What happened to Shopify Magic?

Shopify no longer uses the name Shopify Magic. The AI features are still in your admin. Most of the text tools now run through Sidekick, Shopify’s AI assistant, and the rest are listed as other AI features in the places you already work.

If a tutorial tells you to “use Shopify Magic”, find the task in the table below and go to the place Shopify points to today.

Where each feature is now

You want to	What Shopify calls it now	Where to find it
Write a product description	Generate text icon (Sidekick)	Products > a product > description toolbar
Write blog posts, store pages or theme content	Generate text icon (Sidekick)	The blog post, page or theme editor
Write email subject lines and body text	Generate text icon (Sidekick)	Apps > Messaging > Create campaign
Change a photo’s background, scene or size	Generate, Color background, extending images	The file editor, by clicking an image thumbnail
Get suggested FAQ answers for chat	Instant answer suggestions	Sales channels > Inbox > Chat settings
Get suggested replies to customers	Suggested replies	Shopify Inbox
Pick a product category	Automatic product category suggestions	Products > a product > Category
Sort storefront filter values	Sort filter values	Shopify Search & Discovery app
Describe a customer segment	Segment descriptions	Customers
Project customer spend	Projections	The Customer cohort analysis report in Analytics
Read app review summaries	Review summaries	Shopify App Store
Generate a theme	Free personalized theme generation	Online Store > Manage themes, on mobile only

The image extend button is still called the Image Magic icon.

Find the text generator

The text generator is the Generate text icon in the editor toolbar. For a product:

In your Shopify admin, go to Products and click the product.
In the description box, click the Generate text icon.
Enter a prompt with the product title and at least two features, then submit it.
Edit the text and click Save.

This needs a desktop computer; it doesn’t work in the iPhone or Android app. The output follows the language of your prompt. Our guide to the Shopify AI product description generator has prompt templates and a checklist for the draft.

The same icon appears on blog posts, online store pages, Shopify Messaging emails and content in the theme editor. In emails it’s in the Subject field and the text section’s editor.

You can also skip the icon and ask Sidekick in its chat panel. Fields it fills are highlighted in purple so you can check them before accepting. See how to use Shopify Sidekick for the wider set of tasks.

Find the image tools

The image tools sit in the file editor. Click an image’s thumbnail in your admin to open it, then choose:

Generate to change the scene, style or lighting from a text prompt, then Submit.
Color background to replace the background with a colour.
Crop and transform, an aspect ratio, and the Image Magic icon to extend the background beyond the photo’s edges. This one isn’t available in the Shopify mobile app.

Click Save or Save as new when you’re done. Results are about 1 megapixel, and every generated image carries an invisible watermark that doesn’t restrict commercial use and can’t be removed.

You can also describe a new image to Sidekick in the chat, or select Generate a new image in the file picker. Step-by-step help for product photos is in our Shopify AI background remover guide.

Find FAQ suggestions in Shopify Inbox

Instant answer suggestions are drafted from your store policies, or from common merchant questions when your policies don’t cover enough.

In your Shopify admin, go to Sales channels > Inbox.
Click Chat settings.
In the Instant answers section, click a suggestion.
Edit the question and answer if needed, then click Save.
Click Turn on to show it in your store’s chat, then click Save.

These suggestions are available only in English.

Generate a theme

Generate themes in the Shopify app or a mobile browser:

In the Shopify app, tap the menu icon, then Online Store under Sales channels.
Tap Manage themes.
In Design your store in seconds, describe your business and tap Generate themes.
Tap a theme, then Try theme.

Each run gives up to 3 themes, saved under Draft themes. For English storefronts, generation works during the free trial or on the Basic, Grow or Advanced plan. The Starter plan can’t use it. You can still preview and add themes you generated earlier from a desktop browser.

Does it still cost nothing?

Most of these features cost nothing extra. Sidekick is included with your plan, but features, usage limits and availability vary by plan, device and language.

Image tools are on Basic, Grow, Advanced and Shopify Plus, and for a limited time on every plan at no extra cost. If the buttons are missing in your admin, your plan is the first thing to check.