Shopify Guest Checkout: Setup, Fixes, and Best Practices

You paid to bring a shopper to your cart. Then a forced sign-up screen makes them leave. That is the exact problem Shopify guest checkout solves. This guide covers what guest checkout is, who it helps most, how to switch it on, how to fix it when the option goes missing, and how to keep customer data without adding friction. I’m Charlie Ngo – BOGOS’s Marketing Manager. I help Shopify merchants set up promotions and checkout flows every day, so these steps and fixes come from real stores.

TL;DR

• Shopify guest checkout lets shoppers buy without creating an account. It removes one of the top reasons people abandon a cart.
• Turn it on in four clicks: Settings → Checkout → Customer contact method → turn off “Require customers to log in to their account before checkout” → Save.
• 19% of shoppers abandon a cart when a store forces them to create an account (Baymard Institute).
• If the guest option is missing, check two settings: customer accounts set to “Required,” and the “require sign-in” toggle.
• Keep guest checkout on, then invite buyers to make an account after they pay. You get the sale and the customer.

1. What is Shopify guest checkout?

Guest checkout is a way for customers to buy without creating an account. It is sometimes called anonymous checkout.

A guest enters only what the order needs: contact details, a shipping address, and payment. Your store keeps the order record and the email. It does not save a customer profile or a password.

Account checkout works the other way. The shopper signs in first, and the store saves their details for next time. That speeds up repeat orders and supports personalized marketing. The downside is a slower first purchase. This table shows the two side by side.

2. The benefits and drawbacks of guest checkout

Guest checkout helps shoppers but costs you some data. It helps three groups most: first-time buyers who don’t trust you yet, one-time and gift buyers who won’t return soon, and mobile shoppers who don’t want to type a password on a phone. Two-thirds of shoppers expect to check out in four minutes or less (Shopify), and guest checkout helps you hit that bar. Here is the honest split so you can decide.

The benefits

The biggest benefit is fewer abandoned carts. 19% of shoppers leave because a store wants them to create an account, according to Baymard Institute’s latest data. Guest checkout removes that barrier outright.

The problem is large. The average cart abandonment rate is 70.22% across 50 studies tracked by Baymard. When you remove friction, you keep more of the sales you already paid to get, which is why a smooth checkout is a key part of improving your conversion rate.

Shoppers want it, too. Nearly half of online shoppers say they prefer to check out as a guest, mainly because it feels faster (Capterra).

The benefits in short:

• Less friction. Guests skip account creation, so fewer first-time buyers quit.
• More speed. A guest can finish in about two minutes.
• More trust. New shoppers share only what the order needs, which feels safer.

The drawbacks

The drawbacks affect you, not the shopper. Each one is fixable.

• Less data. A guest order stores the email and the order, not a full profile.
• Fewer follow-ups. Without an opt-in, you can’t send promotions or abandoned cart reminders.
• Harder tracking. Thin data makes order history and buyer behavior tough to map.
• Weaker loyalty. Re-engagement and rewards work best with accounts.

I’ll show how to recover almost all of this data further down, without slowing the sale.

3. How to enable guest checkout on Shopify

Guest checkout is built in. You switch it on with a setting, not an app.

• Step 1: From your Shopify admin, go to Settings → Checkout.

• Step 2: In the Customer contact method section, choose phone number or email.

• Step 3: Turn off “Require customers to log in to their account before checkout.”

• Step 4: Scroll down and click Save.

Shoppers can now buy without an account.

Guest checkout and customer accounts can work together, so you don’t have to pick one. A second setting, Customer accounts, controls this. Go to Settings → Customer accounts, where you’ll find three options (Shopify Help Center).

• Choose Optional, and shoppers can buy as a guest while still being able to create an account if they want. This is the best choice for most stores, because it keeps guest checkout fast and still lets shoppers sign up when they choose. The other two options are stricter.
• Disabled removes all sign-in links, so everyone checks out as a guest.
• Required removes guest checkout, so every buyer must create an account.

