Update WordPress Manually and Automatically: Steps to Keep Your Site Secure

Imagine your WordPress website as a smartphone. You get those regular notifications reminding you to update your apps for better performance and security. Ignoring them could leave your phone vulnerable, right? Well, the same goes for your WordPress site. Updates are crucial for WordPress to keep it secure and running smoothly.

But what happens when the automatic update feature fails, or you prefer doing things manually? Just like knowing how to handle your phone’s settings, it’s important to understand how to update WordPress—whether you’re letting it do its thing automatically or rolling up your sleeves to do it yourself.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through both automatic and manual WordPress updates. By the end, you’ll know how to keep your site updated, ensuring everything runs perfectly behind the scenes.  And if you find yourself short on time or expertise, remember that our WordPress website maintenance services are always available to help keep your site in top shape.

Major vs Minor WordPress Updates

When it comes to WordPress updates, they generally fall into two categories: major and minor. These updates either make small tweaks to the software or bring in larger, more significant changes.

WordPress Major Updates

Major updates are like a full makeover for your site’s engine. They introduce big changes to the core software, adding new features or overhauling existing ones. These updates don’t happen all the time—typically, you’ll see one or two major updates a year. For example, WordPress has more than 40 major updates so far, each named after a famous jazz musician. The latest major update, released in July 2024, was named after Tommy Dorsey.

WordPress Minor Updates

On the other hand, minor updates are like quick tune-ups. They focus on fixing bugs, improving security, and making small adjustments to keep everything running smoothly. These updates are much more frequent than major ones, sometimes rolling out within just weeks of each other. To date, there have been over 500 minor updates, each one making small but important improvements without drastically changing how WordPress works.

How to Check Your WordPress Version

There are a couple of easy ways to find out which version of WordPress your site is running — either through the admin dashboard or by checking the page source.

Checking WordPress Version on the Admin Dashboard

This is the most straightforward method, especially if you have access to your site’s admin area.

Here’s how to do it:

• Log in to your WordPress admin dashboard.
• Once logged in, you’ll be taken to the Admin Dashboard.
• From there, look for the Updates option, usually in the sidebar.

Clicking on Updates will show you the current version of WordPress your site is using and whether an update is available.

Checking WordPress Version Using Page Source

If you don’t have access to the admin area or just want to check the version quickly, you can do it by viewing the page source.

Here’s how:

• Visit any page of the WordPress website.
• Right-click on the page and select View Page Source or press CTRL+U on your keyboard.
• In the source code, search for the term generator.
• Next to this term, you’ll see the WordPress version the site is using.

What to do Before you Update WordPress

Before diving into a WordPress update, it’s important to take a few steps to ensure things go smoothly. Updates can sometimes cause unexpected issues, so it’s better to be safe than sorry!

Here’s a quick checklist of things to do before updating your WordPress site:

• Read and Understand the Update Notice: Check out the latest WordPress changelog to see what the update includes. It could be new features, performance improvements, or security patches. Knowing what’s in the update helps you prepare for any changes.
• Check the Support Forums: Before rushing into the update, visit the support forums to see if others are having any issues with the new version. If there are major bugs or problems, it might be worth holding off until they’re resolved—especially if it’s not a critical security update.
• Turn Off Caching: Caching plugins might not recognize that an update is happening and could interfere with the process. Be sure to clear your cache and temporarily disable any caching plugins.
• Upgrade Your PHP Version: Make sure your website’s PHP version is compatible with the latest WordPress update. You might run into issues if your PHP is outdated, so update the PHP version before proceeding.
• Take a Full Backup of Your Site: Always backup your WordPress site before making any big changes. If something goes wrong during the update, having a recent backup ensures you can quickly restore everything without losing your content or settings.
• Save Custom Code Separately: If you’ve made any custom changes to core WordPress files, make sure to save those separately. Updates can overwrite these files, so it’s essential to have a backup. However, the wp-config.php file won’t be affected, so no worries there. If you’ve customized stock themes without using a child theme, back those up, too.
• Deactivate All Plugins and Themes: Plugins and themes can sometimes cause conflicts during an update. To avoid issues, deactivate all plugins before you begin. Keep one simple theme active—ideally a stock WordPress theme—to ensure your site loads properly after the update. Once the update is done, you can reactivate your plugins one by one to identify any potential troublemakers.
• Install a Maintenance Mode Plugin: If you’re updating WordPress manually via FTP, installing a maintenance mode plugin is a good idea. This way, visitors will know the site is temporarily unavailable, and no one can make changes during the update. Other update methods automatically put your site into maintenance mode, so this step is only necessary for manual updates.

