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Manually Update WordPress Plugins via FTP

August 23, 2017

Initiated by incorrect file permissions, server configuration fault, or incorrect version number, one-click WordPress plugin update sometimes fails. Such situations can break your website because a midway interruption can end up the complete process.

Updating the plugin is the only way to handle with this problem. So, it is an open invitation to manually update WordPress plugins via FTP without breaking your website. WordPress is developed with a built-in system to manage core, theme, and plugin updates. A click on the update link will update your plugins.

Steps to Manually Update WordPress Plugins via FTP

  • Download the latest version of the plugin you are trying to update
  • Download it from the WordPress.org plugin page if it is a free plugin
  • You need to download the latest version from the specific plugin’s website in the case of a premium plugin
  • As the plugins come in .zip formats, you are supposed to extract them
  • Use FileZilla for using an FTP client
  • Now you will need to enter your website name in the hostname
  • Do it with your FTP username and password
  • The email sent by your WordPress hosting company (during account signup) will tell you the FTP username or password. You are also open to find this information in the cPanel dashboard of your hosting account
  • Go to/wp-content/plugins/ folder after you are connected to your website via FTP
  • It will enable you to see different folders for all the plugins you have installed on your WordPress site
  • You need to make right-click on the plugin that you want to update
  • Select the [Rename] icon after that
  • Now rename this plugin 
  • Next, download the renamed folder to your laptop as a backup. This will allow you to revert back to the old version in case you need it.
  • After downloading the old plugin to your laptop, you can delete it from your website/blog.
  • Make sure that the plugin is deactivated in WordPress database as well. For that simply log in to your WordPress admin area and visit the plugins page.
  • Removed the old version and install the latest version of the plugin.
  • Switch to your FTP client and under the ‘Local’ section, locate the new plugin folder on your laptop. 
  • Now right click and select ‘Upload’ from FTP menu.
  • Now FTP client transferring the plugin folder from your laptop to your website.
  • Once finished, login to your WordPress admin area and go to the Plugins page. Now find the newly installed plugin and activate it.
  • You can now check the updated version of the plugin to make sure that everything is working correctly.
  • That’s all, you have successfully updated a WordPress plugin via FTP.

Take the benefit of WordPress Support for making this job easier. Apart from making your job effortless, it is also instrumental in updating the plugins without and hassles.

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