Why Does the Desktop Preview Look Compressed in the Theme Editor?

If the desktop version of your site looks squished or more like a tablet view inside the Shopify theme editor — you're not alone.

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Here's Why

Shopify’s theme editor reserves a portion of the screen for the editing panel (usually 30–40% of your screen width). On smaller displays like a 13-inch laptop, this means the preview area doesn't have enough room to fully display the desktop version of your site — so it ends up looking like a tablet.

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What You Can Do

For the best experience while customizing:

• Option 1: Click the Fullscreen icon in the top-right corner of the editor preview to expand the view and see the full desktop layout.

• Option 2: Open two tabs — use one to edit in the Shopify editor, and the other to preview your store live. This makes it easier to see how your changes will actually look on larger screens.