This guide explains what happens to a shopper’s work in the customizer when they pause, leave, or want to start fresh.
On the normal shopper flow, the customizer keeps a browser draft for the same product. Restoration depends on browser storage remaining available and the saved fields still matching the product. Merchant preview and cart-edit flows do not use this draft save-and-restore path.
Progress saves automatically
As a customer fills in the personalization fields, the customizer saves their progress to their browser’s storage. This happens in the background as they type, so they never press a save button to keep their work. There is a small delay (the save is debounced) so it only writes once they pause, not on every keystroke.
When a compatible draft loads for the same product in the same browser, a temporary “Welcome back! Your design has been restored.” note appears. Review the restored values before continuing, especially if the merchant has changed the product’s fields since the previous visit.
If they would rather begin again, the same note has a “Start over” option. Selecting it clears the restored design so they can build a fresh one.
Saved progress is kept for 30 days. After that, the saved draft expires and the customer starts from the product’s defaults.
Start over
Start over sits at the top of the editor, never next to Add to cart. Depending on the merchant’s design settings it is a text button, an icon, or an item in the “⋯” menu, and a merchant can also hide it.
Start over returns the fields to their defaults. It clears the customer’s entries and removes the saved draft for that product, so the design starts clean. Right after, a “Design cleared” message offers Undo for a few seconds, which brings the previous entries back. The welcome-back note offers the same Start over.
When editing an existing cart item, Start over instead discards the new edits and returns to that cart item’s saved personalization. It does not start a new product configuration.
Storage warnings
Some browsers block or limit local storage, for example in strict private-browsing modes or when a device is low on space. When the customizer cannot save to storage, it tells the shopper: “Your browser storage is full or disabled. Your progress won’t be saved between visits.”
This warning does not stop them. The customer can still personalize the product and add it to cart in that session. The customizer falls back to keeping the design in memory for the visit. The one thing they lose is the cross-visit restore: if they close the tab and come back later, the design will not be waiting for them.
If a shopper reports this warning, suggest one of two things: enable storage for your store in their browser settings, or finish the design in one sitting and add it to cart before leaving.
Common questions
Does the customer need an account to save a design?
No account is needed for the normal browser draft. It stays in that browser; the current controls do not provide a Share action to move it to another device.
How long is a browser draft kept?
The browser draft expires 30 days after its last save, unless browser storage is cleared earlier. This draft lifetime is not a promise about order records or external links.
Can a shopper undo Start over?
Yes. Start over clears the design and the saved draft for that product, then shows a Design cleared message with Undo for a few seconds. A photo that was still uploading is not brought back.
Does publishing a product enable the Share button?
The current controls have Start over but no Share action. Publishing does not add that earlier control.
A shopper said their design disappeared. What happened?
The most common causes are using a different browser or device, clearing browsing data, private-browsing or full storage (they would have seen a storage warning), or more than 30 days passing since the save.
Next, see personalization form fields to understand exactly what gets saved when a shopper fills in a product.