Shopify is flagging a problem connected to header.liquid
-
In some editor views, the file appears corrupted or filled with NULL content
-
The normal file length for header.liquid appears to be around 500 to 600 lines
-
But when viewed in VS Code or through other attempts, I have seen line counts in the range of 17,000 to 19,000 lines, which makes no sense to me
-
This makes me suspect file corruption, encoding damage, or hidden invalid content rather than a simple visual artifact
What I need help determining:
-
How can I confirm whether sections/header.liquid is actually corrupted?
-
Could this be caused by bad encoding, binary corruption, or hidden invalid characters inside the file?
-
Is there a reliable way to compare the live Shopify file against a clean theme copy and identify exactly where the corruption begins?
-
If the file is corrupted, what is the safest recovery method?
-
Would restoring only header.liquid from a clean backup be enough, or could related files also be involved?
-
Has anyone seen a Shopify file show a normal size in one place but an absurd line count in VS Code because of corruption or formatting damage?
Important note:
I am not looking for a CSS patch that merely hides the word “Null.” I need to find the root cause and properly repair the file.
Any guidance on how to diagnose this accurately would be greatly appreciated.
:::
Here’s a shorter version too, in case you want something more direct:
:::writing{variant=“standard” id=“48262”}
I need help with a Shopify “Null” issue that does not seem to be solved by the usual CSS masking advice.
In my case, the problem appears tied to sections/header.liquid, not just a visual artifact. My assets/base.css had many errors before, and those were fixed, but the Null issue remains connected to the header file.
What is strange:
-
header.liquid should be about 500 to 600 lines
-
In other views, especially VS Code, I have seen it appear as 17,000 to 19,000 lines
-
In some cases it looks corrupted or filled with NULL content
Because of that, I suspect file corruption, encoding problems, or hidden invalid characters.
Can someone tell me:
-
how to verify whether header.liquid is corrupted,
-
how to compare it properly with a clean copy,
-
and what the safest recovery method would be?
I am not looking for a CSS cover-up. I want to fix the actual source