Previewing and testing before you go live

Preview lets you see your popup on your real store before any visitor does. It opens your storefront in a new tab with the popup forced to show, so you can check the design, click through the steps, and even fill in the form. Test traffic stays out of your analytics, never touches your Klaviyo lists, and does not count toward your visitor usage. This is the safe way to check your work before going live.

Before you start

Preview shows your last published design, not your latest unsaved edits. If you have been working in the editor, open it and click Publish changes first. The editor shows an Unpublished changes badge when your saved draft differs from what is live. Until you publish, Preview will keep showing the older design.

Open the popup from your popups list to reach its detail page.
Find the Preview button at the top of the page and click it. For a standalone or quiz-mode popup, the same button opens the popup’s own share page instead of your storefront.
A new browser tab opens with the popup already showing. Click through the steps and check the look on your real theme.

The popup appears right away. You do not have to wait, scroll, or trigger anything.

How to preview a specific step

When you are working in the editor, you do not have to start from step one.

Open the popup in the editor.
In the center preview header, click the Preview link (shown with an arrow). The tooltip reads “Preview this step on storefront.”
The new tab opens deep-linked to the exact step you were editing, so you land right where you want to check.

Remember to Publish changes first if you want your latest edits to show in this preview.

How to test the form safely

You can fill in and submit the form during preview to make sure it works. Test submissions are kept out of your reporting and are never sent to Klaviyo, so your real email lists and automations stay clean. Use any test email or phone number you like.

Tips

Preview always shows the last published design. If you edit in the editor, click Preview, and see no change, you most likely have not published yet. Click Publish changes and try again. The on-store preview gives no warning that it is showing an older design, so make publishing a habit.
Preview links expire. A preview link works for roughly 30 to 60 minutes, then stops. If you bookmark or copy a link and come back later, it may stop working. Just reopen the popup page in your admin to get a fresh link.
Preview is not a test of your targeting. Preview skips all of your trigger settings. Your time delay, exit intent, scroll depth, and new-versus-returning rules are ignored, and the popup shows instantly. To check that a 5-second delay or an exit-intent rule fires correctly, visit your store as a normal shopper (not through a preview link).
Seeing it in Preview does not mean visitors see it. Preview forces the popup to show even when it is paused or has never gone live. To show it to real visitors, you still need to set it Live using Go live, and for overlay popups the SupaPop app embed must be turned on in your theme editor.
On-store preview needs the app embed too. The overlay preview is drawn by the same SupaPop app embed that shows your live popup. If that embed is turned off in your theme editor, the on-store preview link opens your store but shows no popup. Turn SupaPop on under App embeds in your theme editor, then reopen Preview. (Standalone and quiz previews do not depend on the embed.)
Test submissions are saved, not thrown away. A test entry is stored on your account so the flow is realistic, but it is hidden from your analytics and never sent to Klaviyo. Your real numbers stay accurate.
Preview never touches your bill or your stats. Preview visits do not count toward your visitor usage, and the performance numbers shown on the popup page all exclude preview traffic.
Standalone and quiz popups have their own preview. These popups do not appear as an overlay on your normal storefront. Their Preview button opens the popup’s own share page. Opening your regular store URL would show nothing, so always use the button.
Post-purchase popups preview differently. These cannot be shown on your storefront. For a post-purchase popup, the editor’s preview link opens Shopify’s Thank you page editor instead, because that survey only appears inside Shopify’s own checkout preview.

Troubleshooting

My preview link opens, but the popup does not show. Your preview link has probably expired. Links last about 30 to 60 minutes, then stop working, and an expired link quietly shows no popup rather than an on-screen error. Go back to the popup in your admin and open Preview again to get a fresh link. For an overlay popup, also confirm the SupaPop app embed is enabled in your theme editor, since the on-store preview relies on it. For a standalone or quiz popup, an expired link on a paused or draft popup shows a “Quiz not found” page, which the same fresh link resolves.

I published my edits but still see the old design. Make sure you clicked Publish changes in the editor, not just saved. Saving keeps a draft. Only publishing copies your draft to the live design that Preview shows. Then open a fresh Preview link.

The popup shows in Preview but not for real shoppers. Preview forces the popup to show regardless of status. Going live is a separate step. Set the popup Live with Go live, and for overlay popups confirm the SupaPop app embed is enabled in your theme editor.