How to Enable or Disable WordPress Automatic Updates

Mttao included in category Wordpress

2023-11-21 2023-11-21 375 words 2 minutes

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In WordPress 3.7, a new feature was introduced: automatic updates for the core. This tutorial will explain how these automatic updates work, how to configure them, and how to completely disable WordPress automatic updates, so you can handle them manually.

Default Automatic Update Configuration

From version 3.7 and above, by default, your WordPress site will automatically update when new minor or security updates are released. This means that if you’re using WordPress 3.7.0, and version 3.7.1 is released, the application will automatically update. On the other hand, if WordPress 3.8 (a major version) is released, you’ll need to update manually by default.

How to Enable Major Core Updates

If you want WordPress automatic updates to handle major core updates as well, you need to add a configuration line. To do this, open the wp-config.php file in the root folder of your WordPress installation and add the following line to it:

php

define('WP_AUTO_UPDATE_CORE', true);

How to Enable Plugin Updates

If you want WordPress to automatically update plugins when new versions are released, add a line to the wp-config.php file similar to the one above. However, this time, use a filter to enable plugin auto-updates:

php

add_filter( 'auto_update_plugin', '__return_true' );

How to Enable Theme Updates

If you want WordPress to handle theme updates, you need to add another line to the wp-config.php file:

php

add_filter( 'auto_update_theme', '__return_true' );

Important Note! This only applies to themes downloaded from the official WordPress repository. If you’re using a premium theme or a theme downloaded from a designer’s website, it won’t be able to auto-update when a new version is released.

How to Disable Core Auto-Updates but Enable Plugin and Theme Auto-Updates

If you want to stop automatic updates for the WordPress core (the WordPress application itself) but enable auto-updates for plugins and/or themes, you can add the following lines to the wp-config.php file:

php

define( 'WP_AUTO_UPDATE_CORE', false );
add_filter( 'auto_update_plugin', '__return_true' );
add_filter( 'auto_update_theme', '__return_true' );

How to Completely Disable WordPress Automatic Updates

If you want to completely disable automatic updates in WordPress, open the wp-config.php file and add the following line:

php

define( 'AUTOMATIC_UPDATER_DISABLED', true );

Important Note! If you completely disable WordPress automatic updates, it will disable auto-updates for plugins, themes, and the core, regardless of any configuration you’ve made for themes or plugins.