Update your Shopify theme to the new version

After you receive the update notification, update your store theme to get access to the latest version improvements. The notification will replace the theme version number when an update is available. If your theme is up to date, a green check mark icon indicates this. 

First important step

First, you have to back up your existing theme version. It will save the previously changed styles, colors, and any other customizations. Do as follows:

• Go to the Online Store - Themes. 
• Focus on the Actions button and choose Duplicate. This way you will create a duplicate of your theme. 

• Now next to the theme copy (Copy of Relax), you can see the Actions three dots. Choose Rename and enter a new name for a better understanding. 

To finish the backup, you can download your existing theme file. You will receive the theme file in zip format to your admin email address.

Steps to update your theme to the next version 

You have to add a theme to the library to get access to the latest version. Click Add to Theme Library to embody the updated version into your theme library. 

As a result, you can see the Updated copy of your theme and the Current theme version. Now we recommend opening the editor of both versions in separate windows. It will help you to review them side by side. Do as follows:

• Click Edit code in the current theme.
• Click Edit code in the updated copy.
• Make the 2 windows visible in the same area to not miss a thing.

Your task is to transfer files from the current theme version to the new one. Don’t worry it doesn’t take long as you will work only with files from the Templates and Configs folders.

Note: to understand what files to transfer, pay attention to files that have dots next the them. That means they were edited or added to your current theme, namely you or your developers team made changes to them.

Do as follows:

• Open your first file with a dot next to it. 
• Open the same file in the second window. 
• Find the piece of custom code saved in this file (current theme). Copy this code to the same file in the updated theme version.
• Click Save in the updated theme version window.

Note: you need to copy your existing template files to the new version to ensure you keep your customizations in the new theme version after the update.

Repeat this process for all files you have changed in the current theme version!

Note: if you created additional files for your previous (current) theme, please create these files for the updated version, too. You can do it by pressing the Add a new template. Make sure JSON type is selected.

During the next step, you will copy your existing theme settings data like colors, styles, etc. Open the Config folder and click settings_data.json. Do the same copy/paste steps from the current version to the new one. Remember to Save.

That’s it. 

Remaining steps

Test

Before publishing the updated theme, please carefully test your online store. Check that you are satisfied with the look and functionality of the new theme version. 

Publish

Click on Publish theme to make the changes work. 

Congratulations. You updated your live store with the new theme version.