How to Delete a Template in Joomla 2.5

Joomla 2.5 has reached its end of life as for 12/31/2014. Please be advised this may be a security risk to your website. You can view more information about the end of life here.

Changing your Joomla 2.5 template is quite easy to do, and deleting templates is just as easy. If you’ve installed a template that you’ve decided not to use any longer, it may be a good idea to uninstall / delete the template. While we haven’t seen a big problem with this, it makes sense that some templates could be coded in a way that could pose security risks to your site, even when they’re not in use. Deleting Joomla 2.5 templates that are not being used can be a simple step you can take to help with Joomla 2.5 security.

Please note:
There is an option to delete templates from the Template Manager, however this will only delete the template style. For most users that try that step, the following error is given:
Cannot delete last style of a template
To delete a Joomla 2.5 template you will need to follow the steps below and use the Extension Manager instead.

To delete an unused Joomla 2.5 template:

  1. Log into your Joomla 2.5 admin
  2. In the top menu, hover over Extensions and click Extension Manager
  3. Click the Manage tab
    click-manage
  4. List all of your templates

    On this Extension Manager page, you’ll see all sorts of plugins, modules, and components. View only your templates by selecting Template from the Select Type drop down.
    select-type-template

  5. Place a check next to the templates you wish to remove, and then click Uninstall in the top right menu
    choose-template-and-click-uninstall

    After uninstalling the template, you’ll see the following message:
    Uninstalling template was successful.

    You now know how to delete a template in Joomla 2.5!

0 thoughts on “How to Delete a Template in Joomla 2.5

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  2. After the above successful of removing/deleting a template from Joomla’s backend, do we then need to do any manual clean up at the database and filesystem levels?

    1. Hello MaddyS,

      Thank you for contacting us. If you just want to delete a template in Joomla 2.5, the above guide should be sufficient.

      Thank you,
      John-Paul

  3. I don’t know how but I have two default templates selected.  Only one is showing.  I want to delete the one that I must’ve clicked on accidentally as default.  Please help! 

    1. Hello Andrea,

      I am not quite sure what you mean. Are you able to delete by following the instructions? Are you getting any error messages?

      Kindest Regards,
      Scott M

    2. It was very useful, I had a problem with a faulty template, I removed it this way and installed the new one.. Perfect solution

  4. I was trying to follow the direction from this page but I wasn’t able to find the template I want delete in the list. However, if I go to Templates Manager, the template is still there. Am I missing some step? Thanks…

    1. Hello Eddie,

      Thank you for contacting us today. We are happy to help, but will need some additional information.

      What version of Joomla are you using?

      Did you see the notice at the top of this article stating:
      Please note:
      There is an option to delete templates from the Template Manager, however this will only delete the template style. For most users that try that step, the following error is given:
      Cannot delete last style of a template
      To delete a Joomla 2.5 template you will need to follow the steps below and use the Extension Manager instead.

      Thank you,
      John-Paul

  5. Hi. I’m trying to uninstall a Joomla 3 responsive template (Avatar Nine Flat) the same way Brad describes here, but neither do I get to disable it nor delete it… It gives me two messages when following these two procedures:

    Trying to disable it:

    Notice: Disable default template is not permitted
    Message: 0 extensions successfully disabled

    Trying to uninstall it:

    Warning: Template Uninstall: Cannot remove default template.
    Message: Error uninstalling template

    Can you people help me out? I’m stuck.

    1. This is because you are trying to remove the current default template. To remove it, you will need to set another template as default first.

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