How to Disable Automatic Background Updates for WordPress Core

Posted on February 17, 2015 by J. Mays | Updated: April 19, 2023

Category: Technical Support | Tags: Auto-Update, Automatic Background Updates, WordPress

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The following process works with all WordPress versions after version 3.7. There are several other options for disabling automatic background updates for WordPress including but not limited to: utilizing Jetpack with WordPress.