# How to tell what WordPress theme a site is using, child themes included
> To tell what WordPress theme a site is using, search its page source for /wp-content/themes/: the folder name after it is the theme. How to confirm the name and version from the theme stylesheet, spot a child theme and its parent, and why theme detectors sometimes fail.
Updated 2026-09-26 · WordPress & WooCommerce · HTML version: https://getreport.app/guides/what-wordpress-theme-is-that
To tell what WordPress theme a site is using, view its page source and search for `/wp-content/themes/`: the folder name that follows, such as `astra` or `kadence`, is the theme. The theme's `style.css` file, when the page links to it, starts with a header giving the theme's full name, author and version, and a `Template:` line if it is a child theme built on another. That covers most sites in a minute; the rest hide the name by renaming the folder, combining files or using a page builder that does the design instead.
This guide is for anyone who has seen a WordPress site they like and wants the same starting point, and for agencies checking what they are taking on. It covers the manual method, child themes, block themes and page builders, and why detectors sometimes come back empty. If you are not yet sure the site runs WordPress, start with the [five signs a website is WordPress](https://getreport.app/guides/how-to-tell-if-a-website-is-wordpress).
## Quick answer
- **View source** (Ctrl+U) and search for `/wp-content/themes/`. The next part of the path is the theme folder.
- **Two different theme folders** usually mean a child theme and its parent. The parent is the actual product; the child holds the site's changes.
- **Open the linked `style.css`** to read `Theme Name`, `Author`, `Version` and, in a child theme, `Template` (the parent's folder).
- **A folder name like `hello-elementor` or `Divi`** tells you a page builder shapes the design, not the theme.
- **Or use the free [WordPress theme and plugin detector](https://getreport.app/tools/wordpress-plugin-checker)**, which reads the theme folder and version from the page for you.
## Step 1: find the theme folder in the page source
Open the page in a desktop browser, press Ctrl+U (Cmd+Option+U on a Mac), then Ctrl+F and search for `themes/`. You are looking for lines like these:
```html
```
The folder after `/wp-content/themes/` is the theme's slug: here `kadence`, with a child theme called `kadence-child`. The `?ver=` number is often the theme's version, though some themes put the WordPress version or a build number there instead.
Folder names usually match the theme's name in the wordpress.org directory or on its seller's site. Search for the folder name plus "WordPress theme" to find it.
## Step 2: read the theme's style.css header
Every WordPress theme has a `style.css` file whose first lines are a comment block that WordPress itself reads to list the theme in the admin. If the page source links to it, open that link:
```css
/*
Theme Name: Kadence Child
Theme URI: https://example.com/
Description: Child theme for Kadence
Author: Example Studio
Template: kadence
Version: 1.0.0
*/
```
The fields that matter:
| Field | What it tells you |
| --- | --- |
| `Theme Name` | The theme's display name |
| `Author` / `Author URI` | Who made it: a theme company, an agency, or the site's own developer |
| `Version` | The theme's version |
| `Template` | Present only in a child theme: the folder name of the parent theme |
| `Text Domain` | Usually the same as the folder name |
Many themes load a minified stylesheet instead and never link `style.css` from the page. The folder name from step 1 is then your answer; there is no need to go looking for files the page does not load.
## Child themes: which one is the theme?
A child theme is a small theme that inherits everything from a parent theme and holds only the site's own changes, so the parent can be updated without losing them. WordPress's developer handbook recommends one whenever you customise a theme's code.
On a child-theme site you usually see two folders in the source: the parent's (`astra`, `kadence`, `generatepress`) and the child's (`astra-child`, `kadence-child`, or a brand name such as `example-shop`). The **parent** is the product you would install to get the same starting point; the child contains that site's customisations, which you will not get.
If you see only one folder with an unfamiliar name, it may be a child theme whose parent loads nothing from its own folder, or a custom theme. The `Template:` line in its `style.css`, if the page links it, settles which.
## Block themes, page builders and why the theme may not matter
Modern WordPress sites split the design work in three different ways, and the theme name means something different in each:
- **A classic theme** (Astra, GeneratePress, Kadence, OceanWP) controls the layout with its own templates and settings. The theme is most of the look.
- **A block theme** (Twenty Twenty-Five and its successors, and many newer themes) builds every template from blocks in the Site Editor. The source shows `wp-block-` classes and a `global-styles-inline-css` style block. The theme is a starting point that the site's editor may have changed completely.
