A group shows as Protected: what to do
A Protected group holds profiles Shopify won’t merge, for example a profile that has ever had a subscription contract or holds store credit. MergeGuard can’t bypass Shopify’s rules. It shows the Shopify blocker for each profile, never merges the group automatically, and Audiences can still count the customer as one person.
By MergeGuard team
Last updated
Help topics
At a glance
Open Protected under Show
Protected groups sit under Show, apart from the groups you can merge.
Read the blocker
The list names the blockers, and the review sheet says which profile has which one, such as “Has store credit.”
Decide whether to act
On a protected group the sheet offers Close and Not a duplicate. For a card, store credit or Multipass login, follow only the steps Shopify documents for changing that part of a profile.
Count them as one person where it helps
Audiences can treat the profiles as one person, such as a VIP whose spend sits on two profiles. Their subscription isn’t touched.
Shopify refuses to merge two profiles in nine situations. MergeGuard merges through Shopify, so the same rules apply to it. A group where one of the nine applies shows as Protected. The app also has the labels Gift cards, Merge refused and No reason given, which are in the last three rows of the table below.
Which blockers go away
Some blockers apply only while something is happening, and some stay with the profile.
| Blocker | What to expect |
|---|---|
| A subscription contract, now or in the past | Stays with that profile, because Shopify’s rule also covers past contracts. |
| A B2B company link | Blocked while the profile is linked to a company, and while past B2B orders remain linked to it. |
| A customer profile merge in progress | Applies while that merge is in progress. |
| A customer data request in progress | Applies while the request is in progress. |
| A vaulted card, store credit or Multipass login | Follow only the steps Shopify documents for changing that part of a profile. |
| A deleted or redacted profile | The profile was deleted, or its personal data was erased or is being erased. |
| Gift cards | MergeGuard shows this label when Shopify’s merge check reports gift cards on a profile. |
| Merge refused | Shopify refused to merge that profile with another profile in the group. The sheet names it. |
| No reason given | Shopify said the profile can’t be merged and didn’t say why. |
Why can’t I merge these customers in Shopify? gives Shopify’s wording and the meaning of each of the nine.
What MergeGuard does with a Protected group
- It shows which blocker applies to each profile, as a label in the list and as a sentence on the review sheet.
- It never merges the group automatically, even when automatic merging is on.
- It leaves the profiles as they are in Shopify.
- In Audiences, a customer split across protected profiles can still count as one person.
What it cannot do
MergeGuard can’t merge profiles that Shopify blocks. If you need one of those customers merged, resolve the blocker in Shopify first. If you think a group should not be Protected, write to support@mergeguard.store and describe the group.
Read more about protected profiles.
Need help with this task?
Tell us what you tried and what MergeGuard showed you.
Contact supportRelated
- Why can’t I merge customers in Shopify?Shopify blocks some customer merges. Here are the 9 cases from Shopify’s help page, what each one means, and what you can still do with those profiles.
- Protected profilesSee which duplicate Shopify customers can’t be merged, the Shopify rule that blocks each one, and how MergeGuard still counts them as one person in Audiences.
- Safe merge checklist for Shopify customer profilesShopify customer merges are permanent. Run these 8 checks first: the match, shared emails, kept details, subscriptions, blockers, limits and automation.
- AudiencesMergeGuard Audiences count each Shopify customer once across duplicate profiles, with lists for newsletters, win-back, VIPs and subscribers who may cancel.