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Caretaker · Leftovers from apps

Your theme points to a file that no longer exists

Last updated: 2026-11-13

What Caretaker found

One of your theme's files asks Shopify to include another file (a snippet or a section), but that file is no longer in the theme. This almost always happens when an app is uninstalled: the app deleted its own file but left behind the one line that called it.

Open Technical details on the issue in Caretaker to see the file name and the line number, for example layout/theme.liquid, line 304.

Why it matters

Where that line runs, Shopify cannot find the file and prints an error instead, such as "Liquid error: Could not find asset snippets/old-app.liquid". Depending on where the line is, customers may see this on every page, on product pages only, or in the footer. If the missing file is a section in a page template, that part of the page may not show at all.

This is marked Fix soon because customers can see it.

How to fix it

You will remove one line from a copy of your theme, check the copy, then publish it. Your live store does not change until you publish.

  1. In Shopify admin, go to Online Store → Themes.
  2. Next to your live theme, click … and choose Duplicate. Wait for the copy to appear in your theme library.
  3. Next to the copy, click … and choose Edit code.
  4. Open the file named in Caretaker's technical details and go to the line number shown. The line will look like {% render 'something' %} or {% include 'something' %}, and something is the name of the missing file.
  5. Delete that whole line, from {% to %}, and click Save.
  6. Click … next to the copy, choose Preview, and look through the pages where the error used to be.
  7. If everything looks right, choose Publish on the copy. Then press Scan now in Caretaker: the issue moves to fixed.

If the missing file is a section in a page template (the file name ends in .json), it is easier to remove it in the theme editor: open the copy with Customize, find the section that shows a warning on that page, and remove it.

If you change your mind

Your previous theme stays in Online Store → Themes, so you can publish it again in one click. Inside the code editor, each file also keeps its older versions.

Working with a developer

Click Copy report at the bottom of the Issues page and send it to them. It lists each file, line and missing file name. For them, this is a one-line change per finding, in a duplicate of the live theme.

When you can ignore it

Rarely. If you still use the app that the file belonged to and it is supposed to add that file back, reinstalling or reconnecting the app may restore it. Otherwise, remove the line.

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