What to Keep or Delete in Your WordPress Themes

When managing your WordPress website, keeping your themes organized is a critical part of website maintenance. A cluttered or mismanaged theme setup can lead to unnecessary bloat, security vulnerabilities, or even functionality issues.

And I always recommend to SEO agencies to keep no more than 3 themes installed on a client site at any given time.

Here’s a screenshot showing the backend of a live website with recommendations on what to keep and delete for a clean, optimized, and secure WordPress environment.

 

To make it even simpler, I’ve added individual screenshots for each step below:

 

1. Child Theme: Always Keep It

The child theme is the backbone of your site’s design and customizations. It’s the active theme, built on top of the parent theme, and contains all the unique tweaks and styling that make your site stand out.

Never delete the child theme, as doing so could result in the loss of your site’s custom look and functionality.

 

2. Parent Theme: Necessary Support

The parent theme is required for the child theme to function. It provides the framework and core files that your child theme builds upon.

While it might not be active, it’s critical to keep the parent theme installed for the child theme to operate correctly.

 

3. Backup Theme: A Safety Net

It’s good practice to keep one default WordPress theme, such as Twenty Twenty-Five, as a backup. This theme can serve as a fallback for troubleshooting issues like plugin conflicts or theme-related errors.

If your active theme breaks or causes issues, switching to the backup theme helps diagnose and resolve problems quickly.

 

4. Unused Themes: Time to Delete

Any themes not in use should be deleted. Extra themes clutter your site, take up unnecessary server space, and can introduce security risks if they aren’t updated regularly.

If you ever need one of these themes again, you can always reinstall it later.

 

Why This Matters

Properly managing your themes isn’t just about tidiness but also efficiency, security, and ensuring your site functions optimally. Keeping only the necessary themes minimizes the risk of vulnerabilities while maintaining an organized environment for future troubleshooting or updates.

By following these best practices, you’ll ensure your WordPress site runs smoothly and stays secure. Want to learn more tips about managing your WordPress site? Check out my blog for expert insights!