Reviewed November 7, 2026

404s After a Theme Change: Where Shopify Redirects Actually Live

You launch a new theme, and the next morning Search Console shows a spike in 404s. The instinct is that the theme change deleted something. It did not delete your redirects, because redirects do not live in the theme. They live in the store's Navigation settings, and a theme change cannot touch them.

The 404s come from somewhere else, and finding where is a short investigation with a specific answer.

What actually breaks in a theme change

A new theme changes template names, section structures, and sometimes URL handles for pages and collections. A collection that was at /collections/summer-sale under a handle the old theme used can end up at a different URL if the new theme renames the handle, and every link to the old URL starts returning 404. The redirect that would have caught it does not exist yet, because nobody created one for a URL that used to work.

Custom pages are the second source. A page built with the old theme's sections can lose its content or its template on migration, and a page whose template no longer exists returns a 404 even though the page still exists in the admin. The fix is to assign the page a template the new theme actually has, which is a two-minute change once you know to look.

The third source is the theme's own links. A new theme ships with its own navigation and footer links, and if those were not rebuilt to match the old ones, the store's own menus start pointing at URLs that never existed. The store's navigation links to itself wrong, and the 404s come from inside the house.

The redirect workflow that prevents the next spike

Before a theme change, export the current URL list from Search Console and from the sitemap, and keep it as the baseline. After the launch, compare the new sitemap against the baseline and create a redirect for every URL that changed or disappeared. Shopify's URL Redirects live under Content, then Navigation, then URL Redirects, and they accept a CSV import for bulk work.

Create redirects before the launch, not after. A redirect that exists when the new theme goes live catches the first visitor to the old URL. A redirect created the next morning catches the second visitor, and the first one already saw a 404 and may already be gone.

Check the redirects after creating them. A redirect that points to another redirect, or to a URL that also 404s, is worse than no redirect, because it sends the visitor in a circle. Test each one, and keep the redirect list short: redirect to the closest live page, not to the homepage, because a homepage redirect tells the visitor nothing about where their page went.

What to do with the 404s that remain

Some 404s are fine. A URL that never existed, linked from a spam site or typed wrong by a user, does not need a redirect. The 404s that matter are the ones with traffic, the ones Search Console shows as linked from real pages, and the ones that used to be real pages. Fix those, and let the rest be 404s, which is what they are supposed to be.

Frequently asked questions

Does changing my Shopify theme delete my redirects?

No. Redirects live in Navigation settings, not in the theme, and a theme change cannot touch them. The 404s after a launch usually come from changed URL handles or templates.

Where do I create redirects in Shopify?

Under Content, then Navigation, then URL Redirects. You can create them one at a time or import a CSV for bulk redirects.

Should I redirect old URLs to the homepage?

No. Redirect to the closest live page, so the visitor lands somewhere relevant. A homepage redirect tells the visitor nothing and reads as a dead end.

Do I need to fix every 404 Search Console shows?

No. Fix the ones with traffic, the ones linked from real pages, and the ones that used to be real pages. A URL that never existed does not need a redirect.