11. Giftnote Known Limitations & Workarounds
What Giftnote can't do yet, or can't do because of Shopify, with a workaround where one exists, so you can plan around it before a busy period.
Written By Giftnote Team
Last updated 36 minutes ago
Things Giftnote can't do yet, or can't do because of how Shopify works, with a workaround where one exists. Read it before a busy period so nothing catches you out.
Accurate as of September 2026. We update this page as features ship.
Quick reference
No longer limitations
These were on this page before our big September 2026 update. You no longer need the old workarounds.
- Can't turn off Send Now: now you can, in Settings → Gift Orders → Advanced → Delivery Methods. Each delivery option (Send Now, Send Later, On Delivery, On Fulfillment) has its own switch. No CSS needed.
- No search in the Giftnote dashboard: Gift Orders now has a search icon and Filter.
- Cancelling an order doesn't cancel a scheduled note: open the gift order in Giftnote and choose Archive. Giftnote stops processing it. You can't undo this, and Giftnote has no delete. Cancel the order itself in Shopify. Send Now gifts also wait 15 minutes after checkout, so an order cancelled or flagged for fraud in that time doesn't send.
- Failed Multi Gift orders raise no alert: the Multi Gift - Error (Staff) notification now goes to your shop contacts when a multi-gift order has a problem. In busy periods, still check Multi Gift orders against Shopify daily, and give corporate buyers a direct contact.
Gift message widget
One gift note per order
Giftnote stores the gift message on the order, so one message covers the whole order. You can't give different items different messages.
Workaround: for several recipients, use Multi Gift. For a split shipment, mention in the message that items are arriving separately.
Split shipments: one parcel decides when the note sends
On a split shipment, one fulfilment decides when an On Delivery note goes out. Giftnote tracks each parcel, and you can choose which parcel counts from the order in Giftnote (Change fulfillment / Update tracking).
Workaround: pick the parcel the recipient will open first, and word the message so it makes sense whichever parcel arrives first.
Product exclusions can't be set per line item
You exclude products with Hidden products in Settings → Gift Orders → Advanced. Those products don't show the gift message option on the product page. There's no per-item control within an order.
Workaround: check whether an exclusion loses you more gift orders than the confusion it saves.
The widget loads on every page
The app embed loads across your whole theme and can't be limited to certain pages. On pages without the widget, it shows nothing and only loads a background script.
Custom CSS can be overwritten by updates
When Giftnote ships an update, custom button styles can reset to the defaults. Nothing protects them.
Workaround: keep a copy of your CSS outside Shopify and paste it back after an update. You don't need CSS for labels and display options (default delivery method, hide On Delivery, hide phone input). Set those in Settings → Gift Orders → Widgets.
Publishing a new theme turns the widget off
Publishing a new theme, even a copy of your current one, turns the Giftnote app embed off. The widget disappears until you turn it back on.
Workaround: after publishing, go to Online Store → Themes → Customize → App embeds and switch Giftnote Control Panel back on. Paste back any custom CSS. Settings → Overview → Online store widgets shows whether the app embed is on for your published theme.
The checkout widget needs Shopify Plus
Only Shopify Plus stores can add apps to checkout.
Workaround: use the product page and cart drawer widgets, which work on every plan.
Checkout widget branding can't be removed
Shopify controls checkout, so you can't remove the branding there. On the pop-up widget, you can remove "Powered by Giftnote" on the Professional plan.
Gift cards and currency
Variant names can't show local currency symbols
A variant named $50 reads $50 for a UK customer, even though the theme, cart and checkout show £50. Shopify doesn't support changing currency symbols in variant names.
Workaround: take the symbol out of variant names and let the price show the currency, or add a theme override.
Discounts when a gift card is spent can't be controlled
Giftnote controls how discounts affect a gift card when someone buys one (Allow Discounts in Settings → Gift Cards → Advanced). It can't control discounts when the card is spent, because that happens in Shopify's checkout.
Customers can use several gift cards at once
Shopify's checkout lets a customer apply more than one gift card and use the combined balance. Giftnote can't limit this.
Gift card balance can't be edited after issue
Shopify doesn't let anyone raise or lower a gift card's balance once it's issued.
Workaround: to add value, issue a new card for the difference. To reduce value, disable the card and issue a replacement. To disable it, open the card in Giftnote and choose Disable, or use Shopify admin → Products → Gift Cards.
