Update WordPress with FTP
You can update WordPress to its latest version through FTP.
Warning: You should always backup your site before updating.
- Log in to WordPress
- Deactivate all of your plugins.
- From the Dashboard menu, click Updates.
- Under the heading "An updated version of WordPress is available," click Download to get a .zip file containing the new version of WordPress. The file will be downloaded to your local computer.
Note: Alternatively you can download the .zip from the WordPress Release Archive.
- Unzip the file. (
Web Hosting / cPanel / Plesk )Note: If you don't have a way to unzip the file on your hosting account, you'll need to unzip the file on your local computer, and then upload the unzipped folder of files.
- Connect to your hosting with FTP.
- Delete the /wp-admin and /wp-includes folders.
- Delete all files in your WordPress site's home directory, except the .htaccess, wp-config.php and robots.txt files.
- Upload the files, wp-content folder, and wp-includes folder from the unzipped WordPress folder on your local computer. You can skip the wp-content folder for now.
- Once the uploads complete, Log in to WordPress.
- When prompted, click Update WordPress Database.
- Once complete, click Continue
- If you have any default WordPress themes installed you can now update them from within the WordPress dashboard.
- You can now activate your plugins again.
More info
- Return to Update WordPress