Note: Even if you follow all these instructions, things might go wrong. Your network might get time out, or a file might get corrupted during the transfer. So, we recommend creating a staging site and running updates on it. It will help you avoid downtime on the main website. And if you want to update your site without any risks, our expert WordPress developers are ready to help.

How to Update WordPress Manually

There are three main ways to manually update WordPress. We’ll start with the easiest method and move toward the more advanced ones, depending on your needs and comfort level.

Updating WordPress Manually via Dashboard

WordPress offers a simple, one-click update option directly in the admin dashboard. This is the easiest and most recommended method for most users.

Here’s how to do it:

• Log in to your WordPress dashboard.
• Go to Dashboard > Updates.

• If an update is available, you’ll see a message that says, “An updated version of WordPress is available.” Click Update Now.
• WordPress will now automatically download and install the latest version.
• Once the update is complete, log out, then log back in.
• To verify that the update was successful, go back to Dashboard > Updates. You should see the message “You have the latest version of WordPress.”

This method is quick, and WordPress handles everything behind the scenes for you. However, if you’re unable to access the dashboard or run into permissions issues, you can use an alternative method like FTP or WP-CLI.

Updating WordPress Manually via FTP

If you can’t log in to your WordPress dashboard or encounter permission problems, you can manually update WordPress using an FTP client, such as FileZilla.

Here’s how to update WordPress using FTP:

• Go to wordpress.org and download the latest version of WordPress.
• Once downloaded, extract the contents of the .zip file on your computer.
• Open your FTP client and log in using your website’s credentials. Navigate to your site’s root directory (usually called public_html or www).
• Locate the wp-content folder on your server.
• Right-click the plugins folder and rename it to plugins.hold. This will temporarily deactivate your plugins.
• In the server directory, find the wp-includes and wp-admin folders and delete them.

• From the WordPress files you extracted earlier, upload the wp-includes and wp-admin folders to your server to replace the ones you deleted.
• In the new WordPress files, open the wp-content folder. Upload its contents to your server’s existing wp-content folder. Do not delete the entire folder—just overwrite the files that need updating. This way, you preserve your themes and uploads.
• Now, upload the individual files (like index.php, wp-settings.php, etc.) from the extracted WordPress folder to the root directory of your site (typically public_html). This will overwrite the old files with the new ones.
• After the upload is complete, rename plugins.hold back to plugins to reactivate them.
• Visit your /wp-admin page. You’ll likely be prompted to log in again.

• After logging in, head to Dashboard > Updates to confirm everything is up to date.

This method is a bit more involved but works well when you don’t have access to the WordPress dashboard.

Updating WordPress Manually via WP-CLI

WP-CLI (WordPress Command Line Interface) is a powerful tool that allows you to manage your WordPress site via the command line. This method is best suited for advanced users or developers who are comfortable with terminal commands.

Before starting, you’ll need to ensure that your environment is UNIX-like (such as OS X, Linux, or FreeBSD) and that you’re running PHP 5.6 or later and WordPress 3.7 or later. Now, follow these steps:

• Download the WP-CLI Phar file using either wget or curl.
• Run the following command to verify that the Phar file is working:

php wp-cli.phar --info

• Make the file executable and move it to a directory in your PATH, such as /usr/local/bin:

chmod +x wp-cli.phar
sudo mv wp-cli.phar /usr/local/bin/wp

• Run this command to confirm WP-CLI was installed successfully:

wp --info

• You should see something like this:

OS: Linux 4.19.128-microsoft-standard #1 SMP Tue Jun 23 12:58:10 UTC 2020 x86_64
Shell: /usr/bin/zsh
PHP binary: /usr/bin/php
PHP version: 8.0.5
php.ini used: /etc/php/8.0/cli/php.ini
MySQL binary: /usr/bin/mysql
MySQL version: mysql Ver 8.0.23-0ubuntu0.20.04.1 for Linux on x86_64 ((Ubuntu))
WP-CLI version: 2.5.0

• Now you can run the following command to update WordPress to the latest version:

wp core update

• You’ll see the following messages as WordPress is updated:

Updating to version 6.6.2 (en_US)...
Downloading update from https://downloads.wordpress.org/release/wordpress-6.6.2-no-content.zip...
Unpacking the update...
Cleaning up files...
Success: WordPress updated successfully.

