How To Disable WordPress Automatic Updates

Disable WordPress Automatic Updates

Since the release of WordPress 3.7 automatic core updates are now part of WordPress. This is a new and interesting feature which allows your blog to automatically upgrade to the latest WordPress release when a new version becomes available.

• The WordPress automatic updates cover minor release points that historically are only bug fixes and security patches, not new features or changes to the UI.
• On August 30, 2013 Dion Hulse (WordPress user/developer since 2005) stated, “The plan is that Automated updates would not start immediately, they’ll be staggered so that early feedback can catch any significant incompatibilities and only be pushed out in the event that we’re sure there’ll be no breakage of users sites.”

I think this is a really nice feature, but, although the automatic updater sounds nice, like all things in life it has its downside:

• It presumes the new updates will not break your site.
• It presumes your running plugins are compatible with the new update.
• It presumes your theme will be compatible with the new updates.

You may think, “WordPress automatic updates sounds too risky for me” or you may simply prefer to control updates manually. Many users think that instead of an opt-out for auto-upgrades, we should have an opt-in with the default for all new installs being to have auto-updates turned on.

• Many users would like to have a visual UI (i.e. checkbox) to turn the auto-update feature off if wanted.

Well, if you don’t like the new WordPress automatic updates feature for some reason, here’s a quick way to turn it off.

Disable WordPress Automatic Updates using wp-config.php

Unfortunately, the WordPress admin area doesn’t have an “off” switch built into the visual UI, but you can disable automatic updates by adding the following line of code into your wp-config.php file:

define( 'AUTOMATIC_UPDATER_DISABLED', true );

With the file saved, automatic updates will be turned off and you will have to manually upgrade your blog again

Disable WordPress Automatic Updates with a Plugin

If you don’t want to dig into the code, why not install a plugin instead?

Gary Pendergast’s fantastic plugin Advanced Automatic Updates allows you to automatically keep your WordPress install up-to-date as soon as updates become available, but also allows you to disable updates.

Disable WordPress Automatic Updates – Developers

Here’s a couple of other methods developers should know about:

• If you’re using a deployment system that uses SVN or GIT it’s disabled by default.
• You can also make use of several filters such as:

  add_filter( 'automatic_updater_disabled', '__return_true' );

  The definitive guide to disabling auto updates in WordPress 3.7 is the best place to look for this information.

Disable Core WordPress Automatic Updates

The easiest way to manipulate core updates is with the WP_AUTO_UPDATE_CORE constant:

# Disables all core updates:
define( 'WP_AUTO_UPDATE_CORE', false );
# Enables all core updates, including minor and major:
define( 'WP_AUTO_UPDATE_CORE', true );
# Enables core updates for minor releases (default):
define( 'WP_AUTO_UPDATE_CORE', 'minor' );

Disable WordPress Automatic Updates Conclusion

While WordPress automatic updates might seem a little scary, it’s important to remember this feature has been introduced to ensure WordPress installations are updated to the latest secure version for you and your visitors safety.