Update WordPress safely

Before you update

1. Back up your site. Follow the backup guide or, if you have CodeGuard, confirm a recent backup exists. If something goes wrong, you can restore in minutes.
2. Check compatibility. If you're jumping a major WordPress version (e.g. 6.x to 7.x), visit the plugin and theme pages to make sure they support the new version.

Update plugins

1. In your WordPress dashboard, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins.
2. Tick the plugins that have updates available, or click Select All.
3. Choose Update from the Bulk Actions dropdown and click Apply.
4. Check your site after the updates finish. If something breaks, deactivate the last plugin you updated to find the culprit.

Update themes

1. Go to Appearance > Themes.
2. Click the theme with an update available, then click Update now.

If you've edited theme files directly, those changes will be overwritten. Use a child theme to keep customisations safe across updates.

Update WordPress core

1. Go to Dashboard > Updates.
2. Click Update to version X.X.
3. WordPress handles the rest. Don't close the browser tab until it's done.

If an update breaks your site

• White screen or error: check the 500 error guide — the most common cause after an update is a plugin conflict.
• Can't log in: rename the problem plugin's folder via File Manager in cPanel (e.g. rename wp-content/plugins/broken-plugin to broken-plugin.bak). WordPress will deactivate it and you can log in again.
• Restore from backup: if nothing else works, restore the backup you took before starting.

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