No printable PDF gift card
Giftnote can't create a printable PDF of a gift card.
Workaround: recipients can print or screenshot the gift card email.
Giftnote's own emails carry "Powered by Giftnote"
Emails sent by Giftnote's built-in email system have "Powered by Giftnote" in the footer. You can remove it on the Professional plan.
Workaround: on Core, send through Klaviyo, where you control the design, sender domain and branding.
Dashboard and reporting
Gift message export has limits
Settings → Exports → Gift Orders CSV exports every gift order with its status, delivery method, total, customer and recipient, for the date range you choose. Gift card and liability exports are on the same page.
Workaround: if you need gift message text or sender details that aren't in the CSV, chat with us and ask for a manual export. Privacy rules mean we can't include every field.
Scheduled confirmations show UTC, not local time
In the previous version of Giftnote, the customer's confirmation email showed the scheduled time in UTC, which confused people ("I scheduled 9am but the email says 2am").
Workaround: none. The message still goes out at the time the customer chose. Only the time shown in the email is wrong, so you can reassure the customer.
Notifications and delivery
Gift messages are plain text only
No rich text, HTML, bold, italics or images.
Gift messages are capped at 210 characters
When you edit a gift message in the Giftnote app, you can use up to 210 characters, about two or three sentences.
No WhatsApp notifications
Giftnote sends notifications by email and SMS only. WhatsApp is on the roadmap, with no date yet.
Recipients can't reply to subscribe by SMS
Replies go to Giftnote's sending number, not yours.
Workaround: put a link or a text-to-join keyword in the message.
No built-in gift note fee on non-Plus stores
Only Shopify Plus stores can add a fee for gift messages without code (Settings → Gift Orders → Advanced → Surcharge & visibility).
Workaround (needs a developer): use the giftnote_saved and giftnote_removed JavaScript events to add or remove a surcharge product in the cart. See Charging Customers for Giftnote (Developer Setup).
No addressless gifting for single gift orders
For a single gift order, the sender needs the recipient's email or phone number. The recipient can't add their own address later from a gift link.
Integrations
Recipient details never go in bulk to marketing tools
This is a deliberate compliance rule. Gift notes are transactional messages that don't need an opt-in. Adding those recipients to a marketing list would break TCPA, GDPR and CASL rules.
Instead: invite recipients to opt in from inside the gift message. Those who accept join your list lawfully.
GDPR blocks a second email to recipients who haven't opted in
Anything else you want to say has to go in the original gift message.
Check event fields before you branch on them
If your email or SMS templates branch on a field such as SKU, check the event includes it first. Click Preview or Test on the event on that integration's page in Settings → Integrations.
Workaround: if the field isn't there, use separate templates, or branch on a field the event does include.
Multi Gift
Multi Gift is on the Professional plan.
Live shipping rates can fail under load
If a carrier's rate request times out or returns nothing, the buyer sees no live shipping options. Shopify doesn't tell us when it's slowing rate requests down.
Workaround: on the storefront's Shipping tab, keep Fixed Shipping Rates set up even with Use Shopify Rates on. If Shopify returns no rates, Giftnote uses the fixed rates instead. Before a busy period, check carrier-calculated rates are on for every shipping profile you use, and test one order per region.
Testing a settings change
If a storefront setting change doesn't show straight away, wait a few minutes and hard refresh instead of changing it again. Test each change with a new order.
Address autocomplete misses some addresses
Postcode lookup is unreliable outside big cities.
Workaround: recipients can type the address in. CSV upload skips autocomplete completely.
Large catalogues
Split a large range across several collections. Add them on the storefront's Products tab under Additional collections.
The Multi Gift site isn't built to rank in search
It's a private ordering tool on a separate domain. Set a storefront's visibility to Unlisted to hide it from your shop directory and keep the direct link working.
Workaround: build a corporate gifting page on your own store that ranks in search, and link its button to your Multi Gift site.
Notes
- Shopify platform limits (one message per order, fixed gift card balances, variant currency symbols, checkout widget on Plus only) are outside Giftnote's control. Only Shopify can change them.
- Roadmap items are planned but have no fixed dates. If a limitation is costing you sales, chat with us using the chat button in the help centre or in the app, or email support@giftnote.com. Knowing which ones cost merchants money helps us decide what to build next.
- CSS workarounds only change how things look, and may need re-applying after an update or theme change. Keep a copy of your CSS outside Shopify.