"I want to replace my current pre-order app. But what happens to the pre-orders I have already taken and the customers waiting for restock alerts?" The scariest part of switching is breaking the promises you have already made to customers.
The safe approach, in short: keep serving open orders in the old app until they are done, and start only new orders in the new app. To do that, work in this order: record open orders and promises → check what carries over → test only with new orders → decide the switch date and rollback → check what the old app leaves behind.
This article is published by JizaiDev, the team behind the pre-order app SellRules. The same approach works whether you are switching to SellRules or moving from SellRules to another app.
Record open orders and promises
The first step is not changing settings but taking stock of what you have promised. Write down what you have told customers, not what is in the app's settings screens.
- Unshipped pre-orders: order number, product, the promised shipping timeframe, payment status (whether payment was already taken at order time)
- Order-taking settings in progress: target products, start and end of the acceptance window, order caps, and the shipping timeframe written on product pages
- Customers waiting for notifications: the list of email addresses signed up for restock or launch alerts
For example, sort it by counts and promises: "23 open pre-orders — 15 promised for this week, 8 promised for the week after; 41 restock signups." If the numbers are large, export from the old app's export feature or from Shopify's order list, and keep screenshots of the settings screens too.
This record becomes the baseline for later checking "did everything carry over?" and "which orders do I handle where?"
Check what carries over and what doesn't
Where each piece of information is stored decides what happens to it after the switch.
| Data | Where it is stored | What happens after switching |
|---|---|---|
| The orders themselves (including pre-orders) | Shopify's order admin | They stay even if you remove the app. Shipping and refunds continue in Shopify |
| The shipping-timeframe text on product pages | Product pages / theme | It stays as it is. If the text is managed by the app, it needs rewriting |
| Notification signup lists and delivery logs | Inside the app | Check whether the old app can export. Often it cannot be carried over |
| Order-taking schedule settings | Inside the app | Recreate the same conditions in the new app |
The key point is that pre-orders are often stored as regular Shopify orders, not inside the app. With SellRules, both pre-orders and made-to-order sales are recorded as ordinary Shopify orders (user guide). Removing the app does not delete the Shopify orders themselves, so shipping and refunds for orders already taken continue on the Shopify side.
On the other hand, data that lives only inside the app — notification signup lists, delivery logs, schedule settings — stops being usable once you remove it. Shopify's help also advises saving any data you need before uninstalling an app. Whether notification signups can be moved depends on the old app's specifications, so do not assume "everything gets transferred" — check how to export and what happens to the data after removal.
Test the new app only on new orders
Do not switch everything at once — start only with orders you have not taken yet.
- Pick one product to test. Choose a product you are about to start accepting orders for, or a test product, not one currently taking orders.
- Set the same conditions in the new app. Enter the acceptance start and end dates, order cap, and shipping-timeframe text while comparing against your records.
- Check it from the customer's side. Verify the button on the product page, the shipping-timeframe display, and how orders come in. If the button or signup form does not appear, the checking order is summarized in what to check when the pre-order button doesn't show.
- Place one test order. See how the order is managed on the new app's side.
Meanwhile, keep products currently taking orders running on the old app. The iron rule is never have the same product in an active order-taking state in both apps at once. If buttons or notifications fire twice, customers receive the same email twice or acceptance conditions collide.
If you want to reconsider which app to switch to, see how to choose a pre-order app, which compares options by when customers pay and by sales rules.
Decide the switch date and how to roll back first
If the test goes well, widen the scope — but decide two things first.
- Switch date: a quiet day for orders, or just before a new acceptance window starts. Avoid the days right before a big launch or weeks when promised ship dates are concentrated.
- Rollback plan: concretely, which steps restore the previous state — "delete the new app's schedules", "turn the theme app embed off", and so on. Keep the old app's settings in place until the switch is stable.
Split order-management responsibility too. Orders taken in the old app are tracked to shipment in the old app (or in Shopify's order admin); orders taken in the new app are managed on the new side. Dividing by order prevents confusion. For how to run orders after acceptance, managing made-to-order orders through to shipment is a useful reference.
Check what's left before removing the old app
Once the switch is stable, remove the old app — after checking four things.
- Have you exported the data you need? Notification signup lists, delivery logs, schedule records. In most cases they cannot be restored after removal. With SellRules, for example, deleting the app removes all of its schedules, rules, notification signup lists, delivery logs and other store data, so the waitlist must be exported to CSV first (guide: Billing and data handling).
