Required field and default value

Make an option compulsory or pre-fill it — the two settings that determine what happens when a customer leaves an option untouched.

They answer the same question from opposite directions: what happens if the customer ignores this option? Required field prevents them from continuing without making a choice or entering a value. Default value makes the choice for them automatically.

Required field

Blocks Add to cart until the option is filled in.

Tab	Basic
Default	Off
Available on	21 types — every input and selection type except Hidden field and Product links, which do not have a customer-entered value that can be missing.

How it behaves

• On the storefront, the label is marked with the required-field color set in Settings > Design.

• If a customer tries to add the product to the cart without completing the required field, the add-to-cart action is blocked and the validation message appears. The default message is This field is required, and you can edit it in Settings > Translations.

• The page automatically scrolls to the first error. This is controlled by Auto-scroll to first error message in Settings > General, which is enabled by default. See Widget behavior.

• On a Checkbox, required means at least one box must be selected. To require exactly two of five choices, use Min and max selections instead.

• On a File upload, required means that at least one file must be attached.

What counts as filled in

Type	Satisfied when
Text, Textarea, Number, Phone, Email	Any character has been entered
Select, Dropdown, Radio, Button, swatches	A value is selected
Checkbox	At least one value is ticked
File upload	At least one file is attached
Date and time picker	A date, or a time, or both, depending on the format
Switch	The switch is on
Range slider	A value has been set
Color picker	A color has been chosen
Dimension	Every axis row has a value

Be careful when combining Required field with conditional logic. A required option that is hidden by a rule is not enforced — this is intentional, so a hidden field cannot prevent a customer from completing the purchase.

In other words, Required field applies only while the option is visible. Test both branches of your conditional logic before going live.

When to use it — and when not

Use Required field when you genuinely cannot fulfill the order without the customer’s answer — for example, a size, an engraving spelling, or a photo to print.

Do not use it for anything that is optional but nice to have. A required gift message on every product turns a simple purchase into a form to fill in, which can lead to customers abandoning the purchase.

If you’re unsure, leave Required field off and see whether customers choose to fill it in anyway.

Default value

Pre-fills the option so that a customer who makes no changes still submits a value.

Tab	Basic
Default	Empty
Available on	18 types. It takes four different shapes depending on the type — see below

Shape	On these types	What you enter
Free text	Text, Textarea, Email, Phone, Hidden field, Range slider	Any text, or a number for the slider
Number	Number	A number, which must fall inside Min value and Max value
Value picker	Select, Dropdown, Color dropdown, Image dropdown, Radio, Checkbox, Button, Color swatch, Image swatch, Font picker	One of the option's own values, chosen from a list. Multi-select types accept several
Color	Color picker	A color

How it behaves

• The option appears pre-filled on the product page, and the default value is submitted unless the customer changes it.

• A default value with an add-on price is charged immediately. The customer sees the higher price as soon as the page loads, without having to make a selection. This can be useful for a paid upgrade you expect most customers to choose, but it is also the most common reason for questions like, “Why is this product more expensive than the listed price?”

• On a value-picker type, the default must match one of the option’s current values. If you rename or delete that value, update the default as well.

• On a Number field, a default outside the minimum or maximum is rejected while editing, with the message The value must be between min and max.

• The Personalizer displays the default value in the live preview, so a text layer has content to show before the customer starts typing. See Text layers.

Good uses

Situation	Default
Most customers pick the standard size	Preselect it — fewer decisions, faster checkout
Quantity-style number field	1
Free option among paid ones	Preselect the free one, so nobody is charged by accident
Personalizer text layer	Your name, so the preview is not blank
Hidden field carrying fixed information	The value itself — that is the whole purpose of the type

Required field and Default value, both on the Basic tab.

Required or default?

You want	Use
The customer must actively decide	Required field, no default
A sensible answer if they do not care	Default value, not required
They must decide, but you want to nudge one option	Both — but make sure the default is the free or safest choice
Nothing at all should be submitted when they skip it	Neither

Setting both is usually unnecessary: an option with a default value is never empty, so Required field cannot fail. The exception is a value picker where the default value may be removed later.