---
title: "How to Create Child Theme in Magento 2"
url: "https://dolphinwebsolution.com/how-to-create-child-theme-in-magento-2"
date: "2022-06-29T10:54:38+05:30"
modified: "2023-08-25T08:42:46+05:30"
author:
  name: "Prashant Dhaduk"
categories:
  - "Blog"
  - "Magento"
word_count: 771
reading_time: "4 min read"
summary: "In this article, we will explain How to create a child theme in Magento 2.

Before continuing to the stages, let\'s first clarify what a theme in Magento 2 is and why you need to develop a child t..."
description: "In this article, we will explain How to create a child theme in Magento 2. Before continuing to the stages, let’s first clarify what a theme in Magento..."
keywords: "child theme in magento,magento 2, Blog, Magento"
language: "en"
schema_type: "Article"
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    url: "https://dolphinwebsolution.com/reasons-why-magento-over-other-ecommerce-platforms"
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    url: "https://dolphinwebsolution.com/how-to-get-all-options-of-a-custom-attribute-in-magento-2"
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---

# How to Create Child Theme in Magento 2

_Published: June 29, 2022_  
_Author: Prashant Dhaduk_  

![](https://dolphinwebsolution.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/58-1024x536.jpg)

In this article, we will explain How to create a child theme in Magento 2.
Before continuing to the stages, let’s first clarify what a theme in Magento 2 is and why you need to develop a child theme in Magento 2.
#### What is a Theme in Magento 2?
- A theme is a responsible and important part of the Magento 2 storefront. It is a combination of styles, layout, templates, and images that give the store a consistent look and feel.- By default there are two themes are provided in Magento 2, **Magento Blank** and **Magento Luma**.
#### What is the Child Theme in Magento 2?
- A child theme inherits all the properties from a parent theme. It will be helpful to modify the current parent theme for our site’s design requirements.
#### Why is it required to Create a Child Theme in Magento 2?
- Sometimes it is required to add customization to the theme. The parent theme installed using composer is stored in the vendor directory. Updating those themes will replace the changes and we will not be able to update in the future. This is because, if we upgrade the parent theme version, we will lose all the changes. Creating a child theme is the option to get the customization and also maintain both the original theme and the customized theme in different folders as well as maintain the original theme.
Before we start We called our child theme **luma\_child** and placed it in **Dolphin(Vendor Name)** folder.
- To create a child theme In Magento 2 you only need to create 2 files **theme.xml** and **registration.php** and also add a **preview image**. In this example, we will make a child theme for Magento’s default theme Luma.- Child theme files are placed in **app/design/frontend/<Vendor Name>/<Theme name>** same as regular themes. Theme and vendor name can be anything. You simply define it in registration.php as the path to files.
Now, we will start to create a child theme step-by-step.
**Step 1:** Create a child theme folder named **{parent-theme-name}\_child** at **app/design/frontend/{theme-vendor-name}/{parent-theme-name}\_child**

**Example:** app/design/frontend/Dolphin/luma\_child
**Step 2:** Now you should create a **theme.xml** file at **app/design/frontend/Dolphin/luma\_child/** for the specify the parent theme inherited by the child theme and add the below-mentioned code:
```
<!--
/**
 * Created By: Dolphin Web Solution Pvt. Ltd.
 */
-->
<theme xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="urn:magento:framework:Config/etc/theme.xsd">
    <title>Dolphin Luma Child</title> <!-- your Child theme name -->
    <parent>Magento/luma</parent> <!-- parent-theme-vendor-name/parent-theme-name -->
    <media>
        <preview_image>media/preview.png</preview_image> <!-- the path to your theme's preview image -->
    </media>
</theme>
```

**Note:** Make sure you added **preview.png** file at **app/design/frontend/Dolphin/luma\_child/media/** directory location.
**Step 3:** Create a **registration.php** file at **app/design/frontend/Dolphin/luma\_child/** path for registering your child theme and add the below-mentioned code:
```
<?php
/**
 * Created By: Dolphin Web Solution Pvt. Ltd.
 */
\Magento\Framework\Component\ComponentRegistrar::register(
    \Magento\Framework\Component\ComponentRegistrar::THEME,
    'frontend/Dolphin/luma_child', /* {theme-vendor-name}/{parent-theme-name}_child */
    __DIR__
);
```

**Step 4:** Create a web directory with the following empty directories and files inside the child theme. The child theme’s entire folder structure and files are following:
```
app/design/frontend/Dolphin/
├── luma_child/
│   ├── media/
│   │   ├── preview.png
│   ├── web/
│   │   ├─css/
│   │   │   ├─source/
│   │   │       ├─_extend.less
│   │   ├─fonts/
│   │   ├─images/
│   │   ├─js/
│   ├── registration.php
│   ├── theme.xml
```

**Step 5:** Now, Just run below Magento commands
```
php bin/magento setup:upgrade

php bin/magento setup:static-content:deploy –f

php bin/magento cache:clean
```

**Step 6:** Applying theme in the admin panel and check whether your theme is added to the theme list or not.
- **Go to Admin -> Content -> Design -> Themes**

![Best AI Agent Development Companies in India (2026)](https://dolphinwebsolution.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/theme.png)

**Step 7:** Now click edit and select your child theme in admin configuration
- **Go to Admin -> Content -> Design -> Configuration**

![Best AI Agent Development Companies in India (2026)](https://dolphinwebsolution.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/configure.png)

**Step 8:** Select your child theme in the **Applied Theme** dropdown field.
![Best AI Agent Development Companies in India (2026)](https://dolphinwebsolution.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/apply-theme.png)

Now, click on the **save configuration** button from the top right.
**That’s it! Now you can continue to modify your child theme.**

I hope this technical blog will help you to find what you were looking for.
If you have any further questions about [Magento 2 theme development](https://dolphinwebsolution.com/magento-2-development) or if need any help from our Magento 2 expert, [contact us](https://dolphinwebsolution.com/contact-us/) now for a free consultation.
**Bookmark** it for your future reference. Do comment below if you have any other questions.
**P.S.** Do share this note with your team.


---

_View the original post at: [https://dolphinwebsolution.com/how-to-create-child-theme-in-magento-2](https://dolphinwebsolution.com/how-to-create-child-theme-in-magento-2)_  
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_Generated: 2026-08-26 06:13:53 UTC_