How to update WordPress plugins and themes

Have you ever seen that little red notification bubble in your WordPress dashboard and thought, “I’ll get to it later”? It’s easy to ignore — but waiting too long to update your WordPress plugins and themes can lead to bigger problems.

While WordPress makes it easy to click “update,” small updates can break layouts, hide content, or stop key features from working. That’s why I follow a clear, careful process when updating a site.

Updates fix bugs, boost performance, and patch security issues. But they need to be done right: back up your site, check for issues, and know when to wait. Here’s how I do it and what to keep in mind if you’re doing it yourself.

Topics covered

• Why do updates matter?
• How to update WordPress plugins
  • Before updating your plugins
  • Step by step
• Should you turn on auto-update?
  • Plugins that are safe to auto-update
  • Plugins to update manually
• What about theme updates?
• How often should you update?
• If something goes wrong
• Final thoughts

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Why do updates matter?

There are three main reasons you want to keep your site updated:

1. Security: Plugin and theme updates often fix known vulnerabilities. Delaying them leaves your site exposed to malware, redirects, or data access — even if you don’t collect sensitive info.
2. Speed: Updates can improve performance and loading times. A fast site feels better to use and makes visitors more likely to stick around or take action.
3. Compatibility: WordPress, the PHP language it runs on, and many plugins all update regularly. If your themes or plugins aren’t kept current, it can cause layout issues or broken features. Staying updated keeps everything working smoothly.

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How to update WordPress plugins

Before updating your plugins

Here’s the routine you want to follow before every update:

• Back up the site with UpdraftPlus or WPVivid
• Review changelogs for any major changes or warnings
• Test in staging if the update affects core functionalities

Step-by-step

1. Log into your WordPress dashboard.
2. Create a full backup. Use a plugin like Updraft Plus or WPVivid. 
3. Go to Plugins > Installed Plugins.
4. Update plugins one at a time.
5. After each update, check your site for broken pages or features.
6. Clear your cache once all updates are done. (Site and browser cache)
7. Restore from backup if needed. (You might want to learn how to do this before your updates.)

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Should you turn on auto-update?

Since WordPress 5.5, you can toggle auto-updates from the admin dashboard. Set and forget, right? Yes, and no. Some plugins– those that don’t affect layout or core functionality– are safe to auto-update. Others should be updated manually and tested afterwards.

Plugins that are safe to auto-update

Plugins that don’t affect layout or core functionality are generally safe to enable auto-updates for. Here are some examples:

• Backup, optimization and performance tools (e.g. UpdraftPlus, WPVivid, WP-Optimize, Smush, ShortPixel)
• Admin and content management tools (e.g. Duplicate Post, redirect managers, broken link checkers)
• Analytics and monitoring tools (e.g. Google Analytics plugins, uptime and performance monitors)
• Default WordPress themes (e.g. Twenty Twenty-Five)

A word of caution: even though some plugins are safe to auto-update, it is still important to check if anything is affected by the update.

Plugins to update manually

Plugins that control eCommerce, forms, page builders, or anything deeply tied to how your site functions should always be updated manually. These are more likely to cause visual issues or break key features.

That includes the main plugins and any related add-ons or extensions, such as:

• eCommerce (e.g. Woocommerce, Product Bundle)
• Membership systems
• Learning management systems
• Page builders
• Core WordPress updates
• Multilingual or multisite setups

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What about theme updates?

If your site was built using a child theme, you should be able to update your theme with no problems. Almost all the sites I build use a child theme, so it is safe to update the parent theme without affecting your design.

If your site was built with changes directly in the theme (not using a child theme), updates must be done manually to avoid losing custom code or layout.

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How often should you update?

How often you update your themes and plugins depends on the type of site. Here’s what I recommend:

• Brochure sites: every 2–4 weeks
• Blogs or content sites: weekly
• eCommerce sites: twice a week or after plugin updates
• High-traffic or complex sites: daily or through a managed process

For core updates, I often wait a week before applying major changes. This allows most bugs and errors to get caught and fixed within the first few days of a release. At minimum, you should update your site every three to four months.

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If something goes wrong

Even with a careful process, things can still go wrong. When that happens, you can: 

• Restore a full backup
• Diagnose the issue by disabling plugins, checking logs, or switching to a default theme
• Fix the problem or roll back the update until it’s safe to try again

And if you ever need help, I’m just a message away.

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Final thoughts

Updating WordPress plugins and themes are important and they need to be done carefully. A broken plugin or theme can take down a site in seconds.

If you’re managing updates yourself, follow a routine, back up everything, and don’t rush. And if you’d rather not deal with it, I’m available to take care of updates for you.