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How to Disable Plugin Updates in WordPress and Why You Shouldn’t

Editorial Note: We earn a commission from partner links on WPBeginner. Commissions do not affect our editors' opinions or evaluations. Learn more about Editorial Process.

Recently, one of our readers asked if it was possible to disable plugin updates in WordPress.

The answer is yes, you can disable plugin updates in WordPress. That said, there is really no good reason to do that. Keeping your plugins up-to-date can unlock new features and prevent security vulnerabilities on your website.

In this article, we will show you how to disable plugin updates in WordPress. We will also discuss why we don’t recommend it and what consequences you may face for doing so.

Disable plugin updates in WordPress

Why You Shouldn’t Disable Plugin Updates in WordPress

Many WordPress users think that plugin updates can break their sites because the new updates may not be compatible with the rest of their plugins or themes.

In reality, though, the chances of an update breaking your site are very low. This is especially true if you are using the best WordPress plugins with a standard and compliant WordPress theme.

In fact, the consequences of skipping plugin updates are usually more severe than actually updating the plugins.

Besides new features, plugin updates come with security patches and improvements in performance and compatibility with the latest WordPress version. Not updating plugins means you will intentionally compromise the security of your WordPress website.

We’ve also heard developers who want to disable plugin updates on clients’ sites to prevent them from breaking.

Again, the chances of this happening are very low. Plus, skipping the updates means your clients’ sites will be more prone to security issues in the future. For this reason, we believe it’s simply better to educate your clients.

If you are not sure where to pick reliable and trustworthy plugins, then see our beginner’s guide on how to choose the best WordPress plugins for your site.

If you still must disable plugin updates on your site, then here is how you can do that.

How to Easily 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 » Updates options in your WordPress admin area to manage the plugin settings.

The Easy Updates Manager dashboard

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.

Disable WordPress plugin updates

All updates will now be disabled for your plugins, including automatic updates.

How to 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.

Block plugin updates in WordPress

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 it. You may also want to see our guide on whether to update WordPress or plugins first and our list of the best WordPress backup plugins.

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Editorial Staff

Editorial Staff at WPBeginner is a team of WordPress experts led by Syed Balkhi with over 16 years of experience in WordPress, Web Hosting, eCommerce, SEO, and Marketing. Started in 2009, WPBeginner is now the largest free WordPress resource site in the industry and is often referred to as the Wikipedia for WordPress.

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Reader Interactions

13 CommentsLeave a Reply

  1. Syed Balkhi says

    Hey WPBeginner readers,
    Did you know you can win exciting prizes by commenting on WPBeginner?
    Every month, our top blog commenters will win HUGE rewards, including premium WordPress plugin licenses and cash prizes.
    You can get more details about the contest from here.
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  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. Shashibhushan Tiwari says

    Dear,

    where is show for update option in wordpress website?

    i haven’t seen update option in menu .

  5. 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?

  6. 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

  7. 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

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