Change a WordPress theme with SSH
You can change the currently active theme from within SSH. This is a more advanced method, but can be more efficient for developers who manage multiple WordPress sites.
Warning: The information in this article is advanced material we make available as a courtesy. Please be advised that you are responsible for properly following the procedures below. Customer Support can't assist with these topics.
- You should always backup your site before performing any changes.
- Connect to your server or shared hosting account with SSH
Connect to MySQL using the following command:
mysql -u username -h hostdatabase -P port -p
Enter the database information from your database as follows:
- username is your database username
- host is your database hostname or IP address
- database is the database name
- port is the port MySQL is running on (by default this is 3306)
- When prompted, enter the password for that MySQL user.
Once connected, enter the following command to check your current theme and child theme:
select * from wp_options where option_name = 'template' or option_name = 'stylesheet';
To change the template, enter the following command
update wp_options set option_value = 'themeName' where option_name = 'template';Update the command as follows:
- themeName is the name of the new theme
To change the stylesheet, enter the following command
type update wp_options set option_value = 'themeName2' where option_name = 'stylesheet';Update the command as follows:
- themeName2 is the name of the new theme or child theme
After changing the template and stylesheet, type exit; to close out of SSH.
Warning: If your WordPress database uses custom table prefixes, then you must replace wp_ in each command with the prefix listed in your wp-config.php file.
