The tool does one thing: it creates a child theme. People want one for two different reasons. Most come for the first, so that is where this starts.
The generator is on the White-Label tab of the Tools page in the theme dashboard. It comes with the Pro plugin; on a free build the tab is visible but locked.
#Use one: a child theme for your edits
You do not need to find, download or assemble a child theme yourself. Open the White-Label tab, give the new theme a name, and press Create White-Label Theme. It is generated from the version of the theme you currently have, saved to wp-content/themes, and offered for activation with Activate Now.
The Copy template files switch decides what goes into it. Off, the child theme holds only its own stylesheet and functions file, and every template keeps coming from the parent. On, all standard template files, and the template-parts folder if there is one, are copied into the child theme.
Leave the switch off unless you intend to edit templates. A template the child theme does not contain keeps coming from the parent, so it keeps improving with every update instead of freezing at today's version. If you did copy the templates, you can delete the ones you never edit and WordPress falls back to the parent's copy.
Edits made directly to the theme files disappear at the first update.
That is the reason this tool exists, and it applies to every WordPress theme: an update replaces the folder, silently and completely.
Once the child theme is active, your edits live in it. The parent theme keeps updating underneath, and your changes survive because they are in a different folder.
Building one by hand is a different job.
A child theme is a standard WordPress mechanism, so you can create the folder, the stylesheet and the enqueue yourself and copy templates across manually. It works. The generator exists because doing it by hand is where the mistakes happen: a mistyped Template: header, a stylesheet that never loads, a template copied from a different version of the theme.
#Use two: your own name on it
This is for developers and studios handing a finished site to a client, when you would rather the client did not see another company's name in the themes list.
The generator sets the theme name from the Brand / theme name field, the author from Author (optional), and the screenshot from an image you upload (PNG or JPG, up to 2 MB). Leave the author empty and the theme carries no author at all; leave the screenshot empty and the original theme's screenshot is used. The description reads "Child theme of" followed by the parent theme's name.
This is a normal practice and we deliberately do not block it.
#Where the boundary is
Renaming does not turn the theme into a separate product.
The license stays yours and keeps working as before, and none of this grants a right to resell or redistribute the theme. The authoritative text is the terms and conditions, and for a marketplace purchase the Envato license governs it.
Updates still arrive for the parent theme and not for the child, which is why the child survives them.
#Common questions
Should I copy the templates?
Only if you plan to edit templates. The switch copies all standard templates at once. Every template the child theme does not hold keeps coming from the parent and keeps receiving updates, and fewer copied files means fewer files that quietly go stale against a newer parent. Delete any copied template you do not edit.
Do I still get support on a renamed theme?
Yes. Renaming changes nothing about the license and nothing about support.
What is inside the child theme is a separate matter. Support covers the theme; your overrides, CSS and any other custom code in the child theme are yours, as with custom code anywhere. A child theme carrying a large amount of custom code, or changing how the original theme behaves, may be outside what we can take on, and the support policy is where that line is written down. The quick test is whether the symptom survives switching back to the parent theme.
Can I create the child theme after the site is already built?
Yes, since your content and settings live in the database. Walk the site afterwards, though, because some theme-specific settings are stored per theme.
Does white labeling hide the theme from the client entirely?
No. It changes the name, the author and the screenshot, but the description still names the parent theme, the parent stays installed, and anybody with file access can see what the code is.
The child theme will not activate
The generator writes into wp-content/themes, so that folder has to be writable, and the diagnostics screen checks exactly that. If the child theme exists but the site loses its styling, the parent theme was most likely deleted. A child cannot run without its parent installed.
#Still stuck
Open a support ticket and say what you tried and where it stopped. Your product, your domain, a screenshot and the exact message you saw are usually enough to settle it in one reply.
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