- Will billing stop? For apps billed through Shopify's billing system, uninstalling stops future charges, but charges already generated for the current billing period may still appear. If the app bills you outside Shopify, you need to cancel that separately.
- Is anything left in the theme? If the app added code to your theme, uninstalling alone may not remove it. Check the theme's customize screen for app embeds that are on or code left behind.
- Is notification duty down to one sender? Are notifications the old app was going to send (restock alerts and so on) stopped, and are you sure nothing is being sent twice from both apps?
Note that 48 hours after an app is uninstalled, Shopify sends the developer a request to erase the customer personal information it collected (Shopify Help Center). That is one benchmark if you are concerned about personal data remaining with the app.
Switching checklist (with responsibility)
Here is the work so far organized by who checks what and where. For items marked "old app's specifications", check your app's own documentation.
| What to check | Where / with whom | Timing |
|---|---|---|
| Wrote down unshipped pre-orders and promised ship dates | Shopify's order admin / product-page text | Before switching |
| Exported notification signups and delivery logs (exportability depends on the old app) | The old app's screens | Before switching |
| Recorded the schedule settings of products currently taking orders | The old app's settings screens | Before switching |
| Verified the new app's display and orders on a new product | Product page / test order | During the trial |
| No product is in an order-taking state in both apps | Both apps' settings screens | During the trial and switch |
| Order-management responsibility split by order | Your shop's operating rules | At switch |
| Rollback steps decided | Your shop | Before switching |
| Confirmed the old app's billing stops / remaining charges | Shopify billing screen / the old app's guidance | Before removal |
| No leftover code or embeds in the theme | Theme customize screen | Before and after removal |
| No duplicate notifications going out | Delivery log / received emails | After switch |
When this doesn't apply and what to do if it fails
- When there is no rush to switch: if the old app has no serious problems, waiting until a period with fewer unshipped pre-orders or until after a launch is also a valid choice. If the goal is "fixing what's painful", moving when order-taking is quiet is safer.
- When payment is special: if you use payment mechanics unique to the old app — partial upfront payment, pay-later, and so on — first confirm the new app can do the same.
- When you want to migrate notification signups as-is: a feature that moves already-registered customers' notifications into the new app is not offered by most apps. Plan to contact the exported list individually.
- When something goes wrong mid-switch: stop the new app's side (delete its schedules or turn the app embed off) and return to the old app's state. Notifications already delivered cannot be recalled, so if duplicates went out, follow up with a correction to customers.
Frequently asked questions
Will my open pre-orders disappear if I switch apps?
The orders themselves are stored in Shopify, so they will not disappear. However, if delivery-date tracking or the "pre-order" label is handled inside the app, that management view stops working once you remove the old app. Handle unshipped orders through Shopify's order admin and the records of promises you wrote down.
Can I carry over the list of customers who signed up for notifications?
If the old app has an export feature you can write the list out, but you may not be able to migrate it straight into the new app. Check the old app's documentation; if migration is not possible, contact the exported addresses individually or ask them to sign up again in the new app.
Is it OK to have two apps installed at once?
Installing both is fine, but do not have the same product in an active order-taking state in both apps. Keep products currently accepting orders on the old app and only new order-taking on the new app, split product by product.
When should I uninstall the old app?
After you have decided how to handle unshipped pre-orders and exported the data you need, such as notification signups. Uninstalling stops future charges, but depending on the billing cycle the current period may still be charged.
If the switch goes wrong, can I go back?
Yes: deleting the new app's schedules or turning the theme app embed off restores the order-taking state. However, deleted settings and notifications already sent cannot be undone. That is why you decide the rollback steps before switching.
Summary: switch without breaking promises
Switching pre-order apps goes smoothly when you "keep serving the orders and promises you already took in the old app, and start only new orders in the new app". Deciding the record and the rollback plan before you switch is the single best way to avoid failure.
If you try SellRules as the destination, the Launch plan is US$7.99 per month with a 10-day free trial; charges apply if you keep using it after the trial.
For how to manage orders after the switch, see managing made-to-order orders through to shipment; for comparing candidates again, see how to choose a pre-order app.
Features and pricing checked: September 18, 2026. Based on the Shopify App Store listing, the official guide, and Shopify Help Center.
Related articles: How to decide early-access and limited sales
