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Update Local

Update Local: how to install a new version of the theme from the Shopify Theme Store and keep your settings and content.

Applies to: Local 4.2.1 and later. Added in: Local 1.0.0. Last checked: 2026-10-13 against Local 4.2.1.

Update Local from your theme library to get the newest version. Shopify adds the new version as a copy of your theme, with your settings, sections and content, so you can check it before you publish it.

Where to find it: Shopify admin → Online Store → Themes

Theme updates are controlled by Shopify, not by Local. Shopify decides how an update is offered and what is carried over. See Update your Shopify theme and Shopify's Updating themes.

Before you update

  • Shopify offers updates only for themes added from the Shopify Theme Store, not for uploaded theme files.
  • Read the notes of the new version on What's new in Local, so you know what changed.
  • Make a list of any changes you or a developer made to the theme files (Edit code). Custom CSS and Custom HTML / Liquid sections are settings and carry over; file edits may not.
  • Keep the current theme as it is until the updated copy is checked.

Updating Local to a new version

Open the update notification

Open Shopify admin → Online Store → Themes. On your Local theme, select the update notification that replaces the version number. Select View release notes to see what changed.

Add the new version as a draft

Select Add to draft themes (or the update button Shopify shows). Shopify adds a copy named "Updated copy of" followed by your theme name. Your live store does not change yet.

Check the updated copy

Open the copy in the theme editor and check your main pages: home page, a product page, a collection page, the cart, and any pages that use custom templates. Check the store selector, popups and maps if you use them.

Redo your code edits

If you had edited theme files, check them in the copy. Shopify says on the theme card whether it could include your code edits; if not, make them again in the copy.

Publish the updated copy

When the copy looks right, select Publish on it in Shopify admin → Online Store → Themes. Your store now runs the new Local version.

What the update keeps

Shopify carries these over to the updated copy:

  • Theme settings, including colors, fonts and every Theme settings group.
  • Sections and blocks you added, removed, reordered or hid, with their settings, images and text.
  • Templates you created, for example extra product or page templates.
  • App embed and app block settings.
  • Wording you changed in Edit default theme content.

A setting that a new version renames or removes does not come back under its old name. The release notes on What's new in Local list those changes.

Do I lose my code changes when I update?

Possibly. Shopify tries to copy edits of theme files to the new version, and the theme card then says whether it could include them. Edited files in assets/, such as a changed JavaScript file, are replaced by the new version's files. Keep a copy of every code change before you update. Krown support does not move custom code between versions; see Custom work and code changes.

Code edits to section schemas, for example a raised block limit, can make an update fail. Keep custom code in Custom CSS or in Custom HTML / Liquid sections where possible. See Custom CSS and code.

How do I know the update worked?

Shopify admin → Online Store → Themes shows the new version number on your published theme. Your pages look the same as before, plus the new features of the release.

How Local is built

How Local is built: theme settings, section groups, sections with their own blocks, product grids made of blocks, and Flex sections with theme blocks.

Local video guides

Local video guides: the setup tutorial and the theme presentation by Rihab Seb, with a summary of what each video covers.

On this page

Before you updateUpdating Local to a new versionWhat the update keepsDo I lose my code changes when I update?How do I know the update worked?Related pages