How to Properly Uninstall a WordPress Plugin (Beginner’s Guide)

You know that feeling of stepping into a messy room and realizing it’s time for a little cleanup? Websites can be like that too.

As your WordPress site grows, plugins that once felt essential might now be collecting dust.

Unused plugins don’t just sit quietly. They can slow things down and even pose security risks, like leaving windows open when you’re not home.

At WPBeginner, we’ve seen how much of a difference a good cleanup can make. Removing unneeded plugins is a small step that can have big benefits for your website’s performance and security.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through how to uninstall a plugin in just a few steps. By the end, your site will be all the cleaner and safer, ready to run as smoothly as ever.

Why Do You Need to Uninstall WordPress Plugins?

It’s important to uninstall WordPress plugins you no longer use. Here are the main reasons why a regular cleanup is a good idea:

• Security Risks: An unused plugin can become a security threat. If it isn’t updated, it can develop vulnerabilities that hackers could exploit.
• Larger Backup Sizes: Keeping unnecessary files on your server increases the size of your WordPress backup. This means they take longer to download and restore.
• Slower Performance: Some plugins leave “junk” data in your database even after being deactivated. Over time, this can bloat your database and slow down your website.

Of course, you can install as many WordPress plugins as you need. However, if you are not using a plugin, then we believe that you should uninstall it properly.

What Is the Difference Between Deactivating and Uninstalling a WordPress Plugin?

Deactivating a plugin is like temporarily shutting it down, while uninstalling it permanently removes it.

Understanding the difference is key to managing your site properly.

Here’s a quick breakdown of what each action does:

That being said, let’s take a look at how you can remove a plugin from your WordPress website. Here are the topics we will cover:

1. How to Uninstall a WordPress Plugin
2. Removing Extra Files Added by a WordPress Plugin
3. Removing Unused Shortcodes in WordPress
4. Cleaning Up the WordPress Database
5. Frequently Asked Questions About Uninstalling WordPress Plugins
6. Expert Guides on WordPress Plugins

How to Uninstall a WordPress Plugin

Before you begin, it’s a good practice to check the plugin’s settings page for a dedicated ‘Uninstall’ or ‘Remove Data’ option. Many larger plugins include this feature, and using it is the best method for a clean removal when it’s available.

If that option doesn’t exist, WordPress makes it super easy to uninstall plugins from the admin area. Simply log in to your dashboard and go to the Plugins » Installed Plugins page.

You will see the list of currently installed plugins on your site. Active plugins are highlighted with a blue background color and have a link to Deactivate them.

On the other hand, inactive plugins have a link to Activate or Delete them from your site. To uninstall a plugin, go ahead and click on the ‘Delete’ link below the plugin’s name.

WordPress will now ask you to confirm that you want to delete the plugin and its data. You can simply click the ‘OK’ button to continue.

WordPress will now safely remove plugins from your web server. That’s all, you have successfully uninstalled a plugin from your WordPress site.

The simple uninstall is sufficient for most users. The following sections are optional advanced steps for those who want to learn more and ensure every trace of the plugin is gone.

Removing Extra Files Added by a WordPress Plugin

In most cases, simply deleting a WordPress plugin will uninstall it completely. However, some plugins store files outside of the plugins folder. Those files will not be deleted when you uninstall the plugin.

You can check and delete files stored by the plugin using your WordPress hosting file manager or an FTP client. Simply connect to your website using FTP and then go to the /wp-content/ folder.

You can often spot these because they’ll be named after the plugin you just removed. For example, a plugin named ‘Awesome Slider’ might leave a folder at /wp-content/awesome-slider/.

Many WordPress backup plugins, gallery plugins, and sliders create and store data directly in the wp-content folder. If you do not have a complete backup of your WordPress site, then you should download these files to your computer as a backup.

After that, you can safely delete these files from your server using an FTP client.

