Why does my Shopify theme show free shipping I never set up?

Your theme shows free shipping you never set up because a theme's words and your store's shipping rates are two separate things. Checkout charges whatever you configured under Settings, then Shipping and delivery, and a banner, badge or cart bar in the theme can say anything, because it is just text.

The fix is in two parts. Make the real rate match what the store promises, or delete the promise. Then search the theme for every other place it repeats the claim.

Where does Shopify actually set free shipping?

In the admin, not the theme. Open Settings, then Shipping and delivery, choose a shipping profile, then a shipping zone, and select Add shipping option. Shopify's help centre describes a checkbox called Offer free shipping with a field for the minimum order amount that qualifies. Tiers also work: its example is a price for orders from $0 to $100, a lower price from $100.01 to $200, and free above $200.01.

The second route is a discount. A free shipping discount applies when the customer enters the code at checkout. Both routes live in the admin, and neither one changes a word on your storefront. The theme does not read them.

Which parts of a theme can make a shipping promise?

More than people expect. These are the places we have found shipping or returns claims written into theme files:

The ones that are blocks or settings show up in the theme editor. The ones written straight into a Liquid file do not, and those are the ones people miss.

How do I find every shipping claim in my theme?

1. Search the code. In the admin go to Online Store, Themes, the three dots next to your theme, then Edit code. Use the search box for shipping, then free, return, guarantee and warranty. Each hit is a line to check against what you really offer.
2. Walk the store as a shopper. Add a product to the cart, open the cart drawer, open the product page tabs, and read the footer. Claims often hide in a drawer or tab that the homepage never shows.
3. Run a test checkout. Put a $30 and a $120 order through to the shipping step and compare the rates checkout offers with every number the theme quoted.

Do this on a copy if you are editing code. In Themes, the three dots menu has a Duplicate option, so you can edit the copy and publish it only once it is right.

Why does it matter if the theme says something checkout does not?

A shopper who is told shipping is free over $50 and then sees a charge at checkout tends to abandon the order, and in some places a published promise you do not keep can also be a consumer protection problem. This guide is not legal advice. Whether a specific claim creates liability depends on where you sell, so for anything about returns windows or warranties, check your local rules or ask someone qualified.

Shopify can help you state your real policies. In the admin, Settings, then Policies, lets you create refund, shipping, privacy and terms of service policies from templates and edit them. Pointing the theme at those pages is safer than retyping the terms into a banner.

Our own generator did this, and here is what we changed

This is not only a problem with old or pirated themes. Our theme generator had it until 25 September 2026. Every generated theme carried a cart bar hardcoded to a $75 free shipping threshold, product badges reading "Free Shipping", "30-Day Returns" and "Quality Guaranteed", a Shipping tab promising free standard delivery over $50, and an FAQ that answered with a 30 day return policy. None of it came from the store owner, because the generator had no way of knowing the owner's policies.

The rule we moved to is that a theme may state a policy only if the merchant supplied it. The cart bar now has its own Free shipping threshold setting and stays hidden while it is empty. Product badges show only when filled in, and the default is a single "Secure checkout" badge. The Shipping tab says that options and delivery times are shown at checkout, and the FAQ answers point shoppers to checkout and to the contact page. We confirmed this with an automated check that fails if any default, preset or visible markup contains a shipping, returns or warranty claim. It failed 25 times on the old code and passes now.

The free themes in our gallery follow the same rule, so none of them promises anything about shipping, returns or guarantees. If your store also looks different from a theme's demo, see why your Shopify store does not look like the theme demo: demo stores are filled with sample content that does not carry over to yours.

Should I show a free shipping bar at all?

If you really do offer free shipping over a set amount, a cart bar is a reasonable way to say so, as long as the number in the bar is the number in your shipping rate. Keep them in step by changing both at the same time. If you have no free shipping tier, remove the bar rather than leaving a number you do not honor.

How we checked this

The admin menu names and the free shipping steps were read from Shopify's help centre on 1 October 2026. The description of our generator's earlier behavior comes from our own defect log, which records the fix on 25 September 2026.