A theme controls how your WordPress site looks. This article covers installing a theme from the WordPress directory or a zip file, switching themes and deleting the ones you don't use.
Install a theme from the WordPress directory
- In the WordPress dashboard, go to Appearance › Themes.
- Click Add New Theme.
- Browse the Popular or Latest lists, search by name, or use Feature Filter to narrow the choice.
- Hover over a theme and click Preview to see it, or Install to add it.
- Click Activate to switch your site to it.
Upload a theme zip file
For premium themes, or ones you've downloaded elsewhere:
- Go to Appearance › Themes › Add New Theme and click Upload Theme.
- Click Choose File, select the theme's
.zipfile and click Install Now. - Click Activate.
Upload the installable theme zip, not the whole download package; some sellers include documentation in an outer zip. If the upload is too large, see change PHP limits.
Before you switch themes on a live site
- Use Live Preview to see your content in the new theme first.
- Take a backup, or try the theme on a staging copy made with WordPress Toolkit.
- Menus, widgets and some layout settings are tied to the theme, so check them after switching.
Delete a theme
- Go to Appearance › Themes.
- Click the theme you want to remove to open Theme Details.
- Click Delete (bottom right) and confirm.
You can't delete the active theme; activate a different one first.
Good to know
- Remove themes you don't use. Unused themes still contain code that can have security holes. Keep your active theme and one default WordPress theme (such as the latest "Twenty" theme) as a fallback, and delete the rest.
- Use a child theme for custom code. If you edit a theme's files directly, the changes are lost when the theme updates. A child theme holds your changes separately so the parent theme can update safely. Many theme makers provide one ready to install.
- Themes can also be installed, updated and removed from WordPress Toolkit in cPanel.
