How to Roll Back a Theme in WordPress

Last updated on October 17, 2024

The best practice is to keep the active theme updated and delete unused themes, but theme rollbacks are often required in the wild.

Problem

You updated the active theme to the newest version but it causes issues on your website. You need to revert the theme immediately to the previous version.

Solution

Follow this procedure to roll back a theme in WordPress. In strict words, you can use it to replace the installed version of a theme with any other version, newer or older than the current one.

Step 1: Install and activate the plugin WP Rollback.

Step 2: Navigate to Appearance and click on the target theme.

First step of the procedure to roll back a theme using WP Rollback.

Step 3: Click Rollback.

Second step of the procedure to roll back a theme using WP Rollback.

Step 4: Choose the desired version and click Rollback. A confirmation window is shown. Click Rollback.

Third step of the procedure to roll back a theme using WP Rollback.

Step 5: Go to Appearance and verify that the chosen theme version is now installed.

Limitations

WP Rollback only works with themes existing in the WordPress Theme Directory. It is unable to handle themes stored in other repositories, like paid themes. In these cases, the Rollback button is not shown.

For some reason, the Rollback button is not shown if the active theme is the only theme installed on the website.

Tip

Each update fixes known vulnerabilities and adds new features. Do not roll back a theme as a permanent solution. Do it as a temporary solution to give you some time to fix the issues caused by the new version.