If you do choose Required, Shopify’s newer sign-in method reduces the friction. These accounts are passwordless. Instead of creating a password, a shopper signs in with their email and a 6-digit code that Shopify emails them. This helps most when a customer forgets a password, which used to cost you the sale. With a code, there is no password to forget, so even a required account stays fast.

4. Guest checkout not showing? How to fix it

Sometimes the guest option vanishes, and the cause is almost always a setting. Run this quick checklist.

• Customer accounts are set to “Required.” Switch them to “Optional” in Settings → Customer accounts.
• “Require sign-in before checkout” is on. Turn it off in Settings → Checkout. This single toggle blocks guest checkout, and Shopify support confirms that requiring login removes the guest option.
• The new accounts screen threw you off. After Shopify moved to new customer accounts, some merchants look under “Customer accounts” and miss the toggle, which lives under Settings → Checkout.

One note worth knowing: when you require sign-in, Shopify hides accelerated buttons like Apple Pay in the cart, so shoppers can’t skip the login (Shopify Help Center). If your express buttons disappeared, this setting is the likely reason.

5. Pair guest checkout with Shop Pay and accelerated checkout

Guest checkout removes the account requirement, but you can make checkout even faster with accelerated checkout buttons.

Accelerated checkouts are one-tap payment buttons like Shop Pay, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. A returning shopper taps one, and their saved shipping and payment details fill in on their own. There are no forms to type.

The data shows a clear benefit. Shop Pay lifts conversion by up to 50% over guest checkout and is 4x faster (Shopify). Even when a shopper doesn’t tap it, the button’s presence alone adds about 5%.

So offer both. Show the guest option and the accelerated buttons side by side. The one mistake to avoid is forcing sign-in, which hides these buttons in the cart, as explained above. When you keep them visible, you serve both returning shoppers who want speed and first-time shoppers who want a guest checkout.

6. Turn guests into loyal customers without losing the sale

You don’t have to choose between conversions and data. You can have both.

The method is simple. Keep guest checkout as the default, then invite the shopper to create an account after they pay. You already have their name, email, and address, so it takes one tap, and with no password to set, the sign-up is quick.

You also keep one thing from every guest order: the email. You can use it for order updates first, then for promotions once the buyer opts in.

Our app helps here. With BOGOS, you can create a magic link – a unique URL that gives a discount only to the shoppers who open it. Put that link in a follow-up email, and the deal reaches the exact guests you want to bring back. This strategy works especially well on seasonal sales like Christmas or BFCM.

When a guest does create an account, you can reward them by name: tag those customers, and BOGOS can run incentives like free gifts, discounts that only the tagged group receives. A one-time guest becomes a repeat buyer, which raises both loyalty and your average order value.

One edge case: if you sell subscriptions, a guest must create an account later to manage their plan. Tell them how in the order confirmation email, and you avoid support tickets.

7. Best practices for a high-converting guest checkout

Turning guest checkout on is step one. These habits make it convert.

• Show the guest option up front. Give a clear choice: check out as a guest, or sign in. Don’t hide it below the sign-in form.
• Ask only for what you need. The ideal checkout shows 12 to 14 form elements, yet the average US checkout shows 23.48 (Baymard). Fewer fields mean more finished orders.
• Show full costs early. Surprise fees are the top reason for abandonment, at 39% (Baymard). Put shipping and tax in the cart, not the final step.
• Optimize for mobile. Most guest shoppers arrive from social and ads on a phone. Test the flow on a small screen and keep buttons large.
• Cut page loads. Fewer pages means fewer chances for shoppers to leave, so a one-page checkout can help.
• Show trust signals. Display SSL and recognizable payment logos near the pay button. New buyers look for them.
• Invite an account after the sale. A prompt after the order is done is welcome, because you are not slowing the purchase.

For more details on the full flow, our guide to checkout optimization covers each step from cart to confirmation.

Conclusion

Shopify guest checkout removes one of the biggest reasons shoppers quit, since 19% leave when a store forces an account. You can turn it on in four clicks, and you can fix a missing option by checking two settings.

The best stores do more than that. They keep guest checkout on, pair it with accelerated checkout, and invite an account after the sale. This keeps both the sale and the customer, and it is one of the most reliable ways to make more Shopify sales.

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