WordPress auto-updates are cool and all… but what if your site breaks unannounced in the middle of the night because of one?
You were asleep, you did not notice, and it was a good 10 hours until you understood what was going on. By that time, your customers had already gone elsewhere.
Okay, a brutal story, but it does happen!
As convenient as WordPress auto-updates are, they are not always the best idea. Or, at least, you should have more control over how those updates work, what should and should not be updated automatically, and, most of all, how to stay safe!
In this post, I cover all this and show you how to disable WordPress auto-updates (for your plugins, themes, and core), plus how you can take it further and effectively manage all your WordPress updates.
Why disable auto updates in WordPress
The story of WordPress updates is that relatively recently, WordPress made it possible to roll out some updates automatically.
Scratch that; WordPress didn’t just “make it possible.” In fact, it made updates automatic for all security and maintenance releases.
The way it works is that when WordPress releases a minor update to the core software, your site will likely run it automatically. In that scenario, major updates will still need to be initiated manually. This is because they are more likely to break your site, giving you a chance to make a backup.
However, for users who want to take it further, there’s also an option in the WordPress dashboard → Updates that will turn all WordPress updates into auto-updates:
That said, even a small WordPress update could have undesirable effects on your content. For example, it might be incompatible with a theme or plugin on your site.
Similarly, a new plugin version could break your website or make it glitchy. This is usually due to a conflict with another plugin on your site.
Ultimately, this means that switching to normal updates and completely disabling WordPress auto-updates can be a good idea for most users.
How to disable WordPress auto update
As easy as auto-updates are to turn on (see one of the screenshots above), there isn’t an easy option in WordPress to turn them off. Yes, natively, there isn’t an option to do that. 🤷
But that doesn’t mean we’re completely lost! In fact, switching to manual updates is quite easy with the right plugin.
First, I’ll show you how to get and install the plugin. Then, we’ll go through how to use it to disable auto-updates for (1) WordPress core, (2) WordPress plugins, and (3) WordPress themes. 👍
This is the plugin we’re going to use; it’s free, simple to use, and gives you full control over your WordPress updates:
To install it on your site, go to your WordPress dashboard, into Plugins → Add New. Put “Disable Updates” into the search box. Look for the plugin authored by Themeisle:
Click on Install Now and then Activate.
Next, go to Settings → Updates manager. You’ll see the main dashboard of the plugin:
1. Disable auto updates for WordPress core
Click the drop-down next to “WordPress Core Updates” and select this option:
While we’re at it, it’s also a good idea to tick this box on:
As the label says, this will display update notifications only to admin accounts. In other words, other WordPress users won’t be bombarded with information they can’t act on anyway. Keeps your dashboard calmer. 👍
Click on Save in the top right to keep your changes.
That’s all – the WordPress core will not be updated automatically from now on.
2. Disable auto updates for WordPress plugins
Note: Plugins do not update automatically by default. However, if you’ve ever clicked any of these links by accident, you might have switched some of your plugins to update automatically:
Here’s how to disable those auto-updates with our plugin:
Again, start by going to the plugin settings in Settings → Updates manager. From there, make sure that this box is active next to the “Plugin Updates” label:
If it’s not, select it and then click on Save in the top right.
That’s all – your plugins will not be updated automatically from now on.
Bonus: If you want to, you can disable plugin updates completely, meaning you won’t even see the update notifications. Just select the last box:
Pro tip:
This plugin also allows you to control your plugin updates on a per-plugin basis. This means you can, for example, make Yoast update manually, but have your security plugin update automatically.
To do that:
First, switch your plugins to update automatically:
Save changes.
Next, go to the Plugins tab on the settings page. From there, you can set the update status for each of your plugins individually:
3. Disable auto updates for WordPress themes
Note: Just like plugins, WordPress themes do not update automatically by default. However, there’s a similar option to make them do so by clicking this link:
Here’s how to disable those auto-updates with our plugin:
Once more, start by going to the plugin settings in Settings → Updates manager. Then, make sure that this box is active next to the “Theme Updates” label:
Click on Save in the top right.
That’s all – your themes will not be updated automatically from now on.
Bonus: If you want to, you can disable any theme updates completely – useful in cases where you don’t want to risk the site’s design breaking after an update. Just select this box:
Conclusion 🧐
In rare scenarios, WordPress updates may cause compatibility issues with other tools. An update can even completely break your website. This is not to say you shouldn’t update your site at all, but that it’s better to control when and how updates occur.
The Updates Manager plugin gives you complete control. You can pick what you want to automatically update and what you don’t, down to single plugins or themes.
Check it out – it’s free – and let us know if you have any questions about disabling automatic updates in WordPress.
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I really appreciate your information; it’s exactly what I was looking for. Could you tell me which software you use to create such a fast and amazing website? Like you, I want to create a simple website for my business, but I need help deciding on a domain name and web host. It is said that Asphostportal has a stellar reputation. Can you suggest any other options, or are there any others available?
Thx for the question – ThemeIsle Team prefer Optimole images optimization tool, plus implementing all the best speed up practices, see here: https://themeisle.com/blog/website-speed-optimization/