Learn why your custom CSS or JavaScript may not appear on the live site and how to fix common issues like subscription limits, code overrides, syntax errors, caching, and script execution timing
Sometimes, even after adding custom CSS or JavaScript, changes don’t appear on your live site. This can be confusing, but it usually comes down to a few common reasons:
- Subscription-related behavior If you don’t have an active Personal or Pro plan, custom code will only reflect in the preview.
- JavaScript only works on the live site Custom scripts may not run in the dashboard preview. Our Engineering team recently updated this behavior because running JS in preview could sometimes cause looping or dashboard freezing. For this reason, JavaScript only executes on the live site.
- Code being overridden or ignored With an active subscription, your custom CSS may still not apply if it’s overridden by existing styles. Using the `!important` flag helps ensure your code takes priority.
- Syntax or formatting issues Missing semicolons (
;), unclosed brackets, or improperly closed tags can prevent the browser from reading the rest of your code, causing it to fail silently. - Caching and propagation delays The live site may still be serving a cached version of your page. A hard refresh, incognito mode, or a short wait can help confirm whether changes have fully propagated.
- Placement and execution timing Custom code must be placed in the correct section and, for JavaScript, may need to wait until the page has fully loaded. If the script runs before the elements exist, it won’t take effect on the live site.