Order statuses explained
The full order lifecycle — from draft and pending to fulfilled, and the terminal states like cancelled and refunded.
Every order moves through a defined lifecycle. Knowing the stages helps you process orders correctly and answer customers with confidence. You'll find orders under Sales & Reports → Orders.
The lifecycle
- Draft — the order is being created and isn't visible to the customer yet.
- Pending Review — the default for offline payments (cash on delivery, bank transfer, invoice), waiting for you to approve.
- Pending Payment — the default for online card payments, waiting for the payment to complete.
- Approved → Ready for Fulfillment → Fulfilling — the order is accepted and being prepared.
- Shipped → Delivered → Completed — the order is on its way and finished.
- Cancelled, Refunded, Failed — terminal states the order can end in.
Only valid transitions are offered in the admin, so you can't accidentally jump an order to an impossible state.
Was this article helpful?