Resetting a customised block-theme template restores the theme's supplied version and removes that template's saved customisations. Use it when you intentionally want the original structure back, not as a general repair button for every display problem.
IN THIS ARTICLE
01 Preserve useful work first
Identify the exact template and the public pages that use it. Export or otherwise preserve valuable customisations and keep an appropriate backup. Record the elements you may want to rebuild, such as a custom content width or a carefully arranged title area.
A custom template created entirely by you may not have a theme-provided default to restore. Its available actions can differ from those of a customised built-in template.
02 Reset the intended template
- Open Appearance > Editor > Templates and locate the correct template.
- Use its options menu and choose the supported Reset or clear-customisations action.
- Read the confirmation carefully and proceed only when losing the saved template changes is intended.
- Open the restored template and inspect its structure before making additional edits.
- Check the public pages that use it and clear relevant caches where necessary.
What does resetting a template leave unchanged?
Page content remains a separate record. Global styles, navigation menus and shared template parts may also retain their own customisations. If a header still looks different after the template reset, inspect the header part rather than resetting unrelated objects at random.
The default comes from the active theme's current files, which may differ from an older theme version you remember. A reset is not automatically a full historical rollback.
03 Verify and rebuild deliberately
Check titles, content, navigation, footer and mobile layout across representative pages. Reapply only the customisations still needed, testing each change rather than restoring every old workaround.
If the problem persists, its source may be global styles, a plugin, custom CSS or cached assets rather than the template. Use the preserved evidence to narrow the cause. If the reset removed important work unexpectedly, stop further edits and review the available template history or backup before overwriting additional design objects.