How do I complete an Etsy custom digital order if the buyer hasn’t downloaded it?

Hi! I’d wait to mark it complete until you’re ready to treat the order as “delivered/final” (i.e., the buyer has approved the proof or you’ve clearly told them this is the final file). If you mark it complete now and they come back wanting changes (or saying they didn’t get it), you’ve basically closed the loop on Etsy’s side and it can get messy—especially since the order was set up as a physical item.

If you’re still within your processing time, the safest flow is:

• Send a quick follow-up message: “Your proof is ready—please reply with approval or edits by ___.”
• If you don’t hear back and your ship-by date is getting close, update/extend the ship-by date (so the order doesn’t go overdue) and message them that you’ve extended it because you’re waiting on their approval.

Once they approve (or once your policies/message clearly state you’ll finalize after X days with no response), then you can Complete order and choose the “no tracking” option that matches a digital delivery / no tracking scenario, and add a short note like “Final files delivered digitally via Etsy Messages on (date).”

For next time (this is the big one): set these up as a made-to-order digital Etsy listing instead of a physical listing. That way you can complete the order by uploading the finished files directly in the order, Etsy emails the buyer that their download is ready, and you’re not relying on them seeing a message or an external download link.

If you tell me how many days your processing time is on that listing, I can suggest a simple timeline (when to nudge, when to extend the ship-by date, and when to finalize).