Help · Validation rules
Blocked countries
List the countries you don't ship to, and checkout stops those orders at the address form, before there's anything to refund.
What this rule does
Some markets you just don't serve: no carrier contract there, no tax registration, or compliance rules say no. Shopify's own market settings cover most of this, but a checkout-level block is the backstop that catches what slips through, and it shows the buyer your message instead of a generic error.
When to use it
- You sell in the US and Canada only and want everything else stopped with a clear message
- Sanctions or compliance rules for specific countries
Countries are listed as two-letter codes (CU, RU). A listed country always hard-blocks. There is no warn level for lists: listing a country is a decision, not a suspicion.
What your buyer sees
Blocklists always act at checkout. Your buyer sees the message right at the address field, before payment, and checkout continues only with an address you can serve. Our default message:
You can replace it with your own wording in the rule's settings.
If a check can't run for any reason, the order goes through untouched. We never hold up a sale on our own uptime.
Set it up
Open Address Verifier in your Shopify admin, go to Settings, and pick Blocked countries. Add your entries (one per line), write your own checkout message if you want one, and save. Changes are live on your next checkout. No deploy, no theme edit.
New installs start with an empty list. Add an entry and it blocks on your next checkout.
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