---
title: "Release held or scheduled fulfillments"
description: "Release held preorder fulfillments or open scheduled ones early so the order becomes fulfillable in Shopify."
url: https://help.stoqapp.com/preorders/release-held-preorder-fulfillments/
product: "Preorders"
section: "Manage and troubleshoot / When inventory arrives"
last_updated: 2026-10-26
---

# Release held or scheduled fulfillments

> Release held preorder fulfillments or open scheduled ones early so the order becomes fulfillable in Shopify.

Use this guide if you put preorder fulfillments on hold with [On hold](https://help.stoqapp.com/preorders/on-hold-preorder-fulfillments/) or [Hold all fulfillments](https://help.stoqapp.com/preorders/place-entire-order-on-hold/), or used the [Scheduled](https://help.stoqapp.com/preorders/scheduled-preorder-fulfillments/) status and want to ship before the scheduled date. Releasing or opening makes the fulfillment fulfillable in Shopify, for one order or many at once; you still fulfill and ship it yourself afterward.

## Before you begin

| Requirement | Detail |
|---|---|
| Paid plan | Available on Lite and above |
| Held or scheduled orders | Release applies to On hold / Hold-all orders; Open applies to Scheduled orders |
| Releasing isn't shipping | It removes the hold, but you still fulfill and ship the order in Shopify |

## Choose your setup

Which action you use depends on how the order was held:

- **Release**: for orders held with **On hold** or **Hold all fulfillments**. Shopify keeps these held until they're released, from **STOQ → Reports → Preorders → Orders** (or, for a single offer, open it under **Preorders → Offers** and use its **Orders** tab). These stay held until you release them, unless the offer has an automatic release date set, in which case STOQ releases them on that date. See [On hold fulfillments](https://help.stoqapp.com/preorders/on-hold-preorder-fulfillments/).
- **Open scheduled fulfillments**: for orders with the **Scheduled** status. Shopify opens these automatically on the scheduled date; use this action instead if you want to ship sooner.

## What customers will see

Releasing or opening a fulfillment doesn't ship the order or notify the customer by itself: it only makes the fulfillment available to fulfill. The customer gets their shipping notification when you actually fulfill and ship the order in Shopify afterward.

## Set it up

### Release "On hold" / "Hold all" fulfillments

If the offer uses [Move preorder items to a separate order](https://help.stoqapp.com/preorders/separate-orders-for-mixed-preorders/) with **Hold fulfillments on split orders** turned on, the preorder items STOQ moves out are held on a split order, for example `#1001-SPLIT`. Split orders don't get their own row in STOQ, so release the original order, `#1001`, instead. Releasing the original order also releases the holds on every split order STOQ created from it, for one order or in bulk, so you don't need to release split orders in Shopify admin.

If all of an order's held items moved to split orders, the **Preorder fulfillment status** filter doesn't list it under **On hold**. To find it, click the search icon at the top right of the orders list and type the order name in the **Search by order name** field.

#### One order

1. **Open the order**

   1. Go to **STOQ → Reports → Preorders → Orders**.
   2. Open the held order.

   [Image: The held order open in Reports, Preorders, Orders](https://help.stoqapp.com/images/general/release-held-preorder-fulfillments-1.png)

2. **Release the hold**

   From the **Fulfill order** dropdown, click **Release "On hold" fulfillments**, then click **Release fulfillments** to confirm. STOQ removes the holds on the order and on any split orders created from it, then shows "Fulfillments released".

   [Image: The Fulfill order dropdown with Release On hold fulfillments](https://help.stoqapp.com/images/general/release-held-preorder-fulfillments-2.png)

   [Image: The Release fulfillments confirmation](https://help.stoqapp.com/images/general/release-held-preorder-fulfillments-4.png)

3. **Fulfill in Shopify**

   The fulfillment is now fulfillable, so fulfill and ship it from Shopify as usual.

   [Image: The released fulfillment ready to fulfill in Shopify](https://help.stoqapp.com/images/general/release-held-preorder-fulfillments-5.png)

#### In bulk

1. **Select the orders**

   1. Go to **Reports → Preorders → Orders**.
   2. In **Filter**, set **Preorder fulfillment status** to **On hold** to list every held order, including preorder items held inside mixed orders that show an overall status of **Unfulfilled**. (The **Order fulfillment status** filter follows the order's overall status, so it misses those.)
   3. Check the held orders you want to release (or use **Select all matching** to select every order matching your filters).

   [Image: The orders list filtered by Preorder fulfillment status On hold with orders selected](https://help.stoqapp.com/images/general/release-held-preorder-fulfillments-6.png)

2. **Choose Release On hold fulfillments**

   Use the **Release "On hold" fulfillments** bulk action, listed under **Fulfillment**, then click **Release fulfillments** to confirm. Holds on any split orders created from the selected orders are released too.

3. **Wait for background processing**

   Bulk releases run in the background. STOQ shows a "processing in the background" banner: click **Refresh** in a moment to see the updated orders.

