, subscriptions or loyalty points.
• A large group of customers log in often, especially trade buyers who reorder weekly.
• Customer service scripts or help pages tell customers how to reset a password.

Smaller consumer stores with a plain login page can usually upgrade quickly. The work is mostly checking and communicating, not building.

How to plan your upgrade

Treat it like a small migration. The goal is continuity, so regular customers barely notice beyond a new way to sign in.

1. Check which version you're on. Your customer account settings in the Shopify admin show it, and Shopify's upgrade guide walks through the switch.
2. List what customers do in their account today. Past orders, reorders, addresses, subscriptions, loyalty, downloads. Write it down before anything changes.
3. List what powers each feature. Is it the theme, an app or a custom build? Legacy account customisations often live in theme code that won't carry over.
4. Match each feature to the newer accounts. Some become native, like returns and store credit. Some need an app block. A few may need a small custom extension.
5. Test the full journey. Sign in with a one-time code, find a past order, reorder, update an address. Do it on mobile as well as desktop.
6. Tell customers. A short email and a line on the login page explaining the new code-based sign-in saves support tickets.
7. Switch at a quiet moment. Avoid launches, sales and the end of a trade ordering week.

If you run B2B and DTC side by side, test both journeys separately. Our note on running B2B and DTC in one store or two covers why those paths behave differently.

What happens to our account customisations?

This is the question that decides how big the job is. On legacy accounts, customisation usually means theme code. On the newer version, Shopify points to app blocks added through the visual editor.

That's a better model to live with. Changes no longer depend on a developer editing account templates by hand. But it means old custom code doesn't simply move across. Each feature needs a new home, which is why the list in step three matters.

Once you're on the newer version, the account area stops being a forgotten corner of the theme. If you sell in more than one country, our guide to customising your theme and checkout by market is a useful next step.

Where parallel helps

The upgrade itself is not a big project. The risk is in the details nobody wrote down, like a reorder button a trade customer relies on every Monday.

We handle this kind of platform change inside our Shopify support packages. We audit what your account area does today, map it to the newer version, test the journeys and plan the switch around your trading calendar. Maintain starts at £400 a month for stable stores. Optimise and Accelerate add monthly improvements, so an upgrade like this is scoped and shipped as part of the rhythm.

Not sure which version your store is on, or what the switch would touch? Book a call and we'll look at it with you.