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How to Customize Shopify Accounts With New Customer Accounts

Learn what you can change in Shopify New Customer Accounts natively, what needs extensions, and how to build a branded account page with no code.

12 min read

You can customize Shopify accounts in three ways: use the checkout and accounts editor for branding and the menu, add UI extensions for custom content, or install an app with a block builder that does the extension work for you. The first is free and limited. The second needs a developer. The third gets you custom fields, wishlists and consent controls without code. This guide walks through all three, with admin paths, so you can choose the right one for your store.

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TL;DR

  • The checkout and accounts editor handles branding, sign-in text and the account menu. It does not let you rearrange the profile page or add fields.
  • Custom content on New Customer Accounts comes from customer account UI extensions, which Shopify supports on the Order index, Order status and Profile pages, plus new full pages.
  • Legacy customer accounts are deprecated, so any theme-based account customization is something to migrate away from.
  • AccountCraft gives you a visual block builder on top of those official extensions, with customer data kept in Shopify. Install it free from the Shopify App Store.
  • Consent tools help you collect and record choices. Compliance remains your responsibility.

Table of Contents

What you are actually customizing

Shopify’s customer accounts let shoppers sign in to view and manage orders, profile information and saved addresses. New Customer Accounts sign shoppers in with a one-time six-digit code sent by email, where legacy customer accounts used an email and password. New Customer Accounts also support self-serve returns, according to Shopify’s feature comparison. Shopify also lists store credit viewing and reordering among the features of New Customer Accounts.

The point that trips up most merchants: New Customer Accounts do not live in your theme. They are managed separately, so theme updates do not change the account experience. That is good for stability. It also means the old habit of editing Liquid files such as customer/account.liquid no longer applies.

Legacy customer accounts were the system where theme editing worked. As of February 26, 2026, they are deprecated: new stores cannot use them, and existing stores without prior access can no longer use them. If you still find forum advice telling you to edit theme files for the account page, treat it as a record of how legacy customer accounts worked, not a plan for your store.

What you are actually customizing — overview diagram

Level 1: What the editor lets you change natively

Start here, because it costs nothing and covers more than most merchants expect. Shopify says most customer account customizations are made in the checkout and accounts editor, and they apply across your account pages and sign-in pages.

Here is the practical path:

  1. In your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Customer accounts and confirm New Customer Accounts are selected.
  2. Open the checkout and accounts editor from your checkout settings.
  3. Use the page selector to pick a customer account page or the sign-in page.
  4. Adjust branding, colors and the menu, then save.

Branding and style

Shared branding settings flow through to checkout, account pages and sign-in. If you upload a logo once, it appears in all three places. You can override some inherited settings on the account pages only, which is useful when your account area needs a quieter look than checkout.

If you are tightening your brand across the whole purchase journey, a Shopify checkout optimization walkthrough pairs well with this step, since the same branding settings affect both.

Account menu and navigation

The same editor lets you customize the customer accounts menu so shoppers reach parts of your store and their account faster. This is the answer to the common question about editing the Shopify account menu: you do it in the editor, not in the theme. Keep the menu short. Orders, Profile and one or two store-specific links are usually enough. A long menu on a page shoppers open a few times a year just hides the orders link.

Sign-in text and domain

Shopify has added the ability to change the default text on the sign-in and one-time-passcode pages, so you can match your voice. You can also set up a subdomain such as account.your-store.com for New Customer Accounts, which can build trust. Market-specific domains are not supported.

What the editor does not do

The editor does not add fields to the profile, create a wishlist page, show different content to different customer groups, or collect extra consent. For those you need extensions. That gap is why so many forum threads conclude that the account dashboard cannot be customized. Natively, with only the editor, that is close to true. With extensions, it is not.

Level 2: Customer account UI extensions

Shopify’s route to deeper customization is customer account UI extensions, built with Polaris components. They can add content to existing pages (Order index, Order status and Profile) or create entirely new full-page experiences. Apps can add custom content such as customer metafields to the Profile page, and create new pages for things like wishlists.

