---
title: "How to Disable WordPress Plugins"
description: "In this tutorial, we will show you how to disable WordPress plugins from the Dashboard, then how to disable a single plugin or all plugins by renaming the folder in cPanel File Manager. When..."
url: https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/edu/wordpress/disable-wordpress-plugins/
date: 2021-04-05
modified: 2021-08-10
author: "InMotion Hosting Contributor"
categories: ["WordPress Tutorials"]
type: post
lang: en
---

# How to Disable WordPress Plugins

![Learn How to Disable WordPress Plugins](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/How-to-Disable-WordPress-Plugins-1024x538.jpg)

In this tutorial, we will show you how to disable WordPress plugins from the Dashboard, then how to disable a single plugin or all plugins by renaming the folder in cPanel File Manager.

When [troubleshooting a WordPress issue](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/edu/wordpress/wordpress-troubleshooting/), it may be necessary to disable the plugins. You can easily disable (deactivate) plugins from the WordPress Dashboard, but this can be an arduous task if you have a large number of plugins, or do not have access to your Admin Dashboard.

The quickest method for disabling all your plugins is to rename the entire plugins folder. But, this will disable all plugins and may not help narrow down the root cause of the problem. So, you may prefer to just rename a single plugin folder to disable only one plugin at a time.

- [Disable WordPress Plugins in the Dashboard](#dashboard)
- [Disable a Single WordPress Plugin in cPanel](#single-plugin)
- [Disable All WordPress Plugins in cPanel](#all-plugins)

![How to Disable WordPress Plugins](https://i.ytimg.com/vi_webp/3xrr0Cu_Xf8/maxresdefault.webp)

## Disable WordPress Plugins in the Dashboard

1. [Login to your WordPress Dashboard](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/edu/wordpress/logging-into-wordpress-dashboard/).
2. Click **Plugins** in the navigation menu.![Viewing Plugins](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/wordpress_disable-plugins_wordpress-dashboard-plugins.png) 
3. Find the plugin you want to disable, and click the **Deactivate** link. ![Disabling WordPress Plugins](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/wordpress_disable-plugins_deactivate-wordpress-plugin.png)You will then see a message stating “*Plugin deactivated*” and your plugin is now disabled.

## Disable a Single WordPress Plugin in cPanel

1. [Login to your cPanel](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/edu/cpanel/how-to-log-into-cpanel/).
2. Click the **File Manager** link in the *Files* section.
3. Navigate to the [document_root](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/website/where-to-upload-files/) of your website.
4. Open the **wp-content** then **plugins** folder.
5. You will see a folder for all the plugins you have installed. [Rename](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/edu/cpanel/renaming-files-folders/) the folder for the plugin you want to disable. For example, I’m going to rename the “redirection” folder to “redirection.old”.![Renaming your Plugin Folder](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/rename-plugin-folder.png)
6. Once your plugin folder has been renamed, the plugin is disabled.

## Disable All WordPress Plugins in cPanel

1. [Login to your cPanel](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/edu/cpanel/how-to-log-into-cpanel/).
2. Click the **File Manager** in the *Files* section.![File Manager](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/wordpress_disable-plugins_cpanel-file-manager.png)[](/support/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/wordpress_disable-plugins_cpanel-file-manager.png)[](/support/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/wordpress_disable-plugins_cpanel-file-manager.png)
3. Navigate to your WordPress installation folder, and open the **wp-content** folder.[](/support/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/wordpress_disable-plugins_wp-content-folder.png)[](/support/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/wordpress_disable-plugins_wp-content-folder.png)![Open WP-Content folder](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/wordpress_disable-plugins_wp-content-folder.png)
4. *Right-click* the **plugins** folder, then select **Rename**.![Renaming a folder](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/wordpress_disable-plugins_rename-file-cpanel.png)
5. Rename the plugins folder, for example “plugins.old” then click the **Rename File** button. ![Disabling Plugins](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/wordpress_disable-plugins_renaming-plugins-folder.png)All of your WordPress plugins are now disabled.

Congratulations, now you know how to disable (deactivate) your [WordPress plugins](https://wordpress.org/plugins/) from the Dashboard, and cPanel! Check out our [WordPress Education Channel](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/edu/wordpress/) for many helpful guides.

Become a master of [WordPress plugins](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/edu/wordpress/plugins/)! Protect, optimize, secure, and expand the functionality of your website easily with the help of WordPress plugins!

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