Publishing your changes, and throwing a draft away
3 min read · Updated November 1, 2026
This article is the finish line: how your draft becomes the shop your customers see, and how to take changes back.
Read it before your first publish, then keep it for the day something needs taking back.
Before you start
Publishing needs the Publish Store Appearance permission, which is separate from the one that lets you edit.
Everything in the builder is a draft. Your customers keep the old shop until you press Publish.
Step 1. Save the draft
If Auto-save drafts is on, your work saves by itself and the save line says Saved just now. If you turned it off, the Save draft button fills in to remind you that nothing else will save your work.
With auto-save on, your work is saved a moment after you stop; with it off, this button fills in.
Step 2. Read what changed
Press Changes. The list shows everything in your draft that differs from the live shop, grouped by where it is. Revert takes back one line, and Revert all takes back a whole group. Revert everything at the top puts the whole list back after you confirm, and Undo brings it all back if you change your mind.
Changes lists everything in your draft that differs from the live shop, grouped by where it happened.
Step 3. Look at it as a visitor
The arrow icon in the view controls, Open preview in a new tab, opens your draft as a full page in a new tab. It is a truer test than the page inside the builder.
The arrow opens your shop in a new tab, the way a customer gets it.
Step 4. Publish
The Publish button carries a small amber dot when there is something to publish. When your live shop already matches your draft, the button is greyed out and says The live store is up to date when you rest the pointer on it. Press it and your customers have the new shop.
If you see This shop was published from another session, someone published the store after you started editing. Press Reload their version to take their work, or Keep mine and overwrite to publish yours.
Publish carries an amber dot whenever something is waiting, and rests when live is up to date.
Step 5. Throw a draft away
Discard draft, in the menu with three dots at the end of the bar, takes everything since your last publish back to what is live. It asks first, because it cannot be undone.
Discard draft, in the menu at the end of the bar, takes everything back to what is live.
Step 6. If shoppers still see the old look
If your shop still looks old after you publish, choose Purge storefront cache in the same menu, then reload your shop page in your browser.
Purge storefront cache sits in the same menu.
Step 7. The rest of that menu
At the top, the menu names the theme your shop uses and the version you are on, so you always know what you are shaping.
At the bottom, Keyboard shortcuts opens a short card with the three worth learning: undo, redo and save draft. Exit is not in this menu: it is the first button on the bar, and with unsaved work it offers Save draft and exit or Exit without saving.
The whole menu: the theme you are wearing and its version at the top, then Discard draft and Purge storefront cache, and Keyboard shortcuts under them.
Result
The shop your customers see is the one you just approved, you know exactly what you changed to get there, and you have safe ways back if you change your mind.