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We regularly release updates with new sections, features, and bug fixes.
Updates do not involve uploading a theme ZIP to Shopify. Downloading a ZIP and adding it through Online Store → Themes → Add theme is the first install only, and doing it again creates a second, separate theme instead of updating the one you are using.Once your store is connected, every update runs from the Elixir dashboard.

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How to update

  1. Go to the Theme Updates page in the Elixir dashboard.
  2. Confirm your store shows as connected. If it does not, connect it first, see Installing Elixir.
  3. Select the Elixir theme you are actually using from the list of themes in your store.
  4. Run the update.
  5. The updater applies the latest version while preserving your store settings and section configurations.
Pick the theme you are running, not an arbitrary one. The list shows the themes in your connected store. Choosing a different theme updates that one instead, which is why an update can appear to do nothing: it succeeded, just not on the theme you are looking at.If you are unsure which is which, rename your live theme in Online Store → Themes so it is unmistakable before you run the update.

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Installing versus updating

These are two different things and the difference is where the work happens.
The dashboard page you download the theme from is called Premade Templates, which is easy to confuse with page templates. They are different: that page holds the theme itself, while page templates are installed entirely from the Elixir dashboard and pushed to your connected store. You never pick a template from inside Shopify. See Templates.
If the updater fails or cannot reach your store, you can move to the new version by hand instead, see Updating manually when the merger fails.

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What gets preserved

  • Theme settings (colors, fonts, layout)
  • Section configurations and ordering
  • Template assignments

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What may be overwritten

Custom code changes (edits to Liquid, CSS, or JS files) may be overwritten during an update. Always back up your theme before updating if you’ve made code modifications.

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To back up your theme

  1. In Shopify admin, go to Online Store → Themes.
  2. Click the ⋯ menu on your current theme.
  3. Select Download theme file to save a .zip backup.