Recently, one of our readers asked if it was possible to disable plugin updates in WordPress.
Plugin updates can be disabled in WordPress, but there is no good reason to do that. Keeping your plugins up-to-date can unlock new features and prevent security vulnerabilities.
n this article, we will show you how to disable plugin updates in WordPress. We will also discuss why you shouldn’t do that and what could be the consequences of doing so.
Why You Shouldn’t Disable Plugin Updates in WordPress
Many WordPress users think that plugin updates can break their site. If you are using the best WordPress plugins with a standard and compliant WordPress theme, then the chances of an upgrade breaking your site are very low.
You can see our beginner’s guide on how to choose the best WordPress plugins for your site. For themes, you may want to see our checklist of things you should consider when selecting a WordPress theme.
Plugin updates not only offer new features but also patch security vulnerabilities, improve performance, and fix compatibility issues with the latest or upcoming versions of WordPress.
By not updating plugins, you are intentionally compromising the security and stability of your WordPress website.
Some developers want to disable plugin updates on clients’ sites to prevent them from breaking the websites. This is not a good reason in most cases because most client relationships don’t last forever. You would just be handing your clients a website susceptible to vulnerabilities in the future.
We believe it’s simply better to educate your clients.
If you still must disable plugin updates on your site, then here is how you can do that.
Disable All Plugin Updates in WordPress
The first thing you need to do is install and activate the Easy Updates Manager plugin. For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.
Upon activation, you need to visit Dashboard » Update options in your WordPress dashboard to manage the plugin settings.
In the ‘General’ tab, you need to scroll down to the ‘Plugin Updates’ option.
Then, click on ‘Disable plugin updates’ to turn off all plugin updates.
All updates will now be disabled for your plugins, including automatic updates.
Selectively Disable Updates for Specific Plugins in WordPress
You can also selectively disable updates for some WordPress plugins. This is a slightly better option than disabling all plugin updates.
This method also uses the Easy Updates Manager plugin. For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.
You need to visit the Dashboard » Update Options page and switch to the ‘Plugins’ tab. There you will see a list of all installed plugins on your WordPress site.
You can just click on ‘Blocked’ below a plugin to disable updates for it.
Easy Updates Manager allows you to manage all WordPress updates, including core, plugin, theme, and translation updates. See our guide on how to better manage automatic WordPress updates for detailed instructions.
We hope this article helped you learn how to disable plugin updates in WordPress and why you shouldn’t do that. You may also want to see our guide on how to hide unnecessary items from WordPress admin and our expert picks for the best WordPress backup plugins to protect your website content.
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Marco says
I’m not seeing ‘Updates Options’ under ‘Home’ in 5.4.2. Really want to disable updates in one particular plugin since I made some code changes a while back when I thought it was no longer being maintained, and the developer has unexpectedly pushed a minor update which will break my edits.
WPBeginner Support says
If you do not have updates under Dashboard then you would want to ensure you are an admin user on your site.
Admin
Marco says
I’m not just an admin user, I’m the only user.
It’s ‘update options’ I’m missing, not ‘updates’.
WPBeginner Support says
Apologies, then either you didn’t activate the plugin after installing or you would need to reach out to the plugin’s support to let them know about this issue.
Dave says
Thanks for the recommendation! I actually need this plugin to prevent an accidental update to a plugin that needs to remain at it’s current version, or it will break the site. I sometimes forget and want to do a plugin update just from seeing there’s one available, so this is a nice fail-safe.
WPBeginner Support says
Glad our recommendation was helpful
Admin
Shashibhushan Tiwari says
Dear,
where is show for update option in wordpress website?
i haven’t seen update option in menu .
WPBeginner Support says
It should normally be under Dashboard>Updates
Admin
Ian says
I don’t want to disable updates, I do want to stop people being able to install new ones.
Unfortunately, the DISALLOW_FILE_MODS variable stops updates, and installation & updates of themes as well.
Any good way to just stop plugin installs by people who can’t edit wp-config.php?
Matthew says
I am always happy when a website rights an article about Easy Updates Manager. Being the person who started Easy Updates Manager I like to see it grow and get downloads. Recently many websites have written articles which include Easy Updates Manager, which is awesome.
When I woke up this morning and checked my emails I got really excited (I am subscribed to wpbeginner and have been for about a year now). But when I read the article I felt like you were throwing Easy Updates Manager under the bus. I feel like this article could have used some more research and work. I feel like it was quickly typed out and posted.
Us Easy Updates Manager developers know that you shouldn’t disable all your WordPress updates in most cases. That is not the point of the plugin. The point of the plugin is to manage your WordPress updates.
In some cases disabling updates is acceptable. We leave it up to the user to make the right choice. Although the part that I think your should have mentioned in the article is that Easy Updates Manager has warnings in the help tab, in our wiki, and on our WordPress plugin page warning you against disabling updates. So we are not just saying that everyone should disable there updates and go on with there website.
I hope that people read this comment and realize this instead of having this picture in your mind that Easy Updates Manager is doing sketchy stuff.
Matthew
WPBeginner Support says
Matthew, Thanks for dropping by and sharing your feedback. It was not our intention to make the plugin look bad. We know it is a very useful plugin and can do a lot more than just disabling plugin updates. In fact, we have mentioned Easy Updates Manager before in another article. We have also mentioned in the article that it can be used to manage all WordPress updates effectively. Your comment will also help users understand that.
Admin
Khan says
Thank you very much for the article.
sometimes there are situation we have to disable updates for some plugins.
this is what i was looking for, and i was about edit some plugin codes individually.
however i just came across this article, and followed the instructions, it just solved my issue in a couple of minuted.
Cheers
Kind Regards