Shopify Chatbot Not Showing? Check These Things First

1. Confirm the app is actually installed on the correct store

If you manage more than one Shopify store, first confirm you are looking at the same store where you installed the chatbot.

Open Shopify Admin and verify that Farnsla appears in your installed apps. If the app is not installed on that store, the storefront widget cannot load there.

2. Check the Shopify app embed

Farnsla uses the Shopify theme app-extension/app-embed flow. Installing the app is not the same as making the storefront widget visible.

Open the Shopify Theme Editor for the active theme and check that the Farnsla AI Chat Widget app embed is enabled.

This is one of the most important checks because a merchant can have the app installed and configured while the embed itself remains switched off.

3. Make sure you are editing the active theme

Shopify stores can have multiple themes in the theme library.

If you enable the app embed on a draft theme but customers are still seeing another published theme, the live storefront may not show the widget.

Confirm which theme is currently published, then check the app embed on that theme.

4. Save the Theme Editor changes

After enabling the app embed, save the theme configuration.

It sounds obvious, but unsaved Theme Editor changes are a common reason a widget appears in preview but not on the live storefront.

5. Check the Farnsla configuration

Open Farnsla inside Shopify Admin and confirm the chatbot setup has been saved.

Review the configuration you expect to be active, including the assistant behavior and any settings that control how the widget should appear.

If you recently changed modes, settings, or support instructions, save the configuration before retesting.

6. Test in a clean browser session

Your browser can sometimes make storefront testing confusing because of cached assets, extensions, preview sessions, or administrator state.

Try:

• a private/incognito window
• another browser
• a mobile browser
• a hard refresh

Then open the actual public storefront rather than relying only on a Theme Editor preview.

7. Check whether another app or custom script is interfering

Stores often run several widgets at the same time: chat, reviews, popups, accessibility tools, upsells, analytics, cookie banners, and custom scripts.

If the Farnsla embed is enabled but the widget still does not appear, temporarily test whether another storefront script or theme customization is interfering with the area where the widget loads.

Do not randomly delete production code. Change one thing at a time so you can identify the real cause.

8. Test after a theme change

If the chatbot used to appear and disappeared after publishing a new theme, check the app embed again on the newly published theme.

Theme changes can create the impression that the app “stopped working” when the new theme simply does not have the same app-embed state as the previous one.

9. Separate “widget not showing” from “AI not answering correctly”

These are different problems.

If the widget itself is missing, focus on installation, theme, embed, visibility, and storefront loading.

If the widget opens but the answer is wrong, focus on knowledge, policies, product data, instructions, and the specific customer question.

Troubleshooting becomes much faster when you identify which layer is actually failing.

Farnsla Shopify setup reminder

Farnsla installs from the Shopify App Store. Open the embedded app in Shopify Admin and enable the Farnsla AI Chat Widget through the Shopify Theme Editor app-embed flow. Manual theme-file editing is not required for the normal setup.

If the widget remains unavailable after the checks above, collect the exact store URL, theme name, browser/device, screenshots, and the steps you already tried before contacting support. That gives the support team enough context to investigate instead of starting with generic questions.

Next step

If you want a Shopify AI chatbot that answers FAQs, recommends products, supports secure order-status questions, and preserves conversation history, see Farnsla for Shopify.