WP-CLI is great for developers and power users who manage multiple WordPress sites or need to automate tasks. If you prefer not to manually update WordPress every time, you can also configure your site for automatic updates.

How to Update WordPress Automatically

WordPress gives you the option to enable automatic updates for your website, ensuring it stays up to date without manual intervention. You can do this directly from your admin dashboard or through cPanel, depending on your access and preference. Let’s walk through both methods.

Updating WordPress Automatically via the Dashboard

• First, log in to your WordPress admin area.
• Head to Dashboard > Updates.

• You’ll see a message saying, “This site is automatically kept up to date with each new version of WordPress.” If you see this, your site is already set for automatic updates.
• If not, you’ll find an option to enable it. Simply click the link that says, “Enable automatic updates for all new versions of WordPress.” And you’re done!

Updating WordPress Automatically via cPanel

If you don’t have access to the WordPress dashboard or want another way to enable automatic updates, you can do this through your hosting cPanel by editing the wp-config.php file.

Here’s how:

• Log in to your hosting cPanel.

• Navigate to File Manager under the Files section.
• Open the public_html folder where your WordPress files are stored.
• Locate and click on the wp-config.php file.

• Press Edit from the toolbar at the top.
• In the code, add or edit this line:

define('WP_AUTO_UPDATE_CORE', true);

• Save the changes.

With this done, your WordPress site will now automatically update to the latest major and minor versions, ensuring you’re always running the most secure and optimized version of WordPress.

Note: If you see the message “An Automated WordPress Update Has Failed To Complete” – it shows that the automatic WordPress core update has failed. However, there are several troubleshooting ways to fix it.

What to do After Updating WordPress

Once you’ve successfully updated WordPress, there are a few important steps to take to ensure everything is running smoothly. Let’s go through what you should do after the update:

1. Log Into wp-admin: Start by logging into your WordPress admin dashboard. Check for any error messages or warnings. If everything looks fine, that’s a good sign the update went well.
2. Remove the Maintenance File: If you manually updated WordPress and something went wrong, you might see a “failed update” message. In that case, go into your site’s files and delete the .maintenance file to remove this message.
3. Update the Database: Sometimes, after updating WordPress, you’ll be prompted to update your database as well. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete this step.
4. Check Your Website: Go through all the critical pages on your site, like the homepage, contact page, and any other high-traffic areas. Make sure everything loads correctly and functions as it should.
5. Reactivate Plugins One by One: If you deactivate any plugins before updating, it’s time to turn them back on. Activate them one at a time and check your site after each activation. This way, if there’s a plugin conflict, you’ll know exactly which one is causing the issue.
6. Clear Your Cache: After the update, clear all the caches (both browser and plugin caches) to make sure your site displays the latest changes and doesn’t show outdated versions.
7. Deactivate Maintenance Mode: If you put your site in maintenance mode during the update, don’t forget to turn it off. This way, visitors can access your site again.
8. Enable Caching and Firewall Plugins: If you disabled caching or firewall plugins before updating, now is the time to turn them back on to keep your site secure and running fast.

FAQs on How to Update WordPress

Conclusion

Updating WordPress regularly is essential for keeping your site secure, functional, and up-to-date with the latest features. If you prefer a hands-off approach, enabling automatic updates through the dashboard or cPanel can save you time and ensure you never miss an important update.

On the other hand, if you like to have more control over each update, manually updating WordPress lets you carefully monitor your plugins for compatibility, especially if your site uses custom configurations.

Whichever method you choose, always take a few precautions: backup your site before updating, check key pages for any issues post-update, and reactivate plugins carefully to catch potential conflicts early. By staying proactive with updates, you’re not only securing your site but also making sure it runs efficiently with the latest improvements.

To make your update process even more seamless and stress-free, you can consider our WordPress website maintenance packages.