What store theme are you using? This could be the problem as some themes have different sections and files
Topic summary
Adding PayPal “smart payment buttons” to a Shopify store, and whether to use Shopify’s built-in “dynamic checkout buttons” instead. Shopify Support explains dynamic checkout buttons already show PayPal and route credit/debit via “More payment options,” and suggests enabling PayPal guest payments in PayPal settings. They note deeper integration may require Liquid coding or a Shopify Expert.
Community workaround: insert PayPal button code into the theme (e.g., cart-template.liquid around a specific line range) and comment out the standard checkout button. Caveats: payments go directly through PayPal, so Shopify does not record orders, customer data, or discounts; some users manually create draft orders in Shopify using PayPal buyer details.
Questions remain on theme file differences (cart.liquid vs cart-template.liquid), placing buttons on product or checkout pages, ERP sync, discount codes, and tracking/funnels (pixels). One user reports issues activating PayPal (redirects to PayPal dashboard) and asks for a joint fix.
Recent update: a code snippet was shared to add PayPal message banners by including the PayPal SDK script in the head and a data-pp-message div near pricing.
Status: no definitive resolution. Options are enable PayPal guest checkout, embed buttons with known limitations, or seek expert integration/webhooks. Images and code snippets are central to the thread.