It depends on which swatches disappeared. If your theme's own variant picker disappeared from the product page, Atlas is hiding it on purpose: while Use native theme swatches is off, which is the default, customers choose variants inside the bundle, and on themes built like Shopify's Dawn the theme's picker is hidden. Turn the setting on to keep it. If the swatches inside the bundle disappeared, the setting is usually on and your theme does not render swatches there: turn it off and Atlas draws its own.
In this article:
If your theme's variant picker disappeared
Open the bundle in Atlas.
Under
Customize, go to theSettingstab and findVariant image settings. It only shows with the Vertical layout.Turn on
Use native theme swatches.Select
Publish Bundle.Check the product page in a private window.
ℹ️ Atlas hides the theme's picker by default because the bundle has its own variant selection, and two pickers on one page confuse customers. Only themes built like Shopify's Dawn are affected; on other themes the picker stays either way.
Step 1: Turn off native theme swatches
For swatches missing inside the bundle itself.
Open the bundle in Atlas.
Under
Customize, go to theSettingstab and findVariant image settings.Turn off
Use native theme swatches.Select
Publish Bundle.Check the product page in a private window.
ℹ️ Native theme swatches exist so the bundle matches your theme exactly. They only work if your theme provides swatch rendering that Atlas can use. Turning the setting off is not a downgrade: Atlas draws its own swatches, which you can style on the Colors tab.
Step 2: Check variant images are on
Still on the Settings tab, confirm Show variant images is enabled. With it off, variants appear as plain options rather than visual swatches.
You can also set Variant image size and Variant image radius here to match how your theme presents them.
Step 3: Check the swatches are configured
Select Edit swatches on the Settings tab and confirm the options and values you expect are present.
If the list is empty or wrong, Use AI will configure swatches from your product options automatically, which is usually faster than doing it by hand.
Errors you may see while loading options:
Message | Meaning |
| A temporary read failure. Retry. |
| Choose a collection first |
| Choose products first |
| One product in the selection is the problem. Remove them one at a time to find it. |
Step 4: Check the product has variants Atlas can read
Open the product in Shopify and confirm:
It genuinely has variants, with an option such as Colour or Size
The variants have images attached, if you expect image swatches
The option values are consistent, since inconsistent naming across products can break shared swatches
A product with one variant has no swatches to show, which is correct rather than broken.
If swatches show as plain text
Options appearing as a dropdown or plain buttons rather than visual swatches means Atlas has the variants but not the images.
In Shopify, open the product and attach an image to each variant.
In Atlas, confirm
Show variant imagesis on.Republish the bundle.
💡 Attaching a distinct image to every variant in Shopify fixes this everywhere at once, including your theme's own variant picker and your collection pages.
If it only affects some products
Compare a working product with a broken one in Shopify. The usual differences:
Different option names, such as Colour on one and Color on another
Missing variant images on the broken one
The broken product uses a different theme template
The broken product has more option levels than the working one
⚠️ If the swatches vanished after a theme change or theme update, your new theme may render swatches differently. Turn off Use native theme swatches and let Atlas draw them. See Choosing a theme that works well with Atlas.
Still missing
Start a chat from the bubble in the bottom right of Atlas, or email support@helloatlas.io. Either way, include:
your store URL
the product URL
the bundle name
your theme name
whether
Use native theme swatchesis on or offa screenshot of what the customer sees