# Shopify Additional Scripts Stopped? Fix Purchase Tracking {#post-title}

[cPixel](/blog/#blog-cpixel)

By [B2B Gold](/about/#how-we-write) Published 24 September 2026 Updated 25 September 2026

## What stopped working on Shopify’s Thank you page? {#what-stopped-working-on-shopifys-thank-you-page}

Shopify’s Thank you and Order status pages no longer run Additional scripts or script tags. Plus stores lost them on 28 August 2025; for other stores the deadline was 26 August 2026, and Shopify upgraded any store that missed it automatically. Meta, Google Ads and affiliate purchase tags there stopped without an error. Move them to Customer events.

On a store not on Plus, Additional scripts stopped the day its pages were upgraded, whether you upgraded them or Shopify did. Of the 26 August 2026 deadline, Shopify says: “Stores that weren’t upgraded by that date were upgraded automatically” ([upgrading the Thank you and Order status pages](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/checkout-settings/customize-checkout-configurations/upgrade-thank-you-order-status)). An upgrade replaces both pages and every customisation on them, and pausing a store upgrades them too ([non-Plus upgrade guide](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/checkout-settings/customize-checkout-configurations/upgrade-thank-you-order-status/upgrade-guide)).

| Date | Shopify Plus | Other plans |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 28 August 2025 | Thank you and Order status pages stop running Additional scripts, checkout.liquid and script tags | The Additional scripts box becomes view-only |
| 26 August 2026 | — | Upgrade deadline, after which Shopify upgrades the stores that missed it; script tags stop on both pages |
| 1 October 2026 | Apps can no longer create or update script tags | The same |
| 1 March 2027 | Shopify stops loading script tags on storefront pages | The same |

Sources: Shopify’s upgrade page above, and shopify.dev on [checkout.liquid](https://shopify.dev/docs/storefronts/themes/architecture/layouts/checkout-liquid), [Order status script tags](https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/online-store/script-tag-deprecation/order-status) and [storefront script tags](https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/online-store/script-tag-deprecation/storefront), checked 24 September 2026.

One more change catches goals built on addresses. The upgraded Thank you page ends in `/thank-you` rather than `/thank_you`, so a conversion goal or trigger that matched the old address stopped matching ([Shopify](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/checkout-settings/customize-checkout-configurations/upgrade-thank-you-order-status/replace-google-tag)).

## How do I know if my tracking broke? {#how-do-i-know-if-my-tracking-broke}

If an ad platform’s purchases fell while Shopify’s orders held steady, the measurement broke, not your sales. Compare the two over the same days, starting from the day your pages were upgraded rather than from 26 August.

- **Check Shopify’s own numbers.** In **Analytics** → **Reports**, filter **Category** to **Marketing** and open **Performance by referring channel** or **Performance by UTM campaign** ([marketing reports](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/reports-and-analytics/shopify-reports/report-types/default-reports/marketing-reports)). Shopify records order and analytics data when the order is processed, so browser privacy features and ad blockers don’t touch these reports ([app pixels](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/promoting-marketing/pixels/app-pixels)). A September 2026 [Community thread](https://community.shopify.com/t/two-weeks-after-the-aug-26-script-tag-cutoff-what-actually-broke-and-why-it-reads-as-a-sales-drop/679402) suggests watching paid-channel orders there rather than total orders, which can stay flat while paid orders fall and organic orders rise.
- **Line up the dates.** Google Ads’ standard conversion columns count purchases on the date of the click, not the purchase ([Google](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/6270625)), so a break on one day can look like a slow decline. Its **Conversions (by conv. time)** column counts by purchase date.
- **See how purchases arrive.** In Meta Events Manager, compare the Purchase event’s browser and server counts for the weeks before and after your pages were upgraded, as replies in an August 2026 [thread](https://community.shopify.com/t/meta-reporting-fewer-purchases-than-shopify-after-the-aug-26-checkout-upgrade-is-anyone-else-seeing-this/672772) suggested. If the browser share collapsed while server events held, a browser tag stopped: a server copy of every purchase hides the loss in the totals, and one that covered only some purchases doesn’t.

## What replaces Additional scripts? {#what-replaces-additional-scripts}

Customer events: an app pixel from the platform’s own app where one exists, a custom pixel where none does, and app blocks for anything shoppers see. Shopify recommends app pixels first, for stability, security and performance ([replacing Additional scripts](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/checkout-settings/customize-checkout-configurations/upgrade-thank-you-order-status/additional-scripts)).

- **Tracking** moves to pixels under **Settings** → **Customer events**. Both kinds load on your storefront, checkout, Thank you and Order status pages ([pixels overview](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/promoting-marketing/pixels/overview)). The differences are in [app pixels and custom pixels](/blog/shopify-app-pixels-vs-custom-pixels/).
- **Visible content**, such as a survey, an offer or a download link, becomes an app block on the new pages, because a pixel can’t show anything.
- **Theme code isn’t a way round it.** Your theme’s layout applies only to non-checkout pages ([theme layouts](https://shopify.dev/docs/storefronts/themes/architecture/layouts)), and app embeds can’t load on checkout pages or the Order status page ([app embeds](https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/online-store/theme-app-extensions/configuration#restrictions)).

