How to Deactivate a Theme in WordPress: A Beginner’s Guide

If you are a beginner (I assume you are) and don’t know how to deactivate a theme in WordPress, then this really helpful guide is for you. Through this guide, you’ll learn the difference between uninstalling and deactivating a theme in WordPress, when to deactivate a theme and when not to, what you should and should not do before deleting any theme in WordPress, and, at last, the easy four ways to do that yourself as a beginner WordPress user. Read how to become a WordPress developer if you want to be a WP developer.

So, let’s not waste your time and start learning the easy methods for how to deactivate a theme in WordPress.

Uninstalling and Deactivating a Theme in WordPress: The Difference

Uninstalling a theme is not similar to deactivating it. So, what’s the difference? When you deactivate a theme (or it can be a WordPress plugin), the file always remains on the server. When you deactivate a theme, the theme will remain but not be active. If you change your decision later and want to use the same theme again, you only need to activate it.

On the other hand, uninstalling a theme removes all the files from the server. So, if you want to use it again, you have to reinstall it into your WordPress website. The table below shows the difference between uninstalling and deactivating a theme in WordPress.

When To Uninstall a Theme

When you activate a new theme on your WordPress site, your previously installed theme will be automatically deactivated. If you go to your Themes, you can see your old themes installed on your site, which are currently not in use.

This means the software is still occupying some server space. So, if you do not want to use it again, we recommend uninstalling it rather than just deactivating it. Since you don’t need the customized settings that you set for your site in the past and no longer intend to use the theme, uninstalling it will free up some space that you can use for your newly selected theme.

Below are some situations when you might decide to uninstall a theme for your site:

• If you have switched to a new theme and don’t want to use the old one anymore, you can uninstall it.
• If you have installed a new theme and tested it but don’t like it, you can uninstall the new theme. To do this, first deactivate the old theme, then install the new one. If you don’t like the new one, uninstall it and reactivate the previous theme.
• If you have more than one default WordPress theme installed and want to remove the extras.
• If you have outdated themes that are not updated regularly by their developers.
• Inactive themes might cause conflicts with plugins due to similar functionalities or outdated code. To avoid this, you should uninstall unused themes.

Outdated themes that are not updated regularly by their developers should be uninstalled because they can make your site vulnerable to security threats. This creates opportunities for hackers to exploit and infiltrate your website.

Another reason to uninstall inactive themes is to free up space on your server. Inactive themes take up server space, which could make your hosting plan more costly. Additionally, this can slow down your site’s loading speed, negatively affecting SEO and user experience.

That’s why we always recommend uninstalling unnecessary plugins and themes if you don’t intend to use them anymore.

When You Should Keep a Theme Instead of Deleting It

Although we recommend removing inactive themes if you no longer use them, there are certain situations where it’s better to keep a theme rather than delete it. So, when should you avoid deleting a theme from your site? Let’s take a look.

If the Theme is a Parent Theme

A parent theme plays an important role if you’re using a child theme. The child theme inherits its features, design, and functionality from the parent. If you delete the parent theme, it can break the child theme, causing it to lose all of your customizations and settings. To avoid losing your hard work, it’s essential to keep the parent theme installed, even if you don’t use it directly on your site.

If the Theme is Part of a Multisite Network

If you manage multiple websites through WordPress’s multisite feature, deleting a theme could impact more than one site. In a multisite network, themes are shared across all the sites, so if one site depends on a specific theme, deleting it could cause that site to crash or have layout problems. Instead of deleting the theme, it’s safer to deactivate it if it’s no longer needed on your site. This way, you won’t risk causing issues on other sites in your network.

If You Use the Theme for Testing

Sometimes, developers or website owners keep themes installed just for testing purposes. A testing theme allows you to try new features or configurations without affecting the main site. If you regularly test things, deleting your testing theme would mean reinstalling it every time you need to use it again. Keeping the theme installed ensures you can easily access it when needed, saving time and avoiding unnecessary hassle.

What Should You Do Before Deleting a Theme in WordPress

Before deleting a theme in WordPress, it’s important to take a few necessary steps to ensure that your site remains intact and functions properly. Deleting a theme without proper preparation can lead to issues. To avoid any mishaps, it’s always a good idea to plan ahead. In this section, we’ll outline the essential steps and provide helpful tips to follow before deleting a theme, ensuring your website stays safe.

Keep a Backup of Your Site

Before deleting any theme from your site, it’s really important to back up your website. This precaution ensures that you can restore your site if something goes wrong during the deletion process. It’s highly recommended to back up your site because a backup protects your content, settings, and customizations.

Run Tests on a Staging Site

If you are a beginner, you may wonder what a staging site is. Let’s make it clear for you. A staging site is a duplicate version of your current website. The main difference is that your current live site is accessible to the public, while your staging site is only accessible to you because it’s private. A staging site makes tasks easier, such as updating your current WordPress theme, running tests, and applying different customizations to your site that you want to implement on your actual site. That’s why, for testing purposes, a staging site is ideal, as this will not impact your current site’s appearance if anything goes wrong.

