Almost none of these are about the theme. They are about the archive, the limits and the file permissions. This page is arranged by the message you see, so find yours and start there.
#"No valid theme stylesheet found"
Also shown as "The theme is missing the style.css stylesheet". The most common error there is, and it has one cause: the wrong archive was uploaded.
The file you download from a marketplace is the full package: the theme, the Pro plugin, the documentation, the licenses, sometimes source files. WordPress expects the theme archive, and inside the package that archive is a separate file.
The fix in one line: unpack the package on your computer, find the theme archive, upload that one.
There is a second cause of the same message. The archive was unpacked and repacked by hand, which adds an extra folder level or system files inside it. Upload the archive exactly as it came.
#The file will not upload
- The upload limit is exceeded
An error mentioning
upload_max_filesize, or a blank page after clicking. The theme archive is larger than your host allows. The theme upload screen in WordPress prints your maximum, and System Info shows it too.- The upload times out
It stops partway.
max_execution_timeis too low, or the connection is slow.- It runs out of memory during unpacking
A fatal error instead of a success message. Raise
memory_limit.
Two ways out of the first two. Ask your host to raise upload_max_filesize and post_max_size. Or skip the browser entirely and upload the unpacked theme folder into wp-content/themes over SFTP, which always works and depends on no limits at all.
#"The link you followed has expired"
This looks like a security problem and is actually a size limit.
WordPress prints it when an upload exceeded post_max_size or max_input_time and the request never finished, so it has nothing to do with the link or your session and clicking again will not help. Raise both size limits together, or upload over SFTP.
#Permissions and access
WordPress asks for FTP credentials. Instead of installing, you get a login form. This is not the theme protecting itself: PHP cannot write to wp-content. It is a question for your host.
"Could not create directory" means no write permission. "Destination folder already exists" means the theme folder is already there, usually after an interrupted attempt. Delete that folder and install again, and be careful to delete the theme folder rather than the contents of wp-content.
There is no Add New button. Your host or a security plugin has disabled installing files from the admin. SFTP is then the only route.
#Installed, but will not activate
The theme appears under Broken Themes with a PHP version message. WordPress reads the minimum version from the theme header and refuses to activate it until the server matches. The archive is fine. Raise PHP in your hosting panel.
The same applies to a message about the minimum WordPress version.
A fatal error right after clicking Activate. The theme is installed at that point, so the site may be showing a white screen. Quick way out: switch back to the previous theme through the admin if it still opens, or rename the theme folder over SFTP, after which WordPress falls back to a default theme on its own. Then read the error in the debug log.
#Roles and multisite
Installing themes requires an administrator. An editor, an author or any reduced role will not see the option at all. This comes up often when somebody other than the owner is building the site.
On multisite, only a Super Admin installs themes, and after installing, the theme has to be enabled for the individual site in the network. Without that step the theme exists and does not appear in the site's list.
#Pro features need the plugin too
The theme is self sufficient and runs with no plugins at all. The Pro features live in the Pro plugin, so Pro needs both the theme installed and the right to install plugins on that site.
The same upload limits and write permissions apply to the plugin. If the theme had to go on over SFTP, the plugin probably will too.
A host that forbids installing plugins entirely cannot run the Pro layer.
That happens on some managed and corporate plans, and it is worth knowing before buying rather than after.
#Installed, but the site does not look like the demo
Three causes, in order of frequency.
The theme is not activated. Installing and activating are two different steps.
A child theme was activated without its parent, which makes the site look broken.
Demo content does not install itself with the theme. A clean theme on an empty site is not supposed to look like the demo.
#Common questions
None of these messages match mine
Get the exact error text before changing anything, because every cause on this page produces different wording and the wording is the only thing that identifies which one you have. If there is no visible message at all, the answer is in the debug log rather than on the screen.
Can I install the theme without admin access?
No, installing themes requires an administrator, and a reduced role does not see the option at all rather than seeing it fail.
The install worked on one site and fails on another
Compare the two servers rather than the two archives, since the same file behaves differently under different upload limits, memory ceilings and file permissions, and System Info on each site puts the difference in front of you in one screen.
#Still stuck
Open a support ticket with the exact error text, the file you uploaded, and the System Info output.
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