TechMe

Shopify custom domain not connecting or showing an error

Your Shopify store works on myshopify.com but your own domain does not connect, shows an SSL error, or points elsewhere. The usual reasons and first checks.

You might be seeing

  • Shopify: Your domain isn't connected
  • SSL pending or SSL unavailable in Shopify domain settings
  • Your domain still shows your old website

What it means

Your store lives on Shopify, but your domain is registered somewhere else. To connect them, two settings on your domain must point to Shopify: one for yourdomain.com and one for www.yourdomain.com. If either is missing or points to an old host, Shopify cannot confirm the connection or issue the security certificate.

What usually causes it

  • Only one of the two records was changed, so www works and the bare domain does not, or the other way around.
  • Old records are still there from a previous website, and they conflict with Shopify’s.
  • The domain uses Cloudflare with the orange-cloud proxy turned on, which Shopify does not support for store domains.
  • Changes are still spreading, which can take up to 48 hours, although usually much less.

What you can check yourself

  1. In Shopify, go to Settings → Domains. Note the exact message next to your domain and whether SSL shows as pending.
  2. Log in where your domain’s DNS is managed (often the registrar, sometimes Cloudflare) and look for records named @ and www. Write down what they point to.
  3. Compare them with Shopify’s own instructions for connecting a third-party domain. Shopify shows the values it expects in the domain settings.
  4. If you changed them recently, wait a few hours before changing anything again. Repeated changes make it harder to see what works.

When to ask for help

  • It has been more than 48 hours and Shopify still says not connected or SSL pending.
  • Your email stopped working after you changed the domain settings.
  • You use Cloudflare, or your domain registrar hides these settings.

Tell me your domain and the exact message in Shopify. I can check the current records from outside and give you the precise changes, or make them with temporary access.

Updated