### Open scheduled fulfillments early

#### One order

1. **Open the order**

   1. Go to **STOQ → Reports → Preorders → Orders**.
   2. Open the scheduled order.

   [Image: A scheduled order open in Reports, Preorders, Orders](https://help.stoqapp.com/images/general/release-held-preorder-fulfillments-7.png)

2. **Open scheduled fulfillments**

   From the **Fulfill order** dropdown, choose **Open scheduled fulfillments**. STOQ makes the fulfillment available immediately and confirms with "Scheduled fulfillments opened successfully."

   [Image: The Fulfill order dropdown with Open scheduled fulfillments](https://help.stoqapp.com/images/general/release-held-preorder-fulfillments-8.png)

   [Image: The Scheduled fulfillments opened confirmation](https://help.stoqapp.com/images/general/release-held-preorder-fulfillments-9.png)

3. **Fulfill in Shopify**

   The fulfillment is now fulfillable, so fulfill and ship it from Shopify as usual.

#### In bulk

1. **Select the scheduled orders**

   1. Go to **Reports → Preorders → Orders**.
   2. Select the scheduled orders (or use **Select all matching** to select every order matching your filters).

   [Image: Scheduled orders selected in the orders list](https://help.stoqapp.com/images/general/release-held-preorder-fulfillments-10.png)

2. **Choose Open scheduled fulfillments**

   Use the **Open scheduled fulfillments** bulk action.

   [Image: The Open scheduled fulfillments bulk action under Fulfillment](https://help.stoqapp.com/images/general/release-held-preorder-fulfillments-11.png)

   [Image: The processing in the background banner after opening scheduled fulfillments in bulk](https://help.stoqapp.com/images/general/release-held-preorder-fulfillments-12.png)

3. **Wait, then fulfill**

   The action runs in the background.

   1. Click **Refresh**.
   2. Fulfill the now-open orders in Shopify.

## Check your setup

Open a released order in Shopify and confirm the fulfillment is no longer on hold and ready to fulfill. After a bulk action, click **Refresh** and check the orders in the list.

## Troubleshooting

### An order still shows held after you released it

Bulk actions run in the background, so wait a moment and click **Refresh**. If the order has more than one hold, make sure all holds were released.

### A split order is still on hold in Shopify admin

Release the original order in STOQ, not the split order. Split orders don't have their own row in STOQ. If the offer has **Automatically release holds on a specific date** set, STOQ releases its split orders on that date too; to release one sooner, do it this way.

1. In Shopify admin, open the split order and note the original order's name from its `stoq-split-from-#1001` tag or its **Notes** card.
2. In STOQ, go to **Reports → Preorders → Orders**, click the search icon, type that order name in the **Search by order name** field, and open the order.
3. From the **Fulfill order** dropdown, click **Release "On hold" fulfillments**, then click **Release fulfillments**. This releases every split order that's still held, even if the original order itself is no longer on hold.

STOQ only releases split orders it created. If another app split the order, release that order in Shopify admin.

### In-stock items are still held after you released a preorder order

You likely used **Hold all fulfillments**, which holds every item together and releases them together. If you used the **On hold** status instead, in-stock items were never held in the first place, so there's nothing left to release on them.

### A bulk release or open doesn't finish processing every matching order

Very large operations need to be narrowed with filters to stay under the bulk size limit.

### You can't find Open scheduled fulfillments

For a single order it's in the **Fulfill order** dropdown on the order page, not a separate button. The bulk action in the orders list is a separate path for opening multiple orders at once.

## FAQ

### Do I always have to release manually?

Not necessarily. If the offer has **Automatically release holds on a specific date** set, STOQ releases its held orders on that date on its own, including orders already on hold and the split orders STOQ created from them. Otherwise On hold and Hold-all orders stay held until you release them manually. Scheduled orders open automatically on the date you set; opening them early is optional. See [On hold fulfillments](https://help.stoqapp.com/preorders/on-hold-preorder-fulfillments/).

### Does releasing or opening an order ship it or notify the customer?

No. It only makes the fulfillment available to fulfill. You still fulfill and ship it in Shopify, which is when the customer gets their shipping notification.

### Does releasing charge a remaining balance?

No. Release and open are fulfillment actions only. If the order has a balance owing, collect it separately: see [Collect remaining preorder payments](https://help.stoqapp.com/preorders/collect-remaining-preorder-payments/).

### Can I release or open hundreds of orders at once?

Yes. Select the orders, or use **Select all matching**, then run the bulk action; it processes in the background. For very large operations, narrow the filters first to stay under the bulk size limit.

## Related guides

- [Handle orders after inventory arrives](https://help.stoqapp.com/preorders/handle-orders-after-receiving-preorder-inventory/): The full flow once your restock lands.
- [On hold: setup and flow](https://help.stoqapp.com/preorders/on-hold-preorder-fulfillments/): Hold only the preorder items.
- [Hold all fulfillments](https://help.stoqapp.com/preorders/place-entire-order-on-hold/): Hold the entire order, including in-stock.
- [Scheduled: setup and flow](https://help.stoqapp.com/preorders/scheduled-preorder-fulfillments/): Auto-open fulfillments on a set date.