Table of contents

Step 1: Back up your website Step 2: Identify any customizations Step 3: Use a staging site if you can Step 4: Check for available theme updates Step 5: Choose your update method Step 6: Test your site after the update Optional: Enable automatic updates What to do if something goes wrong Best practices for updating WordPress themes Getting started Additional resources

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WordPress Guide → Theme → Update

How to update a WordPress theme (without messing up your site)

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Updating your WordPress theme can give your site better security, faster performance, and cool new features—but it can also cause major problems if you’re not careful. A bad update might break your layout, reset your custom styles, or even crash your entire site.

Let’s walk through exactly how to update your theme safely, step by step. By the end, you’ll know how to protect your site before you hit “Update.”

Why updating your WordPress theme matters

Theme updates often include important improvements behind the scenes. If you skip them, your site might become more vulnerable over time.

Benefits of updating:

Security patches. Developers often fix bugs or vulnerabilities that hackers could exploit.
Better performance. Newer versions may load faster or reduce code bloat.
Compatibility. Updated themes are tested with the latest WordPress core and popular plugins.
New features. Updates may bring better design controls, layout options, or block patterns.

But there are risks if you don’t do it carefully:

Broken layouts. Changes in CSS or templates could mess up your design.
Lost customizations. If you edited the theme files directly, an update can erase those changes.
Plugin conflicts. Some plugins might stop working correctly with the new version.

Step 1: Back up your website

Before you touch anything, always back up your full site. That means your database (content, settings) and your files (theme, plugins, images, etc.).

Ways to back up:

Use a plugin like Jetpack. Jetpack Backup is beginner-friendly and stores backups offsite so you can restore them even if your site goes down.
Download a manual backup. Some hosting dashboards let you create and download full backups from your account panel.
Export content from WordPress. While this won’t cover your whole site, it can give you a copy of your posts, pages, and media.

A backup gives you a safety net. If the theme update breaks anything, you can restore your site with just a few clicks.

Step 2: Identify any customizations

Before updating, find out whether you’ve made any changes to your theme. Updates can overwrite theme files and wipe out those changes.

Look for:

Custom CSS in the Customizer. Go to Appearance > Customize > Additional CSS to check if you’ve added styling there.
Edits to theme files. If you’ve changed files like style.css, header.php, or functions.php inside the main theme folder, those changes will be lost.
Child theme usage. If you used a child theme to make customizations, you’re safe. Parent themes can be updated without affecting your child theme.

Tips:

Compare your site’s design to the theme’s original version.
Export Customizer settings using a plugin like Customizer Export/Import if you want to preserve design tweaks.

Step 3: Use a staging site if you can

A staging site is a clone of your website where you can safely test changes. It’s not required—but if your host provides one, use it.

Why staging helps:

Test safely. You can preview how the update will affect your site before changing anything live.
No downtime. Visitors won’t see a broken site if something goes wrong.
Debug faster. You can check plugin compatibility and fix any display issues in a controlled environment.

Ways to get a staging site:

Check if your host includes staging tools in your dashboard.
Use a plugin like WP Staging to create a local testing environment.

If you can’t use staging, make sure you have a full backup and update during low-traffic hours.

Step 4: Check for available theme updates

You can update themes in a few different places inside your WordPress dashboard.

To check for updates:

Go to Appearance > Themes.
Look for any themes with a notice that says “New version available.”
Or go to Dashboard > Updates and scroll to the Themes section. WordPress will list any available theme updates there.

Note: If you bought a premium theme, you may need to activate your license key or connect your theme account (like Envato or ThemeForest) to get updates.

Step 5: Choose your update method

There are two main ways to update a WordPress theme. The easiest is with a single click inside your dashboard. The second is a manual upload if you downloaded a new version.

Method 1: One-click update

From your dashboard, go to Dashboard > Updates.
Check the box next to the theme(s) you want to update.
Click Update Themes.

Or:

Go to Appearance > Themes.
Hover over the theme that says “Update Available.”
Click the Update Now link.

WordPress will automatically download and install the new version.

Method 2: Manual upload

If your theme doesn’t show an update link (common with premium themes), you can upload the latest version manually.

Download the latest .zip file from your theme provider.
Go to Appearance > Themes.
Click Add New > Upload Theme.
Choose the .zip file and click Install Now.
WordPress will prompt you to replace the old version. Confirm it.

Tip: If the theme is active and WordPress blocks the upload, switch to a different theme temporarily (like Twenty Twenty-Four), delete the old version, then upload the new one.

Step 6: Test your site after the update

After updating, check your entire site to make sure everything still looks and works correctly.

Test the following:

Homepage layout. Make sure headers, images, and styling look right.
Menus and widgets. These sometimes get reset or repositioned.
Blog post templates. Check single post pages for formatting issues.
Custom features. If your theme has sliders, animations, or page builder support, verify they still load properly.
Console errors. Use your browser’s developer tools to check for missing files or JavaScript errors.

If something looks off, restore your backup or debug in your staging environment.

Optional: Enable automatic updates

You can let WordPress handle future theme updates automatically, but it’s not right for everyone.

Why use auto-updates:

Saves time for simple, low-maintenance sites.
Keeps your theme secure without requiring manual checks.

Why you might skip it:

You’ve heavily customized your theme and want to control update timing.
You need to test updates first to avoid breaking your layout.

To enable:

Go to Appearance > Themes.
Click the theme you want to auto-update.
Click the Enable Auto-Updates link in the lower right.

Auto-updates only work for themes downloaded from WordPress.org or themes that have update integration set up.

What to do if something goes wrong

If your site breaks after an update, don’t panic. You have a few options to recover quickly.

Restore your backup. If you used Jetpack or another backup plugin, restore the site to its last working version.
Use the WP Rollback plugin. This free plugin lets you revert themes and plugins to older versions from the WordPress dashboard.
Contact the theme developer. For premium themes, support teams may help resolve update issues.
Use your host’s recovery options. Some hosting providers offer instant rollback or support for troubleshooting.

Best practices for updating WordPress themes

Keep these habits in mind every time you update a theme:

Back up your site first. Always have a full backup before making changes.
Use a child theme. This protects your custom code and styling from being erased.
Test in staging if possible. Avoid surprises by checking updates in a copy of your site.
Read the changelog. Theme developers often explain what’s changed and whether manual steps are required.
Don’t ignore updates. Outdated themes can create security risks and site instability.

Next steps for updating your WordPress theme

Updating your WordPress theme is an important part of keeping your site secure, fast, and functional—but only if you do it the right way. With a backup, a staging environment, and a plan to protect your customizations, you can update without fear.

Your next step is to back up your site and review whether you’re using a child theme. That way, you’re prepared to run updates safely and confidently.

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