How to update your Shopify theme without losing customization

How to update your Shopify theme without losing customization

We will explain how to it without losing any of your customizations, or accidentally deleting a Shopify theme.

Upload Shopify theme zip file of newer version. Once this has been done, you can start with the upgrade process.

Step 1: Backup your Shopify theme

Backing up your theme is the first thing that needs to be done.

  1. Navigate to your Shopify Admin tab.

  2. Go to your online store and access the Themes tab.

  3. Click on Actions, followed by Duplicate.

  4. Download the theme to have it as a backup.

Step 2: Customize your upgraded theme

The updated theme has no customizations and will not resemble your shop. So, you need to either customize it from scratch or copy the theme’s settings code from your current theme and add it to the new version.

We will be discussing how to copy your old theme’s settings as it is the easier method to use.

Theme setting

Copy your old theme’s settings

  1. Go to your Shopify Theme Settings.

  2. Select Action, followed by Edit Code.

  3. Scroll down to where it says Config.

  4. Select Settings_data.json.

  5. Copy the entire code (it is quite long).

Paste on the latest version of your theme.

  1. Go to your Shopify Theme Settings.

  2. Select Action, followed by Edit Code.

  3. Scroll down to where it says Config.

  4. Select Settings_data.json.

  5. Paste the code under Settings_data.json on the latest version of your theme.

  6. Test the latest version of the theme and make sure everything is functioning correctly.

Home Page setting

Copy your old theme’s Home page settings

  1. Go to your Shopify Theme Settings.

  2. Select Action, followed by Edit Code.

  3. Scroll down to where it says Templates.

  4. Select Index.json.

  5. Copy the entire code (it is quite long).

Paste on the latest version of your theme.

  1. Go to your Shopify Theme Settings.

  2. Select Action, followed by Edit Code.

  3. Scroll down to where it says Templates.

  4. Select Index.json.

  5. Paste the code under Index.json on the latest version of your theme.

  6. Test the latest version of the theme and make sure everything is functioning correctly.

Product Page setting

Copy your old theme’s Product page settings

  1. Go to your Shopify Theme Settings.

  2. Select Action, followed by Edit Code.

  3. Scroll down to where it says Templates.

  4. Select Product.json.

  5. Copy the entire code (it is quite long).

Paste on the latest version of your theme.

  1. Go to your Shopify Theme Settings.

  2. Select Action, followed by Edit Code.

  3. Scroll down to where it says Templates.

  4. Select Product.json.

  5. Paste the code under Product.json on the latest version of your theme.

Step 4: Test that your newly updated Shopify theme works

The next step is to thoroughly test the latest version of the theme and make sure everything is functioning correctly.

  1. Test the theme and go through everything to make sure that it works.

  2. Publish your theme and enjoy the update.

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