---
title: "Sync & Customize and plugin updates"
description: "When you use **Sync & Customize** on a HomeRunner template, that one template file is copied into the **Template Customizer**, and your copy takes over…"
url: "https://homerunner.io/docs/what-happens-to-a-customized-homerunner-template-when-the-plugin-updates-does-sy/"
updated: "2026-10-26"
category: Theme and design
---

# Sync & Customize and plugin updates

When you use **Sync & Customize** on a HomeRunner template, that one template file is copied into the **Template Customizer**, and your copy takes over rendering for that template.

**What happens on update.** Plugin updates never overwrite your customized copy, so your changes are kept through every update. Your copy is a fork of that single file, but not a silent one. When a HomeRunner update changes the original template, the **Template Customizer** marks your copy as outdated in wp-admin so you know the original has changed.

**Re-syncing.** Re-syncing pulls in the new original and backs up your customized copy first. Re-applying your changes on top of the new version is a manual step.

**Choosing CSS or Sync & Customize.** If your changes are visual, use CSS in **Appearance > Additional CSS**. CSS-only changes survive every plugin update with nothing to re-apply. Use **Sync & Customize** only for structural changes to the page markup that CSS cannot achieve.

Still stuck? [Contact the HomeRunner team](https://homerunner.io/contact/) with your site address and what you tried, and we take it from there.