Theme Speed Guide · Updated February 2026
Refresh Speed Optimization — How to Make Refresh Faster
Refresh is a free Shopify OS 2.0 theme designed for content-rich stores and blogs. It inherits strong performance fundamentals from the OS 2.0 architecture. Here's how to optimize it for maximum speed without sacrificing functionality.
Refresh Theme Overview
Developer
Shopify
Price
Free
Category
Free
Default Speed
70-80
The Refresh theme by Shopify is a free Shopify theme. Refresh is a free Shopify OS 2.0 theme designed for content-rich stores and blogs. It inherits strong performance fundamentals from the OS 2.0 architecture. Out of the box, Refresh stores typically score 70-80 on Google PageSpeed Insights (mobile). That's decent but still leaves room for improvement. The good news? With the right optimizations, you can push that score to 88-96 — a significant improvement that translates to faster load times, better SEO rankings, and higher conversion rates.
Speed Score: Before vs After Optimization
Default (Unoptimized)
70-80
PageSpeed Mobile Score
After Optimization
88-96
PageSpeed Mobile Score
These scores represent typical ranges we see across Refresh stores. Your actual score depends on your specific configuration: how many products you display, which apps you've installed, your image sizes, and how many theme sections you use. A store with 5 installed apps will always be slower than one with 2 — regardless of theme choice.
Important context: Shopify's platform itself adds a baseline of JavaScript and CSS that you can't remove. This means no Shopify store will ever score a perfect 100. The scores above represent realistic, achievable targets for a well-optimized Refresh store with a reasonable number of apps installed.
Common Speed Issues with Refresh
Every Shopify theme has its own performance characteristics. Here are the speed issues we most commonly see on Refresh stores, along with why each one matters:
Blog-heavy layouts loading multiple featured article images
This is typically the largest contributor to slow Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) scores on Refresh stores. LCP measures how long it takes for the main visual content to appear — and it's a Core Web Vital that directly affects your Google rankings.
Custom color schemes generating additional CSS variables
Third-party scripts and render-blocking resources prevent the browser from displaying your page until they've downloaded and executed. This increases both First Contentful Paint (FCP) and Time to Interactive (TTI).
Social media embed sections loading external scripts
Loading too many resources eagerly (before the user scrolls to them) wastes bandwidth and competes with critical above-the-fold content for network and CPU resources.
Multiple content blocks on long-form landing pages
Excess DOM elements and JavaScript increase the browser's rendering workload, leading to slower interaction responsiveness (measured by Interaction to Next Paint / INP).
Step-by-Step: How to Speed Up Refresh
Follow these optimization steps in order — they're arranged from highest impact to lowest. Each tip is specific to the Refresh theme and based on patterns we see across hundreds of Refresh stores.
Limit blog preview cards on the homepage to 3 — each loads a featured image
Avoid embedding social media feeds directly — use static images with links instead
Reduce the number of color schemes in settings — each generates CSS variables
Use Refresh's native image optimization settings and verify lazy loading is on
Keep homepage sections under 10 to manage DOM size
Minimize custom CSS additions — Refresh's stylesheet is already lean
🔍 SEO bonus: Optimizing your Refresh theme's speed doesn't just improve user experience — it directly impacts your Google search rankings. Stores that pass Core Web Vitals rank higher. Speed optimization is the highest-ROI SEO investment for most Shopify stores.
The #1 Speed Factor Most Refresh Store Owners Miss
Here's what most speed guides won't tell you: your theme is probably not the main reason your store is slow.
The average Shopify store has 15-25 installed apps, and each one can inject JavaScript and CSS into your storefront. Review apps, email popups, chat widgets, analytics trackers, upsell tools — they all add up. On a typical Refresh store, third-party app scripts account for 60-80% of total JavaScript execution time.
You can optimize your Refresh images and settings all day, but if you have a heavy review app loading 200KB of JavaScript and a chat widget initializing a WebSocket connection on every page load, your speed score will still suffer.
This is exactly why we built Thunder. Instead of generic speed tips, Thunder scans every installed app on your store, measures each one's actual speed impact, and shows you exactly what's slowing you down. Then it automatically optimizes how those scripts load — deferring non-essential ones, reducing blocking time, and prioritizing critical functionality.
⚡ Optimize Your Refresh Store in 60 Seconds
Thunder automatically identifies which apps are slowing your Refresh store and fixes them — no code changes required. See your speed report instantly.
Free plan available · No theme code changes · Works with Refresh
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is my Refresh theme slow on Shopify?
The Refresh theme typically scores 70-80 on PageSpeed Insights out of the box. Common causes of slowness include blog-heavy layouts loading multiple featured article images and custom color schemes generating additional css variables. However, the biggest speed killer for most Refresh stores is third-party app scripts — review widgets, email popups, and analytics tools that load heavy JavaScript on every page. Optimizing images and deferring non-essential scripts can improve your score to 88-96.
What is a good speed score for a Refresh Shopify store?
For a Refresh store, a realistic optimized PageSpeed score is 88-96 on mobile and even higher on desktop. The default unoptimized score is typically 70-80. Don't aim for a perfect 100 — that's nearly impossible with Shopify's platform overhead and any third-party apps. A score above 80 on mobile is considered good, and anything above 90 is excellent.
How do I speed up Refresh without breaking my store?
Start with safe, high-impact optimizations: compress all images to WebP format, remove unused apps, and enable lazy loading in your Refresh theme settings. Avoid editing theme code directly unless you're comfortable with Liquid. A speed optimization app like Thunder can automatically defer third-party scripts and optimize loading order without touching your theme files — it's the safest way to improve speed.
Is Refresh a fast Shopify theme?
Refresh is a free Shopify theme that performs reasonably well out of the box, typically scoring 70-80 on mobile PageSpeed. As a Shopify-built theme, it follows modern performance practices. However, your actual speed depends heavily on your product images, installed apps, and how many sections you use. With optimization, Refresh stores can reach 88-96.
Other Shopify Theme Speed Guides
Score: 75-85 → 90-98
Debut Speed Guide →Score: 60-72 → 82-92
Impulse Speed Guide →Score: 45-58 → 72-85
Prestige Speed Guide →Score: 42-55 → 70-83
Warehouse Speed Guide →Score: 48-60 → 73-86
Turbo Speed Guide →Score: 50-65 → 75-88