Shopify theme hygiene after a freelancer hands off the store

After a freelancer hands off a Shopify store, audit in this order: who has access, which theme is live and what copies exist, what code apps left behind, what tracking fires, and how the store performs for real visitors. Do not edit the live theme until you have a duplicate and a written list of what you found. That sequence prevents the two usual mistakes: breaking checkout on a Friday and deleting something the previous developer built for a reason.

AERVIO works with Shopify stores from Montreal, weekdays 9–17 ET. This is the checklist we run before we touch a theme that someone else built.

Step 1: Ownership and access

Before code, check who controls the store.

• Store owner account. It should be an email at your company, not the freelancer's personal address. If it is not, fix that first, with Shopify support if needed.
• Staff and collaborator accounts. Remove people who no longer work on the store. Keep permissions to what each person needs.
• Apps and sales channels. Open the app list and note who installed what. Each app is a connection with its own access and its own billing.
• Domain and DNS. Confirm who is the registrant and where DNS is managed. A store that depends on a domain held by a contractor is a business risk.
• Payments and tax settings. Verify they were set up by the business and match your legal entity.

If you cannot answer these in an hour, the problem is not the theme. It is governance, and it comes first.

Step 2: Theme inventory

Open the theme library and list what is there.

Download or duplicate the live theme and keep a dated copy. If the store uses a Git integration or Shopify CLI, check which branch is connected and who can push. If nothing is connected, code lives only inside the admin. That is not wrong, but it means history is thin.

Step 3: Leftover code from apps and experiments

This is where most hidden cost sits. Apps often inject code into theme files, and uninstalling the app does not always remove it.

Search the theme for:

• Script tags that load from domains you do not recognise
• Snippets with an app's name that is no longer installed
• Commented-out blocks that are still partly active
• Hard-coded product IDs, collection handles or discount codes
• Inline styles overriding the theme's own settings

Each finding gets one of three labels: needed, orphaned or unknown. Unknown stays until someone can explain it. Do not delete unknown code on a live store.

Step 4: Theme code quality

You do not need a perfect theme. You need one that is safe to edit.

• Does the theme use Online Store 2.0 sections and blocks, so merchants can edit in the customiser without code changes?
• Run Shopify's Theme Check (part of Shopify CLI) and read the errors, not just the count.
• Look for Liquid errors in the theme editor or in the storefront. A visible error on one template is easy to miss.
• Check that customisations live in a small number of files you can name, not scattered across 40.
• Confirm the theme can be updated, or document which edits would be overwritten if you did.

The aim is to decide: clean up, refactor, or replace. Cleaning up is the right answer more often than agencies admit.

Step 5: Tracking you can trust

A handoff often leaves tracking duplicated or broken.

• Analytics. Check that GA4 fires once per page view, not twice. Duplicate tags inflate sessions and distort conversion rates.
• Ad pixels. Confirm each pixel belongs to your business account, not to the freelancer's.
• Conversion events. Place a test order and verify purchase events fire with the right values and currency.
• Consent. If you advertise in Canada, review what loads before consent. For first-touch email and SMS rules, see CASL first touches.

If numbers have never been checked against actual orders, assume they are wrong until a test proves otherwise.

Step 6: Performance for real visitors

Lab scores are a starting point. Use field data where it exists: the Core Web Vitals report in Search Console, or PageSpeed Insights, which shows real-user data for popular URLs. Then profile the heaviest templates (home, collection, product) with browser developer tools.

Common causes on Shopify stores:

• Many apps loading scripts on every page
• Oversized hero images and sliders
• Several custom fonts
• Review, chat and popup widgets loaded on first paint

The fix is usually fewer scripts, not a new theme. We cover the same logic for WordPress in Core Web Vitals on ThemeForest themes.

Step 7: Language and market readiness

If you sell to Quebec buyers, check the French storefront as a customer would: product pages, cart, checkout messages, emails, policies. A half-translated store is a trust problem and may be a legal one. Language rules for Quebec-facing sites are a matter for your advisor, but the build side is practical. See Bill 96 and your website for how we model language as data.

Step 8: Where orders go after checkout

A theme audit that stops at the storefront misses the sales process. Ask where order and customer data flows: to email, a spreadsheet, an ERP, a CRM. If a freelancer set up a zap or script, document it. A CRM built around how you sell starts with knowing what happens to a customer after "thank you".

What the output should be

At the end of an audit you should hold one page with:

1. Access and ownership status
2. The live theme, its copies and what to archive
3. A list of orphaned and unknown code, with decisions
4. Tracking status, tested with a real order
5. Performance findings on three templates
6. Recommendation: clean up, refactor or replace

That page is the brief for any work that follows, whether we do it or someone else does.

What we will not do

We will not promise a revenue lift or a search ranking from cleaning a theme. We can tell you what is slowing the store, what is unsafe, and what is simply old. After the cleanup, small recurring care fits into a growth retainer so the store does not drift back.

Next step

Send hello@aervio.io your store URL, the date of the handoff and any documentation the freelancer left. Or call +1 438-498-3913, weekdays 9–17 ET. We will tell you whether an audit, a cleanup or a rebuild is the honest scope. Our web services page lists how we work on stores and sites.

Questions

Should we rebuild the theme or clean it up?

Clean up first. Rebuild only if the audit shows the theme is a heavily modified fork nobody can safely edit, or if the design no longer fits the business. An audit gives you evidence for that call instead of a hunch.

How do we know if a former freelancer still has access?

In Shopify admin, review staff accounts and collaborator requests, and check which apps and sales channels have access to the store. Remove anyone who no longer works on the shop. The store owner account should belong to your business, not an individual contractor.

Can leftover app code really slow the store down?

Yes. When an app is uninstalled, it can leave snippets, scripts or theme edits behind. Those can keep loading on every page and may keep firing tracking events. Finding them is part of the audit.