Admin / New feature

Automated policies
Shopify creates and updates 5 types of store policies

You can now automate five policies: return and refund, contact information, terms of service, shipping, and legal notice. When you change your store settings, your policies update to match and stay in sync with Shopify's recommended content. The goal is to help you launch your store or expand into new markets faster.

On this page
  1. What's changing (in 30 seconds)
  2. How it works: how settings changes flow into your policies
  3. The 5 policies you can automate
  4. Manual policies vs. automated policies
  5. Responsibilities and what isn't covered
  6. Setup (4 steps)
  7. 5 key points for developers
  8. 3 business use cases
  9. One-line summary for proposals

1What's changing

Until now, merchants wrote their own store policies and had to revise them every time they changed their settings.
Now,turn on "Use automated policy" for a policy, and Shopify keeps its text up to date automatically based on your store settings.

Before: write it yourself, fix it yourself

You write each policy from scratch. When you change store settings like shipping or returns, you also update the policy text by hand.

Automated: stays current with your settings

Policies update automatically when your store settings change and stay in sync with Shopify's recommended content.

2How it works: how settings changes flow into your policies

Change store settings Merchant action Automated policies Applies to policies with "Use automated policy" turned ON Follows settings changes Shopify's recommended content Up-to-date policies Return and refund Contact information Terms of service Shipping Legal notice Faster launch Expanding into new markets
The article names two things policies stay in sync with: "changes to your store settings" and "Shopify's recommendations" . It doesn't say which settings feed into which policy, or when updates happen.

35 policies you can automate

Returns and refunds
Return and refund
Contact information
Contact information
Terms of service
Terms of service
Shipping
Shipping
Legal notice
Legal notice
These five are the only policies the article lists.It doesn't say how other policies, such as the privacy policy, are handled.

4Manual vs. automated policies

ItemManual policyAutomated policy
Creation Manual Merchant writes the text Automatic Generated by Shopify
Keeping up with settings changes Edit each time Auto-updated Updated as store settings change
Shopify's recommendations Review and apply yourself Synced Kept in line with recommendations
Responsibility for policies and legal compliance Merchant Still the merchant
Switching scope — Per policy Turned on individually
Pricing — Not stated

5Responsibilities and what isn't stated

Responsibility stays with the merchant

The changelog states that even with automation, the merchant is still responsible for the policy content and for ensuring the store complies with applicable laws. Review auto-generated text before publishing it.

?

What the article doesn't cover

The article doesn't say which plans, countries, or languages are supported. It also doesn't cover pricing, whether you can partially edit the automated text, or whether APIs or webhooks can manage it. Check the Help Center for details.

6Setup steps (4 steps)

1

Open Settings > Policies

In the Shopify admin, go to Settings, then Policies.

2

Select a policy

Select the policy you want to automate.

3

Turn on "Use automated policy"

Enable Use automated policy.

4

Save

Click Save to turn on automation.

Automation is enabled per policy. To automate all five, repeat steps 2–4 for each policy.

75 key points for developers

1. Store settings are the source of truth

Automated policies follow your store settings. When you change shipping or return terms, the main job is keeping the underlying settings accurate, not editing the policy text.

Automated Manual

2. You can turn it on per policy

Because you enable it policy by policy, you can mix approaches, such as automated shipping terms alongside terms of service written by your legal team.

3. Legal review is still needed after automation

Merchants remain responsible for their policies and legal compliance. Keep a process for reviewing auto-generated text before publishing and after updates.

API ?

4. No mention of an API or webhooks

The article only describes steps in the admin. It doesn't say whether turning automated policies on or off, or updating them, can be handled through the Admin API or webhooks. If you manage several stores together, you'll need to confirm this separately.

5. Built with expansion into new markets in mind

The article names expanding into new markets as a goal, and the Legal notice is also covered. However, it doesn't say how far it handles each country's or region's laws, or how localization works.When you add a market, check each market individually to make sure its required disclosures are covered.

83 practical use cases

USE CASE 1

Stop waiting on policies when building a new store

Challenge
On store builds, launch prep gets delayed while return, shipping, terms of service, and other policy text is still missing.
Approach
Early in the build, turn on automated policies for the 5 supported policies and use them as first drafts. Ask the client's legal team to review the generated text.
Impact
Writing policies shifts from drafting from scratch to reviewing, which shortens the time to launch.
Technical notes
Finalize store settings such as shipping and returns first, so the content reflected in your policies stays stable. Merchants remain responsible, so keep a record once the review is done.
USE CASE 2

Preparing to add markets for cross-border commerce

Challenge
Every time you expand sales to a new country, you have to revisit shipping terms and the wording of legal notices.
Approach
Automate the shipping policy and legal notice so store setting changes made when adding a market are reflected in your policies.
Impact
Less policy revision work when adding markets, so you can expand faster.
Technical notes
The scope of per-market legal compliance and multilingual support isn't specified. Build your schedule assuming you'll confirm required disclosures for each target market with local experts.
USE CASE 3

Preventing mismatches between settings and policies in ongoing maintenance

Challenge
Shipping rates or return windows change, but the policy text stays outdated, leading to customer inquiries and disputes.
Approach
Automate the shipping, return and refund, and contact policies, which track closely with settings, and keep the terms of service manual if you prefer to write it yourself.
Impact
Policies are less likely to go stale after settings change, and your maintenance checklist gets shorter.
Technical notes
Which settings map to which policy text isn't specified. After your first settings change, manually check that the policy diff looks as intended.

9One-line summary for proposals

"A new feature where Shopify automatically keeps five policies (returns, contact information, terms of service, shipping, and legal notice) up to date with your store settings.
Just turn it on per policy to speed up launches and expansion into new markets.
However, merchants remain responsible for legal compliance, so keep a review step in place."