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Install a Theme on Your Magento Store

This guide shows you how to change the look of your Magento shop with a new theme.

Online Stores2 min read12 steps3 screenshots

What is a theme?

A theme controls how your shop looks. It sets colors, fonts and layout. Your products stay the same. Magento is a popular tool for building online shops.

Themes come in two main ways. Some are free or paid files you upload. Others come from the Magento Marketplace. Installing a theme in Magento 2 usually needs the command line, which is a text window where you type commands. This means you need SSH access. SSH is a safe way to reach your server with text commands. Ask Hostvento support if SSH is on your plan.

Before you start

Back up your files and database first. A broken theme can make your shop show an error page.

Steps with a theme ZIP file

  1. Download the theme ZIP from the seller. Check that it fits your Magento version.
  2. Connect to your hosting with SSH, or use File Manager in your control panel.
  3. Go to your Magento folder. It often holds folders named app and pub.
  4. Open app/design/frontend. Upload the theme ZIP here and extract it. The seller's guide shows the exact folder. Follow it.
    Magento System Configuration
  5. In SSH, move to your Magento folder and run this command.
php bin/magento setup:upgrade

This command tells Magento to find the new theme.

  1. Run this next.
php bin/magento setup:static-content:deploy -f

This command builds the images and style files for the theme.

  1. Run this to clear the cache.
php bin/magento cache:flush

This command throws away old saved pages so you see the new look.

Turn the theme on

  1. Log in to the Magento admin panel.
  2. Go to Content and then Design and click Configuration.
    Design Section
  3. Click Edit on the row for your store view.
  4. In Applied Theme, choose your new theme.
    Cache Storage Management
  5. Click Save Configuration.
Tip: Check Content > Design > Themes. Your new theme should appear in the list. If it does not, the files are in the wrong folder.

Some themes ship with their own install guide or an extension. Follow that if it says something different. Stuck? Open a support ticket.

Quick recap

  • Back up first.
  • Put the theme in app/design/frontend.
  • Run the upgrade, deploy and cache commands.
  • Apply the theme in Content > Design > Configuration.