Installation instruction

Having the app installed in stores and a pricing plan chosen, finish the setup in 3 simple steps:

1. Set up a single store or link multiple stores to each other and select mapping options for product synchronization.
2. Select the region for each connected store.
3. Enable the app in your stores and turn off Shopify's automatic hreflang tags.

Step 1: Choose the mode: Multi- or single-store

On this step, you can map your Shopify stores to one another or, if you have only one Shopify store with multiple markets, activate the Single-store mode.

If you manage all your international markets within one Shopify store using Shopify Markets:

1. 1.Navigate to the Installation page and open Step 1.
2. 2.Click the "I have only one store" button.
   
3. 3.The step will be marked as "Completed," and you will be redirected to Step 2 immediately. A "Single-store mode" badge will appear next to your store name.

If you have at least two separate Shopify stores:

1. 1.Establish which store will be the main one and which store(s) will be the secondary ones
2. 2.Open the Hreflang Manager app in any of the chosen stores as a secondary..
3. 3.Navigate to the Installation page and open Step 1.
4. 4.Choose the option “This is my secondary store”.
5. 5.Copy the code from the respective field.
   
6. 6.Go to the store that you decided to be the main one.
7. 7.Open the Hreflang Manager app, navigate to the Installation page, and open Step 1.
8. 8.Enter the copied code into the respective field.
   
9. 9.Tap the “Add” button.
10. 10.If you have more than two stores, repeat the flow described for each remaining store.

After saving the store's connections, you can choose the mapping option for your stores in the pop-up. By default, we match using handles, barcodes, and SKUs. However, you may choose to use only the values that are relevant to your needs.

Press the “Start mapping” button to match the stores and move to Installation Step 2.

In case you’d like to remove one of your stores from the synchronization, just use the “x” sign near the concrete store in the “Remove from sync” column.

Save the changes and launch the stores synchronization by pressing the Save button in the top modal window after all of the necessary changes and settings have been finalized in this Step.

Step 2: Set up the store’s hreflang tags

After the finalization of Step 1, our application imports the data from your Shopify Market’s settings. It includes all the domains, subdomains, and subdirectories, the language of each, and the associated countries.

On this step, there are several settings for the connected store that need to be configured:

• Store country/region. Initially, the list of countries for a specific domain is being imported from your Shopify Markets settings, but in case you need to optimize it, you can do that here. A region can be chosen from the country dropdown. If chosen, the domain will be displayed for a particular region.
  Refer to this page to read more info about this setting.
• Main fallback store (X-default). This store serves as the default destination for visitors whose browser language or region does not match any of the stores configured in the app. For example, if a visitor’s browser is set to Spanish (Mexico), but there is no Spanish (Mexico) store available, they will be automatically redirected to the X-default store.
  Refer to this page to read more info about this setting.
• Main language store (Region-Independent Link). This is a store that is not tied to a specific region, but only to the language. For example, it can serve French content for both France and Canada.

If you’re generally satisfied with the settings that the application imported and set up, you can just use the “Next” button to proceed to the next step.

Step 3: Enable the app and turn off Shopify's hreflang tags

At this stage you enable Hreflang Manager in your store's theme and, if your store serves more than one language or market, turn off Shopify's own hreflang tags so they don't conflict with the tags from our app.

Enable the app embed block

1. Click "Go to customize" in the Hreflang Manager app.
   
2. In the theme settings, enable the app block.
   
3. Save the theme changes.
   

Turn off Shopify's automatic hreflang tags

This part applies to stores that serve more than one language or market. Shopify Markets generates its own hreflang tags for such stores, and its "Automatic hreflang tags" setting is on by default. Stores with a single language and market can skip this part, as Shopify generates no hreflang tags for them.

1. In the banner at the top of Step 3, open the link to each store listed there. Each link takes you straight to that store's Online Store, Preferences page in your Shopify admin.
   
2. In the "Social sharing and SEO" section, turn off "Automatic hreflang tags".
   
3. Return to Hreflang Manager and click "I confirm I turned them off" in the banner.
   
   The banner then confirms that Shopify's automatic hreflang tags are off, and keeps the links so you can review the setting on any store later.
   

Check the result

Click "Check all stores status." In case of any unfinished or conflicting settings, you'll be notified via the messages in the app.

Uninstall Hreflang Manager

To uninstall the Hreflang Manager app, it is needed to follow these steps:

1. On the Dashboard, press Disconnect near the connected store(s). Thus, you will delete the app code from the stores.
2. Go to your store’s app list and find Hreflang Manager there. Press the Delete button in front of the app.

There is a possibility that the app code remains after uninstalling Hreflang Manager.

This applies to stores where the app previously added its code to the theme. On stores installed from August 13, 2026 onward there is no such code, so nothing needs to be cleaned up manually. If you uninstalled the app without first disconnecting the stores as instructed above, some code may remain that interferes with hreflang tags generated by Shopify markets. To remove this code completely, you should follow these steps to fully clear the Hreflang Manager App code from your store (or share these instructions with your development team):

1. Go to your Admin Panel -> Online Store -> Themes -> Actions -> Edit Code.
2. Open the theme.liquid file.
3. Find and remove the code {% include "gwa-hreflang" %} OR {% render "gwa-hreflang" %}.
4. Save the changes.
5. In the search bar, enter the word "hreflang".
6. Open the gwa-hreflang.liquid file and click Delete.

FAQ about Installation page: