Plugins are a key feature that allows for easy customization in WordPress. However, they can sometimes conflict with one another, or with your site’s chosen PHP version, causing issues such as UI breaks, slower performance, or even fatal errors that can make your website or WordPress Admin area inaccessible. In such cases, disabling the plugins one by one is often the best way to troubleshoot and pinpoint the source of the problem.
Deactivating plugins via WordPress dashboard
If your WordPress Admin area is accessible, the process is relatively simple: you can disable plugins directly from the Plugins menu or by using the Health Checker plugin’s troubleshooting mode. Alternatively, plugins can also be enabled and disabled from your 10Web dashboard.
However, what if your site is down due to a fatal error and you cannot access the WordPress Admin? In this guide, we will explain how to deactivate all WordPress plugins when you are locked out of your Admin area.
Deactivating plugins via SFTP
An easy method to deactivate plugins is through SFTP (Secure File Transfer Protocol). Follow these steps:
- Connect to your website using an FTP client. Use the provided credentials in your 10Web dashboard Credentials menu to connect. You can find the detailed steps for this in this article.
- Navigate to the /wp-content/ folder in your site’s directory.
- Locate the 'plugins' folder inside wp-content. Right-click on this folder and select ‘Rename’.
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Rename the plugins folder to something like plugins.troubleshooting. By doing this, you will deactivate all plugins because WordPress will no longer be able to find the folder it expects.
Important:
When you visit the Plugins > Installed Plugins page in the WordPress Admin, you will see notifications for all the deactivated plugins. You’ll also notice that the list of plugins has disappeared. Don't worry, they are still intact, and you can restore them.
- To restore the plugins, go back to your FTP client, navigate to the /wp-content/ folder, and rename the plugins.troubleshooting folder back to plugins.
- Reactivate plugins one at a time: Go to the Plugins » Installed Plugins page in the WordPress Admin and reactivate your plugins one by one. After each activation, check if the site breaks. Once you identify the problematic plugin, you can delete its folder via SFTP or contact the plugin author for support.
Deactivating plugins via SSH
Note:
This method is best suited for advanced WordPress users.
Connect to your site via SSH. If you’re unsure how to do this, refer to the provided SSH connection guide.
Navigate to your WordPress installation directory. Use the following command to get there:
cd /wp-live
List all installed plugins by using the following command:
wp plugin list
This command will display a table of plugins, showing their names, statuses (active or inactive), and slugs. The plugin slug is the folder name of the plugin, and you will need it for both activating and deactivating plugins.
Deactivate a plugin: Use the following command to deactivate a plugin by replacing <plugin-slug> with the actual slug of the plugin you wish to deactivate (e.g., woocommerce):
wp plugin deactivate <plugin-slug>
Activate a plugin: If you want to reactivate a plugin, simply use this command:
wp plugin activate <plugin-slug>
Replace <plugin-slug> with the correct plugin slug.
By using SSH, you can quickly manage plugin activation and deactivation without needing access to the WordPress Admin.
Conclusion
Disabling plugins is a common troubleshooting method when facing WordPress issues. Once you identify the problematic plugin, you can delete its folder via the Plugins menu/SFTP/SSH, replace it with an alternative plugin, or contact the plugin author for support.