Hi, i’m trying to remove an old theme from a client account, and for some reason I get the message “theme couldn’t be removed”. Is there another way to do it?
Topic summary
Problem: A collaborator cannot remove an old Shopify theme from a client’s store, receiving the error “theme couldn’t be removed.” Screenshots show the error and theme list.
Key checks and guidance:
- Permissions: Only the store owner can remove themes; collaborators may be limited. OP notes they can delete duplicate themes, suggesting permissions might not be the root cause.
- Live theme: A theme set as “Live” (the active storefront theme) cannot be deleted. Set another theme live first.
- Local troubleshooting: Clear Chrome cache/cookies, try a different device, and reset the internet connection.
- Escalation: If the issue persists, contact Shopify Support via the provided link for account-level investigation (community staff can’t access store details).
Status: No confirmed resolution. Next actions are to verify the theme isn’t live and, if deletion still fails after troubleshooting, escalate to Shopify Support.
Notes: Images (screenshots) are included and central to showing the error message.
1 Like
@Quico
Kindly contact to shopify Support team.
Might be they help you.
Hello @Quico !
It is possible that you’re unable to do this due to a permissions issue. Are you working on this store as a staff/collaborator? If so, the best thing to do here would be to ask the store owner to action the removal of the theme as only they can do this.
Let me know how you get on or if the owner is still having issues with the removal!
as a collaborator, that’s not the issue, I remove duplicated themes all the time
I see! And is it possible that this theme is currently set as the Live theme? In that case you would need to set a different theme to be live to be able to remove this one.
Otherwise, this could also be an issue that requires some local troubleshooting. Here are the steps that I recommend:
- Clear your Google Chrome cache and cookies by following these steps here and try to remove the theme again.
- Try to do this on an alternative device i.e. if you were trying to do this on desktop, see if it works on a mobile device.
- Reset your internet - in some cases network errors can lead to similar issues, so resetting may be helpful.
If you continue to experience this issue after taking all of the above steps, my next recommendation is to reach out to our support here as our team might need to take a closer look and investigate. The reason that I am directing you to that link is because at the moment I cannot check your account details via the Shopify Community.