Most publishes finish in seconds. When something goes wrong, this guide covers the common problems and how to resolve them.
Publish button is disabled
Cause: The project has no layouts — the Publish button is disabled on an empty project.
Fix: Create a layout in the Layouts & layers panel, select it, then click Publish.
An upgrade prompt appears
Cause: Your plan doesn't allow publishing this layout type, or you've reached a publish limit for it.
Fix: Some layout types and features require a paid plan:
Feature | Plan |
Publish your home page | Starter and up |
Publish a cart drawer | Pro and up |
Publish to a draft theme | Pro and up |
Shopify Markets across all layout types | Business |
Product and collection templates and custom headers and footers also require a paid plan. Your plan's exact limits are shown in Settings → Plans. Upgrade there, or unpublish an existing layout of the same type to free a slot within your current limit.
Instant Embed not enabled
Cause: Instant Embed isn't active on your target theme, so Instant prompts you during publish.
Fix:
In the prompt, click Enable in Shopify.
In the Shopify theme editor, turn on Instant Embed under App embeds (Shopify's own label).
Click Save in the Shopify editor.
Return to Instant and click Verify & Publish.
You can instead choose Skip & Publish to publish without the embed, but pages may load slower and dynamic features may not work reliably. Enable the embed for production storefronts.
Publish succeeds but the page isn't visible
Possible causes and fixes:
Wrong theme — Check the target theme in Settings → Shopify. If you published to a draft theme, the layout isn't on your live storefront. Switch to the live theme and republish, or use Shopify's theme preview.
Store is password-protected — The public sees Shopify's password page. See Password-protected stores.
Handle changed — Confirm the URL in the layout's settings General tab under Handle.
Home page not set — If you expect the page at your root URL, confirm it's set as your home page and published.
Product or collection template not applied
Cause: No products or collections are assigned to the template.
Fix: Open the layout's settings General tab and assign the products or collections. Assignment takes effect without republishing.
Section not in the theme editor
Cause: The section wasn't published, or its Use in Shopify settings restrict where it can appear.
Fix:
Confirm the section shows as published.
In section settings, check Use in Shopify and enable Templates, Header, or Footer as needed.
Republish if you changed Use in Shopify.
Open the Shopify theme editor and add the section.
Cart drawer not appearing
Cause: The cart isn't published, isn't set as your main cart, or Instant Embed is missing.
Fix:
Confirm you're on the Pro plan or higher (required to publish carts).
Publish the cart layout.
In the cart's settings, choose Set as main cart.
Enable Instant Embed on your theme.
Turn on Instant cart actions in the cart's settings if add-to-cart buttons don't open the drawer.
Publish fails during deployment
Cause: A temporary connection issue, a Shopify error, or output that's too large for Shopify.
Fix:
Wait a moment and publish again.
Confirm your Shopify connection is active in Settings → Shopify.
If the output is too large, split large pages or templates into sections.
Contact support with the error message and layout type if it persists.
Changes not appearing after republishing
Cause: Browser or Shopify caching, or content managed in Shopify overriding Instant.
Fix:
Hard-refresh the page (
Ctrl+Shift+R/Cmd+Shift+R) or check in an incognito window.Confirm you edited and published the correct layout — check the name in Layouts & layers.
If text or media is managed in Shopify, enable Overwrite content in Shopify in the publish menu's Advanced options, then confirm the Overwrite all Shopify content? dialog when you publish. See Manage content in Shopify.
Republish all layouts
If you switched themes or several layouts seem out of sync, go to Settings → Shopify → Published layouts → Republish all. This redeploys every published layout to the currently selected theme.
Still stuck?
Contact support with the layout type, target theme, the error message, and whether Instant Embed is enabled.