Why Is the Notify Me Button Not Visible on My Storefront?

The Notify Me button lets customers sign up for back-in-stock alerts when a product variant is sold out. If the button is not visible on your storefront, several settings and conditions must be met before it will appear. This guide walks through every reason the button might be hidden and how to fix each one.

Requirements for the Notify Me Button to Appear

Multiple conditions must be true at the same time for the Notify Me button to show on a product page. If any single condition is not met, the button will not appear.

1. The STOQ App Embed Must Be Enabled

STOQ uses a Shopify theme app embed to load on your storefront. If the app embed is not turned on, nothing from STOQ will appear — including the Notify Me button.

To check:

1. Go to Shopify Admin → Online Store → Themes.
2. Click Customize on your active theme.
3. Open App embeds (the puzzle-piece icon in the left sidebar).
4. Find STOQ in the list and make sure the toggle is on.
5. Click Save.

2. The Notify Me Widget Must Be Enabled in STOQ

Even if the app embed is active, the Notify Me signup widget has its own toggle inside STOQ.

To check:

1. Open the STOQ app in your Shopify admin.
2. Go to Back in stock alerts.
3. Open the Widget tab.
4. Make sure the Enable signup widget toggle is on.
5. Click Save.

If this toggle is off, the Notify Me button will not appear on any page.

3. The Variant Stock Status and Visibility Settings

By default, the Notify Me button only appears when the selected variant is sold out (unavailable). If the variant is in stock, the normal Add to Cart button shows instead.

However, STOQ provides two ways to show the button even when a variant is in stock:

• Always show (per variant): Go to Back in stock alerts → Products, find the variant, and select Always show. This forces the Notify Me button to appear for that variant regardless of stock status.
• Show Notify Me button if any variant is out of stock: Go to Back in stock alerts → Widget and enable this setting. When turned on, the Notify Me button appears on every variant of a product as long as at least one variant of that product is out of stock.

If neither of these overrides is enabled and the variant is in stock, the button will not appear. To confirm stock status:

1. Go to Shopify Admin → Products.
2. Select the product.
3. Check the Inventory section — if the variant's available quantity is above 0, it is considered in stock.

4. The Variant Must Not Be in the Disabled Notify Me List

STOQ's Configure Notify Me feature lets you control the button per variant. If a variant is explicitly added to the disabled list, the button will be hidden for that variant even if it is out of stock.

To check:

1. Open the STOQ app.
2. Go to Back in stock alerts.
3. Open the Products tab.
4. Find the product and variant.
5. Make sure the variant is not set to disable the Notify Me button.

5. No Disable Tag on the Product

STOQ supports a product-tag-based rule that hides the button on specific products. If the product carries a tag that matches the configured disable tag, the button will not appear.

To check:

1. Open the STOQ app.
2. Go to Back in stock alerts → Widget.
3. Look for the Disable tag setting.
4. If a tag is configured (e.g. no-notify), check whether the product has that tag in Shopify Admin → Products.
5. Remove the tag from the product or adjust the disable-tag setting in STOQ.

6. The Product Must Be Active and Published to the Online Store

If the product status is set to Draft or the product is not published to the Online Store sales channel, it will not appear on your storefront at all — so neither will the Notify Me button.

To check:

1. Go to Shopify Admin → Products.
2. Select the product.
3. Make sure the status is Active.
4. Under Publishing, confirm the product is published to Online Store.

Collection, Home, and Search Pages

The Notify Me button can also appear on collection, home, and search pages, but each page type has its own toggle.

• Collection pages: Go to Back in stock alerts → Widget → Collection page and enable the toggle.
• Home page: Go to Back in stock alerts → Widget → Home page and enable the toggle.
• Search pages: Go to Back in stock alerts → Widget → Search page and enable the toggle.

If the button appears on the product page but not on collection or other pages, check the toggle for that specific page type.

Common Scenarios

Here are the three most common situations merchants encounter when the Notify Me button is missing.

