A complete guide: Block & Redirect rules

Overview

Block & Re-director is where you decide who can reach your store. A rule in the Blacklist tab either shows a visitor the blocking page (Block) or sends them to another URL or Shopify Market (Redirect); a rule in the Whitelist tab always lets a visitor in, even when a Blacklist rule would stop them. This guide covers how the tabs work together, what you can block by, and how to create and manage rules; each rule type has its own article with the details.

What you'll learn

• Blacklist vs Whitelist
• Block vs Redirect
• Redirect destinations: External URL or Shopify Market
• What can you block by?
• How to create a rule?
• Rules Blockify adds for you
• Import a list from CSV
• The order Blockify checks your country redirect rules
• Manage your rules
• Who can use this feature?

Blacklist vs Whitelist

The rule list has two tabs. Blacklist holds every Block and Redirect rule; Whitelist holds the exceptions. Blockify checks Whitelist rules before block rules, and known good bots, such as Google's, are always let in first.

Example: block Australia and whitelist one Australian IP address. Only that IP address gets in from Australia.

See Create a whitelist rule.

Block vs Redirect

Both live in the Blacklist tab and use the same conditions; the difference is what happens to a matching visitor.

Redirect destinations: External URL or Shopify Market

Every Redirect rule has a Redirect to picker. External URL: type any full URL. Shopify Market sends visitors to one of your markets; the URL comes from Shopify, so there are no typos and it updates automatically when you change your markets. Each rule has its own destination.

How to redirect to a Shopify Market?

Step 1: Go to Block & Re-director > Blacklist, click Redirect and pick the rule type you need.

Step 2: Under Redirect to, select Shopify Market.

Step 3: Open the Pick a market… dropdown and choose a market. The list shows every market in your Shopify admin with its name and URL; if it is empty, click Shopify Market once more to load your markets again.

Step 4: Optional: in Path, enter the page to add after the market URL, for example /collections/sale. It must start with /; blank means the market homepage. With Keep visitor's current page on, the visitor lands on the same page in the new market and Path is ignored.

Step 5: Check the Preview card, fill in the rest of the rule (condition, Displayed name (optional)) and click Save.

After saving, the market name appears as a tag on the rule in the Blacklist tab.

Market unavailable

If a market linked to a rule is disabled or deleted in Shopify, the rule gets a red Market unavailable tag and matching visitors are sent to the homepage of your primary market instead. Edit the rule and pick another market or switch to External URL to clear the tag.

What can you block by?

How to create a rule?

Step 1: Open Block & Re-director > Blacklist and choose Block or Redirect.

Step 2: Click the button for what you want to block by, for example Block IP Address.

Step 3: Set the status. Enable makes the rule active as soon as you save; Disable stores it without applying it.

Step 4: Fill in the fields for that rule type (see its article), add a private note if you want one, then click Save.

Private note and Quick templates

At the end of every rule form you can add a private note explaining why the rule exists; customers never see it. Quick templates insert a ready-made note such as High chargeback rate region, Fraud spike - review monthly, Per CS team request or Temp block - review Q1. Include a date or ticket number for easier tracking later.

After saving, the note appears in the rule list.

Rules Blockify adds for you

When Auto-block visitors placing fraud orders catches a risky order, Blockify adds an IP block rule to the Blacklist tab. Its Source column reads Auto-block followed by the order number, which opens the order in Shopify. To see every rule from this source, set the Source filter to Auto-block.

These are ordinary rules: you can add a note, edit or delete them.

Rules added by Auto-block IP from high-risk orders at checkout go to Block Checkout > Block checkout access instead; see Auto-block IP from high-risk orders at checkout.

Import a list from CSV

IP address, IP starts with and IP range (CIDR) rules accept Upload CSV instead of a Manual list; a sample file is linked in the form.

The order Blockify checks your country redirect rules

The Blacklist table has an Evaluation order column: the order Blockify checks your rules. Blockify checks each rule type separately, in the order shown, and the first rule a visitor matches wins. Blockify sets this order; you cannot change it by hand. When a country redirect rule's countries are all covered by an earlier rule, its Description shows a Never reached badge with the reason, for example "Rule 1 already redirects visitors from France, so they never reach this rule." A partial overlap shows a line such as "Visitors from Canada are redirected by rule 1 first." Only one Redirect all except rule can exist; if one is saved, Blockify asks you to edit it instead.

See Block or redirect by country.

Manage your rules

The Blacklist table shows Evaluation order, Criteria, Description, Block or redirect, Note, Source, Created at, Last updated and Action for each rule. Country rules made with Block all except read "Country - Exclude: …", and Shopify Market redirects show the market tag (or a red Market unavailable tag).

Search and filter

The search box (Searching by IP, country, state/province, internet provider) finds IP addresses, countries, states, cities and internet provider names. It does not search notes. Use the filters to narrow the list:

Bulk actions

Tick the rules you want, then choose Turn on, Turn off or Delete. Delete asks you to confirm before removing the selected rules. To change a single rule, use Edit in its row.

Rule summary

While you create or edit a rule, the Rule summary card recaps the status, action (Block, Redirect or Allow), condition, destination, mode (Block specific or Block all except) and the values you entered. Check it before you click Save.

Who can use this feature?

Block, Redirect and Whitelist rules by IP address and country are available on all plans (Free plan: 2 active rules and visitor logs for your first 200 unique visitors). Block all except needs a paid plan; IP start with rules are available on all plans. State, province and city, user agent, and product, collection, page and custom URL rules need the Premium plan and above. IP range, ISP and Referrer URL rules need the Enterprise plan and above.

FAQs

1. What happens if I block and redirect the same IP address or country?

The rule you created first applies. If you blocked country A and later added a redirect for country A, visitors from A see the blocking page.

2. Does a whitelisted visitor get past the Proxy & VPN blocker?

Only if the whitelist rule has Whitelist if these accesses use VPN ticked. Otherwise a whitelisted IP that is detected as a VPN or proxy is still stopped.

3. I reached my rule limit on the Free plan. Does the extra rule still protect my store?

No. A rule beyond the limit is not turned on and the rule list says so; visitors matching it can still access your store.

4. Can I see who created or changed a rule?

No. Use the private note to record the reason and the person or ticket behind a rule.

5. How is a Shopify Market redirect different from Shopify's automatic market redirection?

Shopify's redirection (Settings > Markets > Preferences) sends visitors to their own country's market on the same page. Blockify lets you choose the destination page and redirect on conditions Shopify does not handle: IP address, internet provider, browser or device, or the website a visitor came from.

6. I have no Markets yet. What do I see under Redirect to?

The Shopify Market option is disabled with a link to Settings > Markets in your Shopify admin. Use External URL meanwhile.

Updated on: 16/10/2026