Two details matter when you plan this:

  • Metafield writes. Shopify documents that writing to metafields directly from the Customer Account API lets you store extra customer information in Shopify, without a call to a third-party server. The tutorial builds a Profile page extension that collects a nickname. Writes are supported on customer, order, company and company location objects.
  • Protected customer data. Reading customer properties needs Level 1 access, while email and phone need Level 2 access, per the Buyer Identity API reference. If you hire a developer, ask early how they will handle this.

Building your own extension makes sense when you need logic nobody sells as an app. It also means a developer, a deploy process and maintenance each time Shopify changes the API version. For most stores that want a few fields, a wishlist and some consent controls, that is more than the job needs.

Level 3: Headless and the Customer Account API

If your storefront is headless, you can use the Customer Account API to build a fully custom, authenticated experience with complete control of the front end. It gives secure access to private, customer-scoped data including metafields, as described in Shopify’s customization options. This is the most flexible route and the most expensive to maintain. Choose it only if you already run a custom storefront.

Choosing your route

Need Editor only Custom extension Block builder app
Logo, colors, sign-in text Yes Not needed Not needed
Account menu changes Yes Not needed Not needed
Editable customer fields No Yes, with a developer Yes, no code
Wishlist page No Yes, with a developer Yes, no code
Content by customer segment No Yes, with a developer Yes, no code
Ongoing maintenance None Yours Handled in the app

Build an account page with AccountCraft, step by step

AccountCraft is a Shopify app with a visual Block Builder for New Customer Accounts. It uses the official Shopify Customer Account UI Extensions, so you do not edit your theme or write code. Customer data stays in Shopify, and there is no separate customer database.

The builder has 14 block types: text, banner, button, card, update form, single field, record list, SMS consent, privacy consent, wishlist, image, video, spacer and divider. Here is a practical build order for a first account page.

  1. Install the app. Find AccountCraft in the Shopify App Store and install it. There is a free plan, and paid plans (Pro and Plus) are billed through Shopify. Check the App Store listing for current pricing.
  2. Confirm New Customer Accounts are on. In Settings > Customer accounts, make sure New Customer Accounts are active. Do the branding work in the checkout and accounts editor first, so your blocks inherit a finished look.
  3. Add a banner and a short text block. Greet the customer and say what they can do on this page. Keep it to one or two sentences.
  4. Add an update form. This lets customers view and edit their own data. Fields are bound to customer metafields, so what they type is stored on the customer record in Shopify. If you have not defined the metafields yet, our guide to letting customers edit Shopify customer metafields covers the setup.
  5. Use a record list for repeatable data. Think pets, vehicles or saved sizes: anything where one customer has several entries.
  6. Add a wishlist block. A built-in wishlist means no extra app and no second data store.
  7. Add consent blocks. The privacy consent and SMS consent blocks let customers see and change their choices. More on this below.
  8. Set conditional visibility. Show or hide blocks by customer tag, metafield, market, B2B status or account age. A wholesale customer can see order-reference fields. A first-month customer can see a welcome card.
  9. Add translations. If you sell in several markets, translate block text so each customer sees their own language.
  10. Test as a customer. Sign in with a test email, request the one-time code, and walk through every block on desktop and mobile.

For more depth on individual field types, see our write-up on account custom fields with no code first, and for the full block list, the 14 blocks for New Customer Accounts.

Designing tabs and navigation

Merchants often ask how to build account page tabs. The native menu points to pages, and extensions can create new full pages. So the pattern is: keep the menu short in the editor, then put related content on its own page, such as a wishlist page or a preferences page, instead of stacking everything on Profile. One job per page makes the account area easier to scan.

