Theme is missing the style.css stylesheet

Is the theme missing the style.css stylesheet? See what to do!

Learn how to fix the WordPress theme install error missing the style.css and the solution for stylesheet error, all solved in this guide & tutorial.

This is a very common issue. You see this issue (error message ‘The theme is missing the style.css stylesheet. ?’). It appears on the site when you try to upload the wrong file on WordPress and do not follow the 1. step shown on your theme online documentation.

When you purchase/download a theme, you will download a big folder called ‘themeMaster.zip’. In this big master folder, you will have other files, for example; – theme files – license – demo content – documentation – and you can’t upload this directly on your site because it isn’t unzipped and isn’t your theme file yet.  

What do You Need to Do? Theme Missing Stylesheet Solved

1. Open this themeMaster.zip folder.  
2. Once you open it, you must click on the ‘theme name‘ folder.
3. Click on the ‘Theme Files’ folder.
4. Once in the ‘theme files’ folder, you will find 2 files; themeName.zip – themeNameChild.zip. The important one now is your ‘themename.zip’ file.
5. Select this ‘themeName.zip’ file and unzip it, extract it, drag this file, and drop it on your computer desktop.
6. This is a ready-to-install on WordPress theme.zip file.
7. Go to your WordPress dashboard pinel > Appearance > Themes > Add new > Upload theme > Select your file ‘themeName.zip’
8. Upload / active and all done.

Please try it out and follow the documentation 1. step.

Another way to install your theme is via FTP by following this video tutorial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UP-m3mD5wE 

In case you have any issues during the process, feel free to open a ticket with our support crew and on it, write up your login information for WordPress and your FTP account, and one of our support team will enter your site and upload your theme, this is a free service made only for Visualmodo company for all the clients to help you out. You also can follow this guide on our blog.

Install Theme Via FTP Tutorial

Final Words: Install WordPress Theme Error Fix & Missing Stylesheet Solution

The “missing style.css stylesheet” error message in WordPress typically occurs when you are attempting to install or activate a theme that does not have a required stylesheet. This can happen if you try to install a theme that is incompatible with WordPress or if the theme files are not properly formatted.

To resolve this issue, you can try the following steps:

1. Verify that you are installing or activating the correct file. Sometimes, the theme files may include multiple folders and subfolders. Make sure that you are selecting the valid file to install or activate.
2. Check that the theme files are properly formatted. Make sure that the theme includes the required stylesheet (usually named style.css), and that it is located in the correct folder. The stylesheet should be located in the root folder of the theme, and it should include the necessary header information.
3. Try uploading the theme files manually. Sometimes, the issue may be with the automatic installation process. You can try uploading the theme files manually by downloading the theme from a reputable source and uploading the files to your WordPress installation via FTP.

If none of these steps resolve the issue, you may consider using a different theme or seeking assistance from a WordPress developer or the support forum.