Fix "Liquid error: Could not find asset snippets/..." in Shopify

Somewhere on your storefront, maybe on product pages, maybe in the footer, a line of text appears where content should be: "Liquid error (sections/main-product line 87): Could not find asset snippets/some-app-widget.liquid". It looks alarming, but it's one of the easiest Shopify errors to fix. The theme is trying to load a file that no longer exists.

Why this happens

Shopify themes pull in small reusable files called snippets with the {% render %} tag (or the older {% include %} tag). If the snippet file is deleted or renamed but the tag still points to it, Shopify shows this error in its place. In order of how often I see them, the usual causes are:

1. An app was uninstalled. Older apps added their own snippet to your theme plus a render tag to display it. Uninstalling removed the snippet (or the app's code) but left the tag behind.
2. A snippet was deleted or renamed during a cleanup or by another developer.
3. Code was copied from another theme along with a render tag for a snippet that only existed in that theme.
4. A typo in the snippet name.

Step 1: Read the error message

The message tells you both files involved:

Liquid error (sections/main-product line 87): Could not find asset snippets/reviews-widget.liquid

• sections/main-product, line 87: where the broken tag is. That's the file you'll edit.
• snippets/reviews-widget.liquid: what it's trying to load. The name usually tells you which app it came from.

Step 2: Duplicate your theme

Go to Online Store → Themes, click … → Duplicate on the live theme, and make the fix on the copy. It's a one-line change, but working on a copy is a habit worth keeping for every theme edit.

Step 3: Remove or fix the tag

1. On the duplicate theme, click … → Edit code.
2. Open the file named in the error, e.g. sections/main-product.liquid, and go to the line number.
3. You'll find a tag like one of these:

{% render 'reviews-widget' %}
{% render 'reviews-widget', product: product %}
{% include 'reviews-widget' %}

Then choose the fix that matches the cause:

• The app is gone for good: delete the line. If it's wrapped in a <div> that only existed for the app, delete that too.
• You still use the app: don't delete anything yet. Reinstalling or re-enabling the app usually restores the snippet. Modern apps use app embeds and app blocks instead of snippets, so check Customize → App embeds first, and if the app now provides a block, add that and remove the old tag.
• It's a typo or a renamed file: correct the name in the tag to match a file in the snippets folder.

Save the file and preview the duplicate theme. The error should be gone.

Step 4: Find every other leftover tag

An uninstalled app often left tags in several files: product page, cart, collection grid, the theme's layout file. To find them all, search the whole theme for the snippet name.

With Shopify CLI (fastest)

shopify theme pull --store your-store.myshopify.com
grep -rn "reviews-widget" .

The first command downloads the theme code. Pick the duplicate theme when prompted. The second lists every file and line that still mentions the snippet. After editing, shopify theme push uploads your changes back to the theme you choose.

Without the CLI

Download the duplicate theme from … → Download theme file (Shopify emails you a zip), extract it, and search the folder with your code editor's "Find in files" (Ctrl+Shift+F in VS Code). Then fix the files in the online code editor.

Also check layout/theme.liquid for leftover <script> tags from old apps. They don't cause visible errors, but they can load dead scripts on every page and slow the store down. More on this in my Shopify speed guide.

Step 5: Publish the fixed theme

Once the duplicate looks right, click through the product, collection, cart and home pages. Then either publish the duplicate, or apply the same one-line changes to the live theme if it has had other edits since you duplicated it.

Similar Liquid errors

• "Liquid syntax error: Unknown tag": a typo in a tag, or a tag Shopify no longer supports. Check the named file and line.
• "Liquid error: Error in tag 'section' - 'xyz' is not a valid section type": a template references a section file that was deleted. Same fix: restore the file or remove the reference.
• "Liquid error: Memory limits exceeded": usually loops over very large collections, like collections.all.products. That needs a code change, not a missing file.