The Button Was Working Before but Suddenly Stopped

• Theme update: A theme update may have reset the app embed. Go to Online Store → Themes → Customize → App embeds and re-enable STOQ.
• Theme switch: If you switched to a new theme, the app embed needs to be enabled on the new theme.
• Product restocked: If the variant is now back in stock, the button disappears by design. Check the variant inventory.

The Button Appears on Some Products but Not Others

• Mixed stock: By default, the button only shows for out-of-stock variants. If a product has one variant in stock and that variant is selected, the button will not appear — unless you have enabled Always show for that variant or Show Notify Me button if any variant is out of stock.
• Disable tag: One product may have the configured disable tag while others do not.
• Per-variant configuration: The variant may be in the disabled Notify Me list via Configure Notify Me.

The Button Appears on the Product Page but Not on Collection Pages

• Collection page toggle is off: Each page type has its own toggle. Enable it under Back in stock alerts → Widget.
• Product is in stock: On collection pages, the button only appears if the product itself is unavailable (all variants sold out), unless you have enabled Show button if any variant is out of stock.

Known Limitations

• STOQ requires an Online Store 2.0 theme. Online Store 1.0 themes do not support app embeds and the Notify Me button will not work.
• The button only appears for out-of-stock variants by default. To show it on in-stock variants, use the Always show option per variant (Back in stock alerts → Products) or enable Show Notify Me button if any variant is out of stock in the widget settings.
• Variants with "Continue selling when out of stock" enabled are treated as available by Shopify. The Notify Me button will not show unless you use one of the in-stock overrides above or enable Show button on preorder variants in STOQ.
• The disable-tag feature hides the button for any product carrying the matching tag — this applies across all variants of that product.
• If the STOQ app embed is disabled in the theme customizer, no STOQ features will load on the storefront (including preorder buttons, badges, and the Notify Me widget).
• Third-party apps that modify the product form or add-to-cart button may interfere with STOQ's button placement. Contact STOQ support if you suspect a conflict.
• Custom or heavily modified themes may use non-standard HTML structures that prevent STOQ from finding the correct placement for the button.

Troubleshooting

FAQs

Q: Does the Notify Me button show for in-stock variants?

A: By default, no. However, you can force the button to show on in-stock variants in two ways: (1) set Always show for specific variants under Back in stock alerts → Products, or (2) enable Show Notify Me button if any variant is out of stock in the widget settings — this shows the button on all variants if at least one variant of the product is out of stock.

Q: Why does the button appear on one variant but not another on the same product?

A: Each variant is evaluated independently. By default, the button appears only for variants that are out of stock. It can also appear on in-stock variants if they are set to Always show under Back in stock alerts → Products, or if Show Notify Me button if any variant is out of stock is enabled and at least one other variant is out of stock.

Q: I switched themes and the button disappeared. What happened?

A: Each theme has its own app embed settings. When you switch to a new theme, you need to enable the STOQ app embed again. Go to Online Store → Themes → Customize → App embeds and turn STOQ on. You might have to change the selector according to the new theme to show the notify me button. Check How to use dev mode to control placement of notify me widget and signup form

Q: Can I show the Notify Me button on any variant, even if it is in stock?

A: Yes. Go to Back in stock alerts → Products, find the variant, and select Always show. Alternatively, enable Show Notify Me button if any variant is out of stock in the widget settings to show the button on all variants whenever at least one variant of that product is out of stock.

Q: Why does the button show on the product page but not on collection pages?

A: Collection pages have a separate toggle. Go to Back in stock alerts → Widget → Collection page and make sure the toggle is on. Also check that the product is truly out of stock (all variants unavailable), or enable Show button if any variant is out of stock for collection pages.

Q: Does STOQ work with Online Store 1.0 themes?

A: No. STOQ requires an Online Store 2.0 theme because it relies on Shopify's app embed functionality, which is not available on 1.0 themes. You will need to upgrade your theme to use STOQ.

Updated on: 20/06/2026