Why does my manually sorted collection revert to alphabetical order?

Shopify Discussion

Topic summary

Manual product order in a single large collection (900+ items) repeatedly reverts to alphabetical after 30 minutes–12 hours, despite being set to Manual and initially displaying correctly on the storefront.

Early response pointed to the live theme (Expression by Clean Canvas) and suggested contacting the theme’s support, as it’s a third‑party theme that supports sorting/filtering.

Latest update from a theme expert clarifies the theme itself cannot change a collection’s configuration in Shopify. If the sort order changes inside the collection’s admin page, the cause is Shopify, an app, or custom code (not the theme).

Troubleshooting steps:

  • Determine if it’s a back‑end vs front‑end issue by checking if the order changes in the Admin.
  • If back‑end: audit apps that re‑arrange/re‑sync products; contact app support and/or Shopify Support.
  • If front‑end: check for filtering/search apps that replace the product grid; contact the app’s support.
  • If no apps: test in a free theme (Dawn). If fine there, test an unmodified Expression to rule out custom code; then contact theme support if needed.

Status: No confirmed resolution; guidance provided. Images were illustrative, not essential.

Summarized with AI on December 29. AI used: gpt-5.
4

Hey @wendy_sease .

Thanks for the quick response and letting us know.

Looking into the Expression theme, I noticed that the theme does support product filtering and sorting for collections. If you can confirm that the collection sort is set to manual using your Shopify Admin but it is displaying incorrectly on the online store - it could be due to the coding of the theme.

As I was looking into the theme, I did notice that this is a third-party theme that is designed and supported by Clean Canvas.

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Since we are a bit unfamiliar with the style of coding that is being used throughout the theme, it would be best to direct this inquiry to their theme support. I came across their Contact Us page and wanted to provide it. They would be in the best position to provide you with additional support and insight to have the collection page products manually sorted.

Let me know if you have any questions.