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Why do my variant swatches disappear when a bundle is active?

Usually the Use native theme swatches setting, which hands swatch rendering to a theme that may not support it. Turn it off to use Atlas swatches instead.

Written by Eddie Lavandera

The usual cause is Use native theme swatches, which tells Atlas to hand swatch rendering to your theme instead of drawing its own. If your theme does not render swatches in that context, nothing appears. Turn the setting off on the bundle's Settings tab and Atlas will draw the swatches itself.

In this article:

Step 1: Turn off native theme swatches

  1. Open the bundle in Atlas.

  2. Go to the Settings tab and find Variant image settings.

  3. Turn off Use native theme swatches.

  4. Select Publish Bundle.

  5. 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

We couldn't load product options from Shopify. Please try again in a moment.

A temporary read failure. Retry.

Select a collection to load its product options.

Choose a collection first

Select at least one product to load its options.

Choose products first

Some selected products could not be read. Remove and re-add them, then try again.

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.

  1. In Shopify, open the product and attach an image to each variant.

  2. In Atlas, confirm Show variant images is on.

  3. 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 swatches is on or off

  • a screenshot of what the customer sees

Next steps

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