How to Enable/Disable WordPress Automatic Updates

Are you struggling to manage WordPress updates? You’re not alone. Since WordPress 3.7, automatic updates have been a game-changer for website maintenance. But did you know you can control these updates to suit your needs?

Let’s dive into the world of WordPress automatic updates and learn how to tailor them to your website’s requirements.

Understanding WordPress Automatic Updates

WordPress offers four types of automatic updates:

1. Core updates
2. Plugin updates
3. Theme updates
4. Language updates

While keeping your site updated is crucial for security, you might want more control over when and what gets updated. After all, updates can sometimes cause unexpected issues, especially with themes.

Why Control Your Updates?

Controlling your updates allows you to:

• Choose the best time for updates
• Select specific components to update
• Create backups before major changes

Disabling All Automatic Updates

If you prefer complete control, you can disable all automatic updates. Add this line to your wp-config.php file:

define( 'AUTOMATIC_UPDATER_DISABLED', true );

Managing Core Updates

WordPress has two types of core updates:

1. Major updates (e.g., 6.6, 5.0, 4.1) – Add new features
2. Minor updates (e.g., 6.6.1, 6.6.2, 6.5.3) – Fix security issues and bugs

You can find all WordPress released version lists here: https://wordpress.org/news/category/releases/

By default, WordPress automatically applies minor updates. Here’s how to customize this behavior:

Enable minor updates only (default):

define( 'WP_AUTO_UPDATE_CORE', 'minor' );

Disable all core updates:

define( 'WP_AUTO_UPDATE_CORE', false );

Enable all core updates (minor and major):

define( 'WP_AUTO_UPDATE_CORE', true );

Using Filters for Fine-Tuned Control

For more granular control, you can use filters in your theme’s functions.php file or in a custom plugin:

// Disable all updates
add_filter( 'automatic_updater_disabled', '__return_true' );

// Disable core updates
add_filter( 'auto_update_core', '__return_false' );

// Disable development updates
add_filter( 'allow_dev_auto_core_updates', '__return_false' );

// Disable minor updates
add_filter( 'allow_minor_auto_core_updates', '__return_false' );

// Disable major updates
add_filter( 'allow_major_auto_core_updates', '__return_false' );

Managing Plugin and Theme Updates

Control automatic updates for plugins and themes:

// Disable automatic updates for all plugins
add_filter( 'auto_update_plugin', '__return_false' );

// Disable automatic updates for all themes
add_filter( 'auto_update_theme', '__return_false' );

Handling Translation File Updates

To disable automatic updates for translation files:

add_filter( 'auto_update_translation', '__return_false' );

If you’re looking to disable updates for a specific plugin, or even disable all update notifications, you can easily accomplish this by using the code snippet shared here: How to Disable Specific Plugin Updates in WordPress.

Wrapping Up

Managing WordPress automatic updates doesn’t have to be daunting. With these code snippets at your disposal, you can create an update strategy that works best for your site.

Remember, while controlling updates can be beneficial, staying updated is crucial for security. Always backup your site before making significant changes, and test updates in a staging environment when possible.

Have you tried customizing your WordPress update settings? Share your experiences in the comments below!