Why some Shopify draft orders don’t show up in POS

Which draft orders show up in Shopify POS?

POS shows drafts made in POS at any of your locations, and drafts made in the Shopify admin, but not drafts created by other apps or integrations. The list opens on POS drafts at your location, so admin drafts and other stores’ drafts are there but filtered out. A paid draft becomes an order, and a draft left a year without edits is deleted.

Why does Shopify POS say “No drafts found” when I can see the draft in my admin?

Usually it’s the filter: Drafts opens on POS-made drafts at your location. Set Sale type to Admin, try other stores under Sale location and search the draft’s number. If it’s under no filter at any location and the draft is open in your admin, another app or an integration most likely made it, and POS doesn’t list those.

To change the filter, tap the order icon, then Drafts, tap the Sale type filter and choose Admin. On the iPad the filter has just two options, POS and Admin, so there’s no way to list every draft at once.

To search, keep the filter on Admin and type the draft’s number in the Search bar at the top of Drafts. An admin draft is found; for an app-made draft, search says “No drafts found”.

For loading, editing and checking out drafts once you’ve found them, see the guide to draft orders in Shopify POS.

Why can’t I see a draft order from another store location in Shopify POS?

The Drafts list starts filtered to the location you’re logged in to. POS can retrieve drafts made at any of your locations, so the drafts saved at your other stores are still there, just filtered out. Tap the Sale location filter and pick the other location, and its drafts appear.

Why don’t draft orders created by an app or the API show in Shopify POS?

POS lists a draft according to where it was created, and that’s fixed the moment the draft is made. Drafts made by other apps, integrations or the API are left out of the Drafts list and search under every filter, and there’s no setting in POS or on the draft that changes it. Duplicate it in the admin instead (below).

A Shopify team member said on the Shopify developer forum: “The Drafts list in POS only surfaces drafts that were created in POS or directly in the admin”.

Later in the thread, the same team member said they “can’t confirm whether a change is planned”. Merchants have asked for app-made drafts to show in POS the way admin drafts do.

How do I get an app-made draft order into Shopify POS?

Duplicate it in the Shopify admin. POS can’t list the original, but the copy is an admin draft with the same line items and customer, so POS lists it under the Admin filter and staff can open it at the counter.

1. In the admin, go to Orders > Drafts and click the app’s draft.
2. Click Duplicate. The copy is a new draft with its own number.
3. Check the total against the original. Discounts, shipping rates and products removed from your catalog aren’t copied, so re-add any discount, and add shipping under Add shipping or delivery. Avoid a Custom rate: POS removes a custom shipping rate when it loads an admin draft into the cart.
4. In POS, open Drafts and set the Sale type filter to Admin. The copy is in the list.
5. Check that the app that made the original no longer needs it. Then delete the original or close it in that app, so the customer has only one draft that can be paid.

If an app makes drafts for you every day, some App Store apps load drafts into the POS cart from inside POS instead. As of October 2026, their listings say the draft is deleted after checkout, and one says it adds drafts “created by any app or system”. The comparison of save-cart and draft apps for Shopify POS covers them.

If staff will finish an order at the counter, make the draft in POS or the admin from the start.

Why is there no Drafts option in my Shopify POS?

Drafts in POS are a POS Pro feature. Shopify’s help page on POS drafts says they’re “available only for locations that are currently on the Shopify POS Pro subscription.” Check the plan for the location you’re logged in to. The POS Lite vs POS Pro comparison for counter orders shows what changes with Pro.

Where did my Shopify draft order go?

A draft also leaves the list when it’s paid (look under Orders), deleted, or removed by Shopify after a year without edits; see why Shopify deleted your draft orders.

If what you’re missing was never saved as a draft, it may have been a recent cart. POS saves the cart in the background once you add an item or a customer, lists it under the Cart header rather than Drafts, and deletes it after 24 hours by default. Recent carts also don’t reserve inventory, so if staff need an order to wait, save it as a draft. The guide to recent carts vs draft orders explains the difference.

What can staff do with a draft once it shows in Shopify POS?

Load it to the cart and check it out like any sale. If the order has to be made up first, print a prep ticket with Prep Ticket, from Countermade. From any draft made in POS or the admin, including the copy you duplicated from an app’s draft, it prints item names, quantities, customer and notes, with no prices.

Whoever makes up the order sees what to make and who it’s for, and the prices stay at the counter. Prep Ticket prints through the iPad’s print dialog (AirPrint) and, like drafts in POS, needs POS Pro. The guide to printing a draft from POS covers every way to print one.

Find the draft now

Open Drafts, set the filter to Admin and search the draft’s number. If it still isn’t there, duplicate it in the Shopify admin.

Prep Ticket isn’t on the Shopify App Store yet. Get early access from Countermade, the Shopify POS apps from Invenire Studios: we’ll email you when it’s ready to try.