Your Inventory page shows units in the Committed column, but you have no orders waiting to ship, so those units can't be sold. Committed stock that never clears is almost always tied to something still open in your admin. This guide explains what Committed means, what keeps units there and how to release them.
What Committed means
Shopify defines Committed as units that are set aside and can't be sold. They are still counted in On hand, but they are taken out of Available so the same unit isn't promised twice.
- Unfulfilled orders: Units in an order you haven't fulfilled yet
- Draft orders: Units reserved for a draft order before it is completed
- Transfers: Units in a transfer that's marked as ready to ship
For the full picture, see Shopify inventory states explained.
Why units stay committed
If Committed won't go down, one of the three sources above is still open. These are the usual culprits.
- Orders never marked fulfilled: Orders shipped outside Shopify, picked up in person, or handled by hand but left as Unfulfilled
- Old draft orders with reserved items: A quote or wholesale draft that reserved stock and was never completed
- Transfers left in Ready to ship: Shopify commits inventory at the origin when a transfer is marked ready to ship
- Fulfillment holds: Orders on hold that can't be fulfilled until the hold is released
Find what is holding the units
Work from the variant back to the source. The adjustment history shows every change to Committed, along with who or what made it.
- Adjustment history: Open the product, then click View adjustment history in the Inventory section and read the Committed column
- Orders: Filter Orders to Unfulfilled and search for the product
- Drafts: Check Orders, then Drafts, for drafts containing the item
- Transfers: Check Products, then Transfers, for transfers in Ready to ship
Release the units
Each source has its own fix. Close the thing that is holding the stock, and Committed follows.
- Shipped but unfulfilled: Open the order and click Mark as fulfilled, or select several orders and use Mark as, then Fulfilled
- Order won't ship: Cancel it with Restock inventory selected, which Shopify selects by default
- Draft no longer needed: Complete it, or let the reservation end. Shopify notes that when a draft order reservation expires, the inventory returns to Available
- Transfer that won't go: Cancel it. Shopify states that canceled transfers return committed items to Available at the origin
Shopify notes that orders assigned to a third-party fulfillment service can't be marked as fulfilled manually, so resolve those with the service.
Prevent it
Committed stock gets stuck when work happens outside Shopify and nobody updates the record.
- ✅ Mark orders fulfilled the same day they ship
- ✅ Set an expiry date when you reserve inventory on a draft order
- ✅ Review the Unfulfilled tab and open transfers weekly
- ❌ Don't adjust Available by hand to work around stuck units, since it hides the real cause
Doing this at scale
Once your counts are clean, the next question is when each item will run out. StockSense forecasts per-SKU demand from your order history, recommends a reorder point, quantity and date, and drafts purchase orders grouped by supplier. See StockSense.