Managing orders efficiently is key to scaling your e-commerce business. Shopify’s new feature — the ability to filter orders by custom metafields — gives merchants more control and flexibility when it comes to finding and processing specific orders.
In this post, you’ll learn:
- What “order metafields” are and why Shopify introduced order filtering
- How to use filters + saved views
- Use cases and best practices for order metafields
- Tips to integrate this into your fulfillment workflows
What Are Order Metafields & Why Filtering Matters
What are order metafields?
In Shopify, metafields are custom fields that store extra data beyond the standard order attributes (like status, customer, total). You can use metafields to store any business-specific info — e.g. “gift wrap requested,” “custom production notes,” “wholesale vs retail,” or “priority level.”
Shopify’s update: Filter orders by order metafields
Shopify now lets you filter your order list by up to 5 custom metafields.
You can also save those filtered views so you don’t have to reapply them each time.
This enhancement integrates with existing order workflows and metafield types.
Being able to filter by metafields means you can locate orders with specific custom attributes quickly — especially those that need special handling, custom fulfillment, or business-rules.
How to Use Order Metafield Filtering in Shopify
Here’s how you can put this to work in your store:
- Set up your order metafields
- In Shopify Admin, define metafields on orders that you’ll use (e.g. “priority,” “custom_message,” “drop_ship_flag”).
- These metafields should use types compatible with Shopify’s metafield system.
- Go to your Orders list
- In the Shopify admin “Orders” page, you’ll see options to filter.
- Add filters based on your custom order metafields (you can choose up to 5).
- Apply filters and review orders
- For example: “orders where ‘priority’ = High”, or “orders where ‘drop_ship_flag’ = yes”.
- This will narrow your list to only those matching orders.
- Save the filtered view
- Once you’ve configured a filter (or combination of filters), save it as a custom view.
- Later, you can quickly return to that filtered set without rebuilding the filter.
Use Cases: When Order Metafield Filtering Really Helps
Here are scenarios where filtering by order metafields unlocks real value:
- Custom fulfillments / special cases
E.g. you have a metafield “requires_gift_wrapping = yes.” Filter orders needing gift wrap and handle them in a batch. - Dropshipping or third-party fulfillment
Use a metafield like “fulfill_via = dropshipperX” and filter all orders to send to that partner. - Priority / rush orders
Mark certain orders as “priority” and filter them separately so your team can push them ahead of standard orders. - Wholesale vs retail orders
Distinguish “customer_type = wholesale” and filter those separately for different packing or invoicing workflows. - Custom or made-to-order products
Use metafields to flag orders needing customization (engraving, size adjustment) and filter them to a production queue.
Best Practices & Tips
To get the most out of Shopify’s order metafield filters, here are some recommendations:
| Best Practice | Why It Helps |
|---|---|
| Plan your metafields upfront | Define the fields and types you’ll need (strings, numerics, booleans) so they’re consistent. |
| Limit number of filters per view | Shopify allows up to 5 metafield filters in a view — focus on your key attributes. |
| Use meaningful naming conventions | Use clear, consistent names (e.g. priority_level, drop_ship_flag). |
| Save frequently used views | Save filtered views for “priority orders,” “drop ship orders,” etc. for easy access. |
| Train your team | Make sure staff understand what each metafield means and how to use filtered views. |
| Regularly audit your metafields | Over time, some fields may become obsolete — clean them up to avoid noise. |
| Combine with standard filters | Use metafields together with filters like date, status, financials for refined queries. |
Example Workflow
Imagine a store where certain orders require laser engraving. You can:
- Use an order metafield
engraving_required= yes/no. - On the Orders page, add filter:
engraving_required = yes. - Save the view as “Engraving Orders”.
- The production team accesses that view daily, sees only the orders needing engraving, and processes them in that batch.
This reduces the chance that custom orders get overlooked in a sea of regular orders.
Final Thoughts
Filtering orders by custom metafields is a powerful upgrade to Shopify’s order management tools.
By enabling you to find orders via business-specific attributes, it helps streamline custom workflows, improve fulfillment accuracy, and reduce manual juggling.