Toggle Usage Limit on to cap how many times a link can be used. There are two limits, and you can use either one on its own or both together.
Total uses
Tick Total uses and enter a number. The link works that many times, then stops.
Leave the number blank and it means once — one successful purchase, then the link is done. That is what a total limit has always meant, so links you created before this setting existed keep working exactly as they did.
Use it for giveaways, contest prizes, limited drops, or any offer where you know exactly how many you are willing to sell.
Once per customer
Tick Once per customer and each customer can buy through the link once. Everyone else can still use it.
Use it for welcome discounts, first-purchase offers and loyalty rewards — anywhere the deal is meant to be one per person rather than one in total.
This limit needs the Checkout Rule. See below.
Using both together
The two limits are independent, so ticking both is the interesting combination: the link works 50 times, and only once per customer. That gives you a campaign with a hard ceiling that no single shopper can drain on their own.
Neither limit affects the other. Turning one off leaves the other running.
Seeing how many are left
When a total limit is on, the link editor shows how it is doing — for example 42 of 50 used · 8 left. Once it is used up, it says so.
How each limit is enforced
The two work differently, and the difference is worth knowing.
Total uses is counted after each order. When the last use is taken, the link is set to draft — it stops working, and anyone who opens it lands on your store instead. Because the count happens after checkout, a shopper who is already in checkout when the last use is taken can still finish.
Once per customer is checked during checkout. If that customer has already bought through this link, checkout is blocked with a message explaining the limit.
Adding the Checkout Rule for per-customer limits
Per-customer limits need the Checkout Links validation rule in your Shopify admin:
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Go to Settings > Checkout
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In the Checkout section, click Checkout rules
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Click Add rule
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Select the checkout rule provided by Checkout Links
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Choose the settings you want for that rule
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Optional: if you want checkout to stop when the rule errors, deselect Allow all customers to complete checkout
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Click Save
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Click Turn on
You only need to do this once — after the rule is active, it applies to every link with a per-customer limit.
Starting over
There are two separate reset buttons, because there are two separate things to forget.
Reset count sets the total back to zero. The link can be used its full number of times again. It appears once the link has been used at least once.
Clear customers forgets who has already bought through this link, so those customers can buy again.
One does not do the other. Resetting the count does not let a returning customer buy again, and clearing customers does not give you back any of your total uses. If you are re-running a campaign on the same link and want a clean slate, use both.
Reactivating a used-up link
A link that reaches its total is set to draft rather than deleted, so nothing is lost. Raising the number or resetting the count does not republish it on its own — set the link back to active yourself when you are ready for it to work again.
Tips
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Leave Total uses blank for a true one-time link
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Use both limits together for influencer and press campaigns, where you want a ceiling on the whole campaign and one claim per person
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Per-customer limits identify the shopper by the email or account used at checkout, so someone checking out with a different email counts as a different customer