Destination Folder Already Exists, WordPress Theme or Plugin Install Failded: The Solution

In the last tutorials, we’ve learned together, how to install WordPress themes, and also, how to install a plugin in WordPress. However, some readers asked for help with some errors messages they get like ” WordPress destination folder already exists”, and they get “theme install failed”, or “Plugin install failed”.

And even, other special errors with complicated situations. So, today, I’ll show you how to fix that problem and also, what is the issue with your WordPress website.

As the error message already appears with some information, the file that you’re installing, such as a theme or a plugin is already existing, and you can’t add the same file to the same destination.

So, WordPress knows that you have the file, and you can just activate it, or, delete it completely and upload the new one.

To fix the problem, you have one single solution, it’s to remove your theme or plugin that you want to install. Search in your WordPress directory under “wp-content”, then, find “Themes”, or, “Plugins” folder, depending on your case, and you will find that exact file. Next, delete it from your cPanel or use an FTP, and finally re-upload your file, and the error will disappear.

Delete an existing WordPress theme

In the majority of cases, people install a theme, they try it and then they decide to switch to another one for a while. Later, they come back to their first theme idea and forget that the theme is already there, in their blog files.

Deleting a theme is a simple step, all you have to do is to login to your WordPress admin area. Click “Appearance”, then, “Themes”, and hover over the theme that you want to delete, and you will get a small deletion link, at the bottom right of the pop-up window, exactly like the below short video.

Please note that you can only remove a deactivated theme. So, if you want to delete your actual working theme, then, you need to activate another one, such, the default theme from WordPress.

Delete an existing WordPress plugin

As themes, you can delete a plugin directly from your admin area, by clicking “Plugins”, and click the “Delete” link in red color, and that’s it. However, if you can’t access your dashboard, then you can use cPanel again.

Just login and locate the directory ”wp-content”, and inside it, you will find the “Plugins” folder just in the same destination as “Themes”, as the next screenshot.

The final step will be selecting the exact plugin file that you want to remove and click the “Delete” button at the top of the page.

When you can use the cPanel file manager, then, you should use Filezilla and remove the plugin manually. It’s the same, and you just need to find its location, it’s always, your home directory, then, wp-content and plugins.

The above steps will solve the problem in the majority of cases. If it’s not the case, then make sure you have the right permissions for your themes or plugins directories. If nothing happens, you have to change the permissions to 777, upload your file and change the permissions back to the default for more security.