Removing Unused Shortcodes in WordPress

Many WordPress plugins use shortcodes to add things to your posts or pages. Once you deactivate or uninstall a plugin, those shortcodes will become visible in your posts, and they look quite ugly.

Here’s what a shortcode would look like in your content:

[pluginshortcode]

You can easily disable shortcodes by adding a small piece of code to WordPress. The safest and easiest method is to use a code snippets plugin like WPCode. This prevents errors that can happen when editing your theme’s functions.php file directly.

add_shortcode( 'pluginshortcode', '__return_false' );

This code adds the shortcode back and makes it display nothing. Don’t forget to replace pluginshortcode with the shortcode tag used by the plugin you want to remove.

It is important to note that you will need to remove this code if you ever decide to use that plugin again.

You can also remove shortcodes using a plugin. For detailed instructions, see our guide on how to find and remove unused shortcodes from WordPress posts.

Cleaning Up the WordPress Database

Some WordPress plugins create their own tables in the WordPress database. If these tables have too much data in them, then that would increase your WordPress backup size.

You can delete those tables using phpMyAdmin. However, we must warn you that you should be very careful about making any changes to the WordPress database.

Your WordPress database contains all of your site’s important content and settings. That’s why being extremely careful here is crucial to avoid accidentally breaking your site.

We highly recommend having a complete WordPress backup before you perform any action.

All of our recommended WordPress hosting providers offer cPanel with phpMyAdmin.

Go ahead and log in to your cPanel account and then scroll down to the database section. Next, you can click on the ‘phpMyAdmin’ icon.

After that, you will need to click on your database and select the tables you want to delete. Look for tables that are clearly named by the plugin.

For instance, a plugin like MonsterInsights might have tables that start with wp_monsterinsights_. Be 100% sure the tables belong to the plugin you uninstalled before selecting them.

Once you have chosen the tables, simply select the ‘Drop’ option from the drop-down menu at the bottom of the list to remove them.

You will now see a warning that you are about to delete these tables.

You need to click on the ‘Yes’ button to confirm the action.

phpMyAdmin will now drop the tables and will delete all data in those tables. Please note that this action is irreversible because once you’ve deleted the tables, you will not be able to restore them unless you have a backup.

For more details, you may want to check out our beginner’s guide to WordPress database management with phpMyAdmin.

Frequently Asked Questions About Uninstalling WordPress Plugins

Here are some questions that are frequently asked by our readers about uninstalling a WordPress plugin.

Will uninstalling a plugin delete its data?

Uninstalling a plugin removes its files, but many plugins intentionally leave settings and other data in your database in case you decide to reinstall them.

For a truly complete removal, you would need to follow the advanced steps for cleaning up extra files and database tables

Can I reinstall a plugin after I’ve uninstalled it?

Definitely! You can reinstall any plugin by searching for it in your WordPress dashboard and setting it up again. However, you might need to reconfigure its settings.

Do inactive plugins slow down my website?

Inactive plugins don’t actively slow down your site, but they can still pose security risks if left unattended. That is why it’s best to uninstall them if you don’t plan to use them again.

What happens if I delete a plugin’s data from my database?

Deleting plugin data from your database can free up space, but be cautious. Changes can be permanent, so use a backup and proceed carefully.

Expert Guides on WordPress Plugins

We hope this article helped you learn how to properly uninstall a WordPress plugin. You may also want to see some other guides related to making the most of plugins in WordPress:

• What Are WordPress Plugins? And How Do They Work?
• Beginner’s Guide: How to Choose the Best WordPress Plugin
• How Many WordPress Plugins Should You Install? What’s too many?
• Do Inactive Plugins Slow Down WordPress? Should You Delete Them?
• Must Have WordPress Plugins for Business Websites
• How to Properly Update WordPress Plugins (Step by Step)
• How to Easily Deactivate WordPress Plugins (Beginner’s Guide)
• When Is It Worth It to Buy Premium WordPress Plugins? (Explained)
• How to Create a WordPress Plugin (Step by Step for Beginners)

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