Updates are important, but they can also break a site: a premium theme without a child theme that loses your changes, a plugin release that is not compatible yet, a core update on a production site that nobody has tested. WP Disables Updates gives you one settings page to decide, for each kind of update, whether WordPress may check for it and install it.

What you can turn off

• Plugin updates: no update notices, no “update available” rows, no automatic plugin updates.
• Theme updates: the same for your themes.
• WordPress core updates: no core update notice, and no automatic updates, minor releases included.
• Translation updates: language files stay as they are.

Each switch is independent, and nothing is touched until you tick a box. Untick it and updates come back right away.

Please read this before you use it

No updates means no security fixes. Keep the switches on only if you know what you are doing, and keep an eye on the changes made to your plugins, themes and WordPress itself so you can update by hand when you are ready (a staging copy first is a good idea). The plugin warns you about this on its settings page.

How it works

The plugin uses the filters WordPress provides for this purpose (the update transients and the auto_update_* filters). It adds no tables, loads nothing on the public side of your site and leaves no data behind when you delete it.

More detail in this blog post, written in French: Désactiver les mises à jour WordPress

Available in English, French and Spanish.

1. Upload the wp-disable-updates folder to /wp-content/plugins/, or install it from the Plugins screen.
2. Activate the plugin.
3. Go to Settings > Disable Updates (or use the Settings link on the Plugins screen), tick what you want to turn off and save.

1. 

   The settings page: four checkboxes, one per kind of update.

Does it stop the automatic updates of WordPress core?

Yes. With “Disable WordPress core updates” ticked, WordPress no longer offers core updates and does not install any by itself, minor security releases included.

Does it also stop automatic updates of plugins and themes?

Yes. With the plugin or theme switch ticked, WordPress offers no update for them and does not install any in the background. The “Enable auto-updates” links of the Plugins and Themes screens are hidden too.

What happens to my translations?

With “Disable WordPress Translation update” ticked, WordPress no longer downloads new language files, neither automatically nor from the Updates screen.

I want updates back.

Untick the box and save: the next check works as usual. If you remove the plugin, WordPress goes back to its default behaviour and the plugin deletes its own four settings.

I changed my mind about a single plugin.

The switches are all-or-nothing for each kind of update. To update one plugin, turn the plugin switch off, update, and turn it on again.

1.2.0

Release Date – 28 October 2026

• Tested with WordPress 7.1 and PHP 8.
• Fix: the translation switch did nothing. It now stops automatic and manual translation updates.
• Fix: PHP 8 warnings, the update transients are now an empty object instead of null.
• Automatic updates of plugins, themes and core (minor, major and development releases) are now turned off with their own switch, and the auto-update links are hidden.
• Settings page: WordPress admin look, labelled fields, a “settings saved” notice, a security warning, and a Settings link on the Plugins screen.
• Settings are removed when the plugin is deleted.
• The plugin header now carries “Requires at least” and “Requires PHP”. WordPress 5.0 or later and PHP 7.4 or later are required.

1.1.3

• Compatibility with WordPress 6.1.

1.1.1.2

Release Date – March 2021

• Plugin tested with WordPress 5.0 up to 5.7.

1.1.1

Release Date – 17 December 2019

• Add translation.
• Tested on multiple WordPress versions.
• Fix update core option on 5.3+.
• Deprecated create_function has been removed.

1.0.3

Release Date – 4 November 2016

• Add contact link.

1.0.2

Release Date – 20 October 2016

• Added nonce.
• Changed function and option names.

1.0.1

Release Date – 20 October 2016

• Plugin creation.
• English, French and Spanish language.