Your old scripts are already off, so the risk now runs the other way: adding the same tag through two new routes. Shopify asks you to remove existing copies of a pixel before adding it again, or events count twice ([managing custom pixels](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/promoting-marketing/pixels/custom-pixels/manage)).

## How do I move a Meta, Google Ads or TikTok purchase tag? {#how-do-i-move-a-meta-google-ads-or-tiktok-purchase-tag}

Install the platform’s own Shopify app first: each tracks purchases without code. Use a custom pixel only for a platform with no app, or a tracking app to run several platforms from one place.

### Meta {#meta}

In **Sales channels** → **Facebook & Instagram** → **Settings** → **Data sharing settings**, choose a level. Standard uses the Meta pixel; Enhanced and Maximum add Meta’s Conversions API, which sends the purchase between Shopify’s and Facebook’s servers ([Facebook data sharing](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/promoting-marketing/analyze-marketing/meta-data-sharing)). The server setups compared: [set up the Conversions API on Shopify](/blog/shopify-conversions-api/). If purchases are still short afterwards, see [Meta pixel not tracking purchases](/blog/meta-pixel-not-tracking-purchases-shopify/).

### Google Ads and GA4 {#google-ads-and-ga4}

Shopify recommends replacing a Google Tag Manager script on the Thank you page with the Google & YouTube app, because Google maintains it ([Shopify](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/checkout-settings/customize-checkout-configurations/upgrade-thank-you-order-status/replace-google-tag)). Connect your Google Ads account there for conversion measurement, and your GA4 property too ([Google & YouTube setup](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/online-sales-channels/marketplaces/google/getting-setup/connect)). Keeping Tag Manager means a custom pixel that subscribes to `checkout_completed`, a route Google doesn’t support and Tag Assistant can’t test.

### TikTok {#tiktok}

TikTok’s Shopify app has three data-sharing levels: Standard uses the TikTok pixel, Enhanced adds the Events API and advanced matching, and Maximum adds Shopify APIs and in-app checkout ([TikTok, updated February 2025](https://ads.tiktok.com/help/article/data-sharing-tiktok-app-shopify)).

### With a tracking app {#with-a-tracking-app}

cPixel, which we build, moves several platforms at once. Its app pixel, **cPixel** under **Customer events**, runs on checkout and the Thank you page, and it rebuilds each server-side purchase from Shopify’s order rather than from the page, so the August change didn’t affect it. It has no permission to add script tags at all. It sends purchases from its servers to Meta, TikTok, GA4, ChatGPT Ads, Pinterest and Snapchat, and fires Google Ads’ conversion tag in the shopper’s browser on the Thank you page.

Start with [set up cPixel](/docs/cpixel/getting-started/), or go straight to [connect Google Ads to cPixel](/docs/cpixel/connect-google-ads/). More about [cPixel, which sends Shopify purchases to seven ad platforms](/shopify/cpixel/).

## What can a pixel not do that a script could? {#what-can-a-pixel-not-do-that-a-script-could}

Touch the page. Pixels run in Shopify’s sandbox, so they can’t show shoppers anything, read what’s on the page, or run before the consent they require.

- **Show content.** Pixels can’t render buttons, forms, banners or modals ([pixels overview](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/promoting-marketing/pixels/overview#pixels-sandbox-limitations)).
- **Read the page.** They can’t pick up events, product details, email or phone numbers, link clicks, scrolling or heatmap data from it. On storefront pages, publish what you need from theme code with `Shopify.analytics.publish()` and subscribe to it in the pixel.
- **Reuse old snippets.** A snippet that read the order ID from the old page has to take it from the event instead: `checkout_completed` carries the order ID, total, currency and line items ([Shopify](https://shopify.dev/docs/api/web-pixels-api/standard-events/checkout_completed)). Pasted unchanged into a custom pixel, a legacy snippet can fail without an error, because the sandbox can’t reach the page and even the address it reads is the sandbox’s ([Shopify: web pixels](https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/marketing/pixels)).
- **Ignore consent.** Pixels wait for the permissions they require wherever your store asks for consent.

## Why did my event counts drop after moving to pixels? {#why-did-my-event-counts-drop-after-moving-to-pixels}

Mostly consent. Shopify says pixels track customer behaviour only with consent, whereas consent was often not set up properly in Additional scripts, so fewer events after the move can be the right number ([replacing Additional scripts](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/checkout-settings/customize-checkout-configurations/upgrade-thank-you-order-status/additional-scripts)).

