Install, change and delete WordPress themes (directory, ZIP upload or FTP)

A theme controls how your WordPress site looks: layout, fonts, colours and page templates. You can install free themes from the WordPress.org directory, upload a premium theme you bought as a ZIP file, or copy it in manually when uploads fail. Unused themes should be removed, because outdated code is a common way into a site.

Before you start

• Administrator access to WordPress (log in to wp-admin).
• A backup, especially before switching the theme of a live site; see back up WordPress.
• For premium themes: the theme ZIP file from the seller (not the whole download package, which often contains documentation too).

Install a theme from the directory

1. Go to Appearance → Themes and click Add New Theme.
2. Browse Popular or Latest, search by name, or use Feature Filter.
3. Hover over a theme and click Preview to see it with sample content.
4. Click Install, then Activate (or Live Preview to try it on your own content first).

Upload a theme ZIP

1. Go to Appearance → Themes → Add New Theme and click Upload Theme.
2. Click Choose File, select the theme ZIP and click Install Now.
3. When it finishes, click Activate.

Install a theme manually with File Manager

Use this when the upload is too large or fails.

1. Open cPanel → Files → File Manager and go to public_html/wp-content/themes.
2. Click Upload and upload the theme ZIP.
3. Right-click the ZIP and choose Extract. Make sure you get a single folder such as themes/astra, with style.css directly inside it.
4. Delete the ZIP, then go to Appearance → Themes in WordPress and click Activate on the new theme.

Delete a theme

1. Activate the theme you want to keep. The active theme cannot be deleted.
2. Go to Appearance → Themes and click the theme you want to remove.
3. Click Delete at the bottom right of the details window and confirm.

Keep one default theme (for example the latest Twenty Twenty- theme) installed as a fallback. WordPress switches to it if your main theme breaks.

Troubleshooting

• The uploaded file exceeds the upload_max_filesize directive: raise PHP limits (see increase PHP limits) or use the File Manager method.
• The package could not be installed. The theme is missing the style.css stylesheet: you uploaded the full download package; unzip it on your computer and upload only the theme ZIP inside.
• Site breaks after activating: rename the theme's folder in File Manager; WordPress falls back to a default theme.

Next steps

• Install and manage plugins
• Update WordPress, themes and plugins safely
• Speed up WordPress