Accessibility checks

Accessibility is your responsibility whichever route you take, so test it. Tab through each page using only the keyboard. Check that every field has a visible label, that button text says what the button does, and that text over a banner image stays readable. Do not rely on color alone to show a state. Run a screen reader pass on the profile form before you launch. Keep image and video blocks purposeful, and write alt text where the builder offers it.

A customizable profile page is also a place where you handle personal data, so plan the privacy side at the same time. Shopify states that merchants are responsible for understanding their obligations and configuring Shopify to meet applicable laws. GDPR requires you to inform people of the legal bases for processing. Shopify offers tools to access, edit and delete customer data, and properly integrated tools can respect the consent choices customers make.

AccountCraft’s privacy consent and SMS consent blocks work with Shopify’s customer privacy APIs. They help you collect, record and honor customer consent. They do not make a store compliant on their own, and nothing here is legal advice. Talk to a privacy professional about your own obligations. For related reading, see our guide to Shopify consent expiry for EU stores and the CCPA admin steps if you sell to California.

Consent and personal data — overview diagram

Our perspective

We built AccountCraft because the account page is the one place where a customer is signed in, paying attention and willing to tell you something about themselves. Most stores leave it as a list of orders.

Our view is that merchants should not need a developer or a theme edit to change that. Shopify’s extension system is the right foundation: it is official, it survives theme changes, and it keeps data inside Shopify. What was missing was a way for a merchant to arrange it visually. So we focused on three things: fields bound to metafields so data stays on the customer record, consent blocks tied to Shopify’s privacy APIs, and conditional rules so B2B buyers, new customers and different markets each see what fits them.

We also think restraint wins. A good account page is a few well-chosen blocks, not a dashboard crammed with widgets. If you are migrating from legacy customer accounts, our piece on restoring familiar legacy functions in 30 days shows how to bring back what customers used without the old theme dependency.

— Ivan Signorile

Try it on your store

If you want editable fields, a wishlist and consent blocks on New Customer Accounts without touching code, install AccountCraft free from the Shopify App Store. The free plan lets you build and test before you decide on Pro or Plus, which are billed through Shopify. You can also see the plan overview on the AccountCraft site.

Special cases

B2B and Plus stores. Wholesale customers need different content from retail ones. Conditional rendering by B2B status helps, and our guides on Shopify Plus customer accounts and B2B customer accounts go into setup.

Agencies. Build the page once on a development store, then recreate it on client stores. Document which metafields each block uses, so the client can find the data in the Shopify admin later.

Multi-market stores. Remember the subdomain limit: one account subdomain, not one per market. Use translations and market-based conditions inside the page instead.

A short launch checklist

  • New Customer Accounts are enabled in Settings > Customer accounts.
  • Branding, sign-in text and menu are set in the checkout and accounts editor.
  • Every metafield used in a form has a clear customer-facing label.
  • Consent blocks use wording your own privacy review has approved.
  • Conditional rules tested with at least one tagged and one untagged customer.
  • Keyboard and screen reader pass completed.
  • Mobile layout checked after the one-time code sign-in.

FAQ

Can I customize the Shopify account page without code?

Yes, to a point. The checkout and accounts editor handles branding, sign-in text and the account menu without code. For custom fields, wishlists and conditional content you need extensions, which an app like AccountCraft packages into a visual builder so you do not write any.

How do I edit the account menu in Shopify?

Open the checkout and accounts editor, pick a customer account page, and edit the menu there. You are not editing theme files. Keep it to the links customers use most.

Can I still edit the account page in my theme?

Only on legacy customer accounts, which are deprecated and no longer available to new stores. New Customer Accounts are managed separately from your theme, so theme code does not change them. Plan your customization around the editor and extensions instead.

Does an account page app make my store GDPR compliant?

No app can do that for you. Consent blocks help you collect, record and honor customer choices through Shopify’s privacy APIs, but you remain responsible for understanding and meeting your legal obligations. Speak to a privacy professional about your situation.

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