Unlock Your Shopify Footer: How to Display Policy Links Separately (Trade, Horizon & More!)

Hey there, fellow store owners! We've all been there: you're polishing your Shopify store, getting everything just right, and then you notice something small that just doesn't quite fit your vision. A recent community discussion highlighted a common one: how to display essential policy links – like your Privacy Policy, Refund Policy, and Terms of Service – separately in your footer, instead of them being grouped under a single "Terms & Policies" heading.

Our community member, skooch, initially asked about the "Trade" theme but quickly clarified they were using the "Horizon" theme. This mix-up is actually a great lesson: while the problem is common, solutions can be theme-specific. Thankfully, our amazing community offered several fantastic approaches that can help almost anyone!

Why Separate Policy Links?

While grouped links technically work, separating them offers real benefits:

• Better User Experience: Clear, distinct links make it easier for customers to find crucial information quickly, building trust.
• Professional Look: It simply looks cleaner and more polished, enhancing your store's credibility.

Solution 1: The Quick CSS Fix for Horizon Theme

If you're using the Horizon theme, this is likely your fastest and easiest solution, thanks to tim_tairli from the community. It's a CSS-only approach, meaning no direct Liquid file edits are needed.

Steps for Horizon Theme:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Online Store > Themes.
2. Find your Horizon theme, then click Customize.
3. In the theme editor, navigate to the Footer section.
4. Look for a section or block called "Utilities" within the Footer.
5. Inside the Utilities section, find the "Custom CSS" setting. Paste the following code into that box:

div#terms-policies-popover {
  display: contents;
  opacity: 1;
  position: unset;
  box-shadow: none;
  transform: none;
}

anchored-popover-component button.policy-list-trigger {
  display: none;
}

anchored-popover-component .policy_list {
  display: flex;
  flex-wrap: wrap;
}

This code hides the default grouped popover and displays individual policy links directly. Here’s what it looks like before and after, as shared by tim_tairli:

Solution 2: Menu Management – The Universal First Check

Before any code, ajaycodewiz shared a crucial troubleshooting step: check your navigation menus! Often, grouped policies are simply nested menu items, a super easy fix for any theme.

Steps for Menu Structure:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Online Store > Navigation.
2. Select the menu linked to your footer (e.g., "Footer Menu").
3. Examine your menu items. If "Privacy Policy," "Refund Policy," etc., are indented under a "Terms and Policies" item, that's your issue.

Here’s an image from ajaycodewiz showing this common nesting:

4. To fix, simply drag these policy links out to the top level. You can then delete the "Terms and Policies" parent link if it's no longer needed.

And here’s ajaycodewiz’s visual of the correct, un-nested structure:

Solution 3: Theme-Specific Setting (e.g., Trade Theme)

Some themes, like "Trade," come with a direct toggle for this! ajaycodewiz noted you might find a simple checkbox.

Steps for Theme Editor Setting:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Online Store > Themes.
2. Find your theme (e.g., Trade), then click Customize.
3. In the theme editor, navigate to the Footer section.
4. Look for a section called "Utilities".
5. Within Utilities, you might see an option like "Policy links" or "Show policy links separately." Tick this checkbox!

Here’s a visual from ajaycodewiz of what that setting might look like:

Solution 4: Deeper Dive – Liquid File Customization

If the above methods don't work, or if you need precise control, editing your theme's Liquid files is the most robust approach, as suggested by devcoders and rshrivastava63. This typically involves the sections/footer.liquid file.

Important: Always duplicate your theme before making any code edits! This creates a backup.

Steps for Liquid File Edit:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Online Store > Themes.
2. Find your live theme, click Actions > Duplicate. Then, click Actions > Edit code on the duplicated theme.
3. In the code editor, open sections/footer.liquid.
4. Look for a section that iterates through your shop's policies. It might look like this (as rshrivastava63 showed):

{% for policy in shop.policies %}
  

    {{ policy.title }}
  
{% endfor %}

To display them separately, replace this loop (or the section generating grouped policies) with individual links. Here's rshrivastava63's suggested code:

{% if shop.privacy_policy %}
  
Privacy Policy
{% endif %}

{% if shop.refund_policy %}
  
Refund Policy
{% endif %}

{% if shop.shipping_policy %}
  
Shipping Policy
{% endif %}

{% if shop.terms_of_service %}
  
Terms of Service
{% endif %}

This code checks for each policy and creates a direct link. Save your changes!

So, there you have it! Thanks to our vibrant Shopify community, you've got several excellent ways to get those policy links looking just right in your footer. It's a great example of how a small tweak can significantly improve your store's professionalism and user-friendliness. Always start with the simpler menu or theme editor options, and if those don't quite fit, confidently move to the CSS or Liquid approaches. With a little effort, you'll have a perfectly organized footer in no time! If you're building a flexible and powerful online store, Shopify offers a robust platform that supports this kind of customization and a thriving community to help you along the way.