So, if you want to delete any theme, you can delete it from the staging version to see if there is anything wrong after deleting the theme. If not, you can apply it to your main version of the website.

You can create a staging site easily using a WordPress staging plugin called ‘WP Staging.’

To use this plugin, you need to install and activate it on your site.

How to Deactivate a Theme in WordPress: (Easy 2 Ways)

There are generally two easy ways to deactivate a WordPress theme. You can deactivate a theme using the dashboard, or you can use File Transfer Protocol, commonly known as FTP.

Deactivate a Theme Through The WordPress Dashboard

When you are in the WordPress main dashboard, go to Appearance → Themes. Here you can see all the themes that are installed on your site and also find which ones are not in use or inactive.

Since your site needs an active theme, when you hover over a theme, you’ll see two options appear on the screen: Activate and Live Preview.

If you click on the Activate button, your selected theme will be automatically activated, and the current one will become inactive.

After activating the new theme, go to your site and check if anything went wrong or if everything is working properly. This happens most of the time, which is why we recommend using a staging site to test your new theme, identify any issues, and take proper steps to fix them, ensuring the best user experience.

Deactivate a Theme via FTP

You can use this method if you don’t have access to the dashboard due to an error with WordPress. In this situation, you need to use FTP. To do this properly, you need to connect to your site using an FTP client, such as FileZilla, and navigate to the wp-content/themes folder in the WordPress root directory.

In the directory, you will find individual folders for each of the themes that are installed on your site. Find the folder that corresponds to the active theme (the theme folder name may be slightly different, but you can easily recognize it if you examine it carefully). Now, right-click on the folder and change the folder name to anything. When you do this, WordPress will not recognize it and will switch to another active theme. If you wish, you can also delete the theme folder, and WordPress will automatically switch to another theme.

How to Delete a Theme in WordPress (Easy 4 Ways)

This part is not only about deactivating your theme; it shows you the exact and easy four ways to remove a theme that you don’t want to use on your site anymore.

Remove the Theme Using The WordPress Dashboard

This method is very simple and, as a beginner, you can do it easily. However, to do this properly using the WordPress dashboard, you will first need access to the site. To delete the theme using the WordPress dashboard, follow the steps below:

• Access the WordPress admin dashboard.
• Go to Appearance → Themes.
• Find the theme you want to delete, hover over a different theme, and click Activate to deactivate the current one.
• Click on the theme you wish to delete, and then click the Delete link in the bottom right corner.
• In the popup, click OK to confirm.

Remove the Theme Using FTP

If you don’t have access to the WordPress admin area, you can easily delete your theme using a reliable and free File Transfer Protocol. In this case, you can use FileZilla because it’s free and very useful. To do this properly, you’ll first need to connect to your site via FTP to access your website’s files.

By following the steps below, you can easily delete your WordPress theme:

• If you don’t have FTP software, download FileZilla, which is free and reliable.
• Enter your FTP credentials and open the root directory (usually public_html).
• Go to wp-content and open the themes folder.
• If you just want to deactivate the theme, rename its folder.
• Find the theme you want to delete, right-click its folder, and click Delete.
• After deleting the theme, navigate back to your WordPress dashboard, and the theme should no longer appear.

Delete the Theme via cPanel

If you don’t want to use FTP, then cPanel can be another useful tool. To delete the theme using cPanel, you need to first log in to your hosting account. Then you need to navigate to the File Manager section and locate the wp-content folder in your site’s root directory. Now find and select the themes folder. If you want to just deactivate the theme, you just need to rename the folder, but if you want to remove it completely, you need to right-click on the folder, select the delete option, and then confirm the deletion. Your target theme will be completely removed from the directory.

Remove the theme via WP‑CLI (For Advanced User)

You can use WordPress Command Line Interface (WP-CLI) to delete a WordPress theme from your site in the quickest time possible. To do that, you need to follow these steps:

Install WP-CLI: Ensure WP-CLI is installed and accessible from your command line.

List Installed Themes: To view all themes, use the command: $ wp theme list

View Inactive Themes (Optional): To view only inactive themes, use: $ wp theme list –status=inactive

Delete the Theme: Use the following command, replacing “themename” with the folder name: $ wp theme delete themename

Disable a Theme on Multisite (Optional): To disable a theme on a multisite, use: $ wp theme disable themename

Final Thoughts

It’s very easy to deactivate or uninstall any theme from your WordPress website using any of the methods discussed above. As a beginner, you can avoid the WP-CLI method because it requires more technical expertise; that method is for advanced users, but we include it here to give you an idea of doing such things in many ways. I hope this ‘How to Deactivate a Theme in WordPress’ guide is super helpful to you. Don’t forget to share this guide with your friends if you find it really helpful. Read this blog post If you want to know which theme a WP website is using. Thanks for staying with us. See you in the next blog!