- **Some drop is expected.** Shopify also expects single-digit percentage dips, because some bots don’t trigger the pixel sandbox ([migrating pixels](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/promoting-marketing/pixels/pixel-migration#troubleshooting-after-migration)).
- **Consent has to reach Shopify.** A third-party cookie banner must sync its choices through Shopify’s Customer Privacy API, or pixels stay silent even after a shopper accepts. With a custom domain, customer accounts need a subdomain of it, such as `account.example.com`, or pixels and consent won’t work on the new Order status page ([replacing Additional scripts](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/checkout-settings/customize-checkout-configurations/upgrade-thank-you-order-status/additional-scripts)).
- **Counts can also rise.** The same event tracked from an app, a custom pixel and leftover theme code counts more than once: see [why Meta counts purchases twice](/blog/duplicate-purchases-meta-shopify/). Compare numbers from the same service only.

## How do I test the new setup? {#how-do-i-test-the-new-setup}

Place a test order and watch it in three places: Shopify’s Pixel Helper, the platform’s own test tool, and the platform’s reports a day later. For tags outside Shopify’s pixels, [check whether a pixel is working](/blog/check-if-pixel-is-working/) in the browser.

1. In **Settings** → **Customer events**, choose **Test** from an app pixel’s menu, or click a custom pixel and then **Test** ([app pixels](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/promoting-marketing/pixels/app-pixels)). If Pixel Helper shows **Pixel is awaiting consent**, accept your cookie banner or click **Give consent to continue test**.
2. Browse, add to cart and complete the order. Each event should get a green dot, ending with `checkout_completed` ([testing custom pixels](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/promoting-marketing/pixels/custom-pixels/testing)).
3. Watch the purchase arrive in the platform’s own test tool. Meta’s **Test events** lists browser events only, unless a server send carries a test event code, which real sends don’t; a purchase sent only from a server, such as cPixel’s, shows in cPixel’s **Live** instead. Google’s Tag Assistant can’t see tags inside a custom pixel, so check Google Ads itself.
4. If you sell post-purchase offers, send the order through one: Shopify fires `checkout_completed` on the first offer page instead of the Thank you page, and not at all if that page fails to load.
5. A few days later, compare the platform with Shopify’s marketing reports again.

## Frequently asked questions {#frequently-asked-questions}

### I’m on Shopify Plus. Did this affect me? {#im-on-shopify-plus-did-this-affect-me}

Not on 26 August 2026. Plus stores’ Thank you and Order status pages stopped running Additional scripts, checkout.liquid and script tags on 28 August 2025, so if your tracking has worked since then, the 2026 date changed nothing. Storefront script tags are next for every plan: apps can’t create or update them from 1 October 2026, and Shopify stops loading them on 1 March 2027.

### What about post-purchase upsell pages? {#what-about-post-purchase-upsell-pages}

They move the purchase event. With post-purchase offers, `checkout_completed` fires on the first offer page, once, and never if that page fails to load, so test with an order that goes through your offer. An offer that an app drew on the Thank you or Order status page with a script tag needs the app’s block for the new pages instead; a reply in the September [thread](https://community.shopify.com/t/two-weeks-after-the-aug-26-script-tag-cutoff-what-actually-broke-and-why-it-reads-as-a-sales-drop/679402) notes that this loss shows up as a fall in average order value rather than as broken tracking.

### What about affiliate postbacks? {#what-about-affiliate-postbacks}

If the tag fired from the Thank you page, it stopped too. Ask the network whether it has a Shopify app that uses an app pixel; failing that, a custom pixel can fire the tag on `checkout_completed`. For a commission you can’t afford to miss, ask whether the network accepts server postbacks, which a developer can send from Shopify’s order [webhooks](https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/webhooks) without any page loading.

[cPixel Facebook Pixel CAPI GA4](/shopify/cpixel/)

cPixel is a Shopify app that sends your store’s events to Meta, TikTok, Google Analytics 4 and OpenAI’s ChatGPT Ads from shoppers’ browsers and from its own servers, with one shared event ID so each platform can keep a single copy. A live view shows each send, with the platform’s reply to server sends, and alerts flag a rejected token or stalled tracking.

[Install free on the Shopify App Store](https://apps.shopify.com/cpixel?utm_source=b2bgold.app&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=blog&utm_content=blog/shopify-additional-scripts-tracking&utm_term=post-cta) [Plans and pricing](/shopify/cpixel/#pricing) [cPixel docs](/docs/cpixel/)

Need help with cPixel? Email [support@b2bgold.app](mailto:support@b2bgold.app).

## More on cPixel {#related-heading}

- 24 September 2026 **[Shopify App Pixels vs Custom Pixels, Explained](/blog/shopify-app-pixels-vs-custom-pixels/)** How Shopify's Customer events run tracking: app pixels versus custom pixels, what each sandbox allows, and why a pixel shows Optimized or waits for consent.
- 24 September 2026 **[GA4 Purchases Don't Match Shopify? Why, and the Fix](/blog/ga4-shopify-purchases/)** Why GA4 shows fewer or more purchases and less revenue than Shopify, from consent and ad blockers to duplicate tags, and what server-side purchases can fix.
- 24 September 2026 **[How to Improve Event Match Quality on Shopify](/blog/event-match-quality-shopify/)** What Meta's Event Match Quality score measures, which customer details raise it on a Shopify store, how consent limits it, and the fixes that need no code.