Quick Testing Steps
1. Open your store in a private/incognito window. Alia treats your normal browser as a returning visitor once you've signed up, logged in to your account, placed an order or clicked one of your own marketing emails.
2. Add ?alia=1 to the end of your store URL (for example, yourstore.com/?alia=1). This opens any popup the visitor matches straight away, skipping triggers. If it appears, the problem is your triggers; if it doesn't, it's targeting, publishing or the embed.
3. Use Preview in the popup editor to check the design. Preview skips targeting, so if a popup works in Preview but not on your store, it points to targeting, the embed, or billing.
Ask Lia - Our AI Assistant
Lia can troubleshoot common issues; tell Lia your popup isn't appearing, and she'll walk you through troubleshooting options or ask you to approve adjustments.
Most Likely Reasons
Alia isn't embedded in your theme
Alia loads through the Alia app embed in your theme. If the embed is off, wasn't saved, or you've published a different theme, nothing loads.
How to check: The top bar in Alia shows Not embedded, or the home page shows a banner saying Alia isn't embedded.
How to fix: Click Embed Alia, then Take me to theme settings, and click Save in the theme editor. Repeat this whenever you publish a new theme.
The campaign isn't live, or your latest changes aren't published
Only published campaigns show. A campaign that's switched off, scheduled for later, or archived won't appear, and popup edits don't reach your store until you publish them.
How to check: On the campaign card, check the switch is on and whether a schedule is set. In the popup editor, check for unpublished changes.
How to fix: Turn the campaign on, or click Publish in the popup editor. Archived campaigns can't be restored; use Duplicate campaign instead.
The trigger can't fire on that device or page
Why: When mouse leaves the page** needs a mouse, so it never fires on phones. A scroll trigger can't fire on a page too short to scroll. A long time-on-page delay may never be reached. A trigger set to apply only to mobile or desktop won't fire on the other.
How to check: In the popup editor, open Triggers and check each trigger and its Applies to setting.
How to fix: Use the Exit intent shortcut, which adds both the desktop trigger and When user scrolls up quickly for mobile. Lower the delay or scroll depth, or apply the trigger to all devices.
A page condition doesn't match the URL
Exact match compares the whole address after your domain, including anything after a ? or #, and it's case-sensitive. A product link with ?variant= at the end won't match an exact product path.
How to check: In Edit targeting, look at any Is on page(s) or Is not on page(s) condition.
How to fix: Switch to Contains, or add * to the end of the path.
Another popup is open or has just been shown
Only one popup can be open at a time, and an open popup stays open as the visitor moves between pages. Don't trigger if another popup viewed in last... (15 seconds by default) also holds a popup back after another one closes. Campaigns have no priority order; the first one to trigger wins.
How to check: Check which other live campaigns target the same visitors, and look at Don't trigger if another popup viewed in last... under Triggers.
How to fix: Shorten that wait, or separate the campaigns' audiences with a Not in targeting rule or campaign condition.
Your store has no active plan
Alia stops showing on your store when there's no active subscription, or when the app has been uninstalled. Preview still works, so a popup that previews fine but never shows live often points here.
How to check: Open the Billing page. The top bar shows Store disconnected if the app was uninstalled.
How to fix: Choose or approve a plan, or reinstall Alia.
You're testing as a returning visitor
New campaigns target New visitors by default. Your own browser usually doesn't count as new once you've signed up through your popup, visited your account page or an order confirmation page, or clicked a link in one of your own emails or texts.
How to check: Open the campaign's Edit targeting and look for the New visitors rule. Then open your store in a private window.
How to fix: Test in a private window or on another device. Only change the targeting if real visitors are affected.
The visitor has already seen the popup
A popup opens once per visitor unless **If closed, trigger popup again after** is on. When it is, the wait counts from the last time the visitor saw any popup in that campaign.
How to check: In the popup editor, open Triggers and look at If closed, trigger popup again after.
How to fix: Turn it on and choose a wait, or test in a private window.
Another targeting condition excludes the visitor
Conditions like device type, location, Shopify market or language, or Klaviyo list membership can rule a visitor out. Location comes from the visitor's IP address, so a VPN can change it. Klaviyo list conditions only know about visitors Klaviyo recognizes; everyone else gets the condition's default.
How to check: Read every condition in Edit targeting, including those inside saved rules on the Targeting rules page.
How to fix: Remove or widen the condition, or change the Klaviyo condition's default (Default to in list or Default to not in list).
Embedded form: the snippet isn't on the page
An embedded form only shows where its snippet is placed in your theme, or in the element matched by Use a custom selector. If neither is on the page, nothing appears.
How to check: In the campaign, open Snippet and check that it's on that page's template, or that your custom selector matches an element on the page.
How to fix: Paste the snippet into your theme (for example, in a Custom Liquid section), or correct the selector.
Less Common Causes
Cookie consent allowed in targeting holds the popup until the visitor accepts your cookie banner, and never matches on non-Shopify storefronts.
A Custom code targeting condition that errors or doesn't return true blocks the popup.
In an A/B test, visitors stay in the variant they first got, and a holdout variant never shows.
Adaptive timing can't fire until Alia has a delay to use.
Ad or script blockers can stop Alia from loading.