- **A page builder** (Elementor, Divi, Beaver Builder, Bricks) draws the page on top of a light theme. A theme folder called `hello-elementor` or a page full of `elementor-` or `et_pb_` classes means the design lives in the builder's templates, and installing the same theme alone will not reproduce it.
The CMS detector names common page builders, and every getReport report on a WordPress site shows what the builder costs in page weight:
> **Check: Page builder weight.** A page builder ships its whole framework on every page, whatever the page uses, and wraps every element in extra containers. When it becomes most of the code and most of the markup the visitor downloads and the browser lays out, every other speed fix has less to work with.
>
> 1. Switch on the builder's own performance settings first: see the report for the exact setting
> 2. Remove widgets, animations and add-on packs the page does not use; each one adds its own CSS and JavaScript.
> 3. For the pages that matter most (home, key landing pages) consider building them with core blocks and the theme alone, and keep the builder for the rest.
The guide to [page builders versus the block editor](https://getreport.app/guides/page-builders-vs-gutenberg-the-performance-reality) explains what that weight means for speed.
## Use a theme detector
> **Free tool:** [WordPress theme and plugin detector](https://getreport.app/tools/wordpress-plugin-checker): Free WordPress theme and plugin detector: see the theme, page builder and plugins a site uses, what each plugin costs in kilobytes and which are abandoned.
The WordPress theme and plugin detector reads the theme from the stylesheet path, `/wp-content/themes/` followed by the folder, with its version when the file URL carries one. It also lists the page builder and every plugin the page loads. It reports the first theme folder the page references, which on a child-theme site can be either the child or the parent, so check the page source for a second folder when the name looks custom.
The [CMS detector](https://getreport.app/tools/tech-stack) confirms the platform first, with the evidence:
> **Check: Technology stack.** Knowing the CMS, framework, CDN and analytics behind a page helps you and your developer find the right settings for the fixes in this report.
>
> 1. Nothing to fix; use this list to find the right settings panel for the other findings.
## Why theme detectors sometimes fail
- **The folder was renamed.** Some developers rename a bought theme's folder to the client's brand, or build on a starter theme and never mention it. The folder name then leads nowhere.
- **Files are combined.** Optimisation plugins such as WP Rocket, Autoptimize or LiteSpeed Cache merge and rename stylesheets into `/wp-content/cache/…`, removing theme paths from the HTML.
- **A CDN rewrites URLs**, so assets load from a CDN host with a different path.
- **The theme is custom.** Agency-built themes have no public product to find.
- **The site is headless or not WordPress at all.** No `/wp-content/themes/` path exists.
In these cases the page may still reveal a builder, a font or a distinctive class prefix that names the theme family. When it does not, the only reliable answer comes from the site's owner or developer.
## Other platforms
"What theme is this" has a different answer on each platform. On Shopify, the browser console's `Shopify.theme` gives the theme's original name and Theme Store ID; the guide [what Shopify theme is this](https://getreport.app/guides/what-shopify-theme-is-this) shows how. Hosted builders such as Wix and Squarespace start sites from templates, but the published pages rarely say which one, and the design is usually changed beyond recognition.
## Using the same theme
Installing the same theme is fine: themes are sold or given away for exactly that, and free themes in the wordpress.org directory are licensed under the GPL. The site's content, photos, logo and custom code are another matter; they belong to the site's owner. Use the theme as your starting point and make the rest your own.
## Questions people ask
### How do I find out what theme a website is using?
On WordPress, view the page source and search for `/wp-content/themes/`: the folder name after it is the theme, and a second folder usually means a child theme and its parent. On Shopify, type `Shopify.theme` in the browser console. Other builders rarely reveal their template. A theme detector reads the same signs for you and shows what it found.
### What is a child theme in WordPress?
A child theme is a small theme that inherits its design and functions from a parent theme and contains only the site's own changes. Its `style.css` header names the parent in a `Template:` line. It lets the parent be updated without overwriting customisations. When you see two theme folders in a site's source, the parent is the one to look up.
### Why can't a theme detector find a WordPress site's theme?
Usually because the page no longer contains the theme's path. Optimisation plugins combine stylesheets into cache files, CDNs rewrite asset URLs, developers rename theme folders, and custom or headless sites have no public theme. A detector that works passively can only report what the page loads. Look for a page builder or class prefixes in the source as a fallback.
### How do I find the version of a WordPress theme a site uses?
Look at the `?ver=` number on the theme's stylesheet or script URLs in the page source, or the `Version:` line in the theme's `style.css` header when the page links to it. Some themes use `?ver=` for the WordPress version or a build number instead, so treat it as a strong hint rather than proof.