How to Fix a Problem Where WordPress Is Unable to Recognize the Style. Sheet CSS
When you attempt to upload a style.css sheet from a theme directory through the dashboard, WordPress occasionally is unable to identify it.

These are some of the causes for this.

The theme is not being uploaded correctly.
To access the theme file, you must unzip the developer’s original file.
There is no WordPress theme file.
This particular file is not a theme file.
The root directory’s style.css file is not in the proper location.
Some of these explanations might appear straightforward, yet frequently the simplest explanations lead to frustrating issues.

See the sections below to learn how to handle these circumstances based on the underlying causes.

properly upload the theme
Among the possible causes for the message “The package could not be installed. The style is absent from the theme. The process of uploading the theme file is to blame for the “css stylesheet” problem.

A user, whether novice or experienced, could unintentionally deviate from the recommended procedures while uploading a theme file.

To check if the theme file needs to be unzipped,
A compressed download file is the cause of many theme upload issues. People may find it puzzling because WordPress only accepts zipped files.

The legitimate upload file, which solely contains the contents of the theme, can sometimes only be found by unzipping the original package provided by some theme producers.

For instance, you might discover that a theme developer included additional documentation in the first download; as a result, WordPress may be confused by all of this content and not be able to locate the theme file.

We’ve come across the incredibly unusual circumstance where you must unzip the initial theme download in order to view items like user manuals and other content, even though most reputable theme developers are aware this is confusing.

Since it’s a simple remedy and something theme developers still occasionally do, this is the first issue you should address before looking at other solutions, aside from uploading a theme file incorrectly in the prior point. Due to restrictions placed on strangely bundled theme files by the WordPress.org Theme Library, it also only occurs when you buy a theme from a third-party developer.

Let’s imagine, for example, that after uploading a zipped file from a third-party developer, you discover that the error message reads, “The package could not be installed. The style.css stylesheet is absent from the theme.

Most likely, all you need to do is extract yet another ZIP file from the original theme developer file by unzipping it.

theme developer to extract yet another ZIP file inside of it.

To solve the problem, go to the file you initially downloaded from the theme developer.

It’s most likely a ZIP file, which makes sense for uploading into WordPress as a theme, but it may contain additional content files that clutter the folder and make it difficult for WordPress to identify the theme files.

Therefore, open or unzip the file to extract whatever is inside of it. It’s usually done by right-clicking and selecting your preferred unzipping or archive utility.

Now, open the unzipped file to show its content. As you can see in this example, the theme developers included a readme.txt file and another content folder in the root of the theme download. They also have the real, zipped theme file in this area as well. It’s the actual theme file you need to upload into WordPress.

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Go back to Appearance > Themes > Add New > Upload Theme to choose a file from your computer. Then, make sure you select this zipped theme file without any extras (like the ReadMe document in this example).

Remember that you may complete this troubleshooting process and find that it’s not a problem where the theme was packaged strangely. If you don’t see a zipped theme file within the original theme package from your developer, consider looking at the other troubleshooting tips below.

Figure Out If the Theme File Is for WordPress

Many website themes exist online. It’s not uncommon to see a theme design you enjoy, only to purchase it and find out it’s not actually for WordPress. For instance, the ThemeForest marketplace sells website templates for various content management systems and website builders, including Drupal, Joomla, Webflow, and Shopify.

Each platform has its root file structure for themes, so WordPress will reject any attempt to upload a theme meant for another system like Bigcommerce or Magento.

Keep in mind that you may see “The theme is missing the style.css stylesheet” error for a situation like this. After all, a theme directory from Shopify or Drupal may have its style.css sheet located in a different place. However, you might also see another error.