How to Disable WordPress Plugins

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, 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
• Disable a Single WordPress Plugin in cPanel
• Disable All WordPress Plugins in cPanel

Disable WordPress Plugins in the Dashboard

1. Login to your WordPress Dashboard.
2. Click Plugins in the navigation menu.
    
3. Find the plugin you want to disable, and click the Deactivate link. 
   
   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.
2. Click the File Manager link in the Files section.
3. Navigate to the document_root 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 the folder for the plugin you want to disable. For example, I’m going to rename the “redirection” folder to “redirection.old”.
   
6. Once your plugin folder has been renamed, the plugin is disabled.

Disable All WordPress Plugins in cPanel

1. Login to your cPanel.
2. Click the File Manager in the Files section.
   
   
3. Navigate to your WordPress installation folder, and open the wp-content folder.
   
   
   
4. Right-click the plugins folder, then select Rename.
   
5. Rename the plugins folder, for example “plugins.old” then click the Rename File button.
   
   All of your WordPress plugins are now disabled.

Congratulations, now you know how to disable (deactivate) your WordPress plugins from the Dashboard, and cPanel! Check out our WordPress Education Channel for many helpful guides.

Become a master of WordPress plugins! Protect, optimize, secure, and expand the functionality of your website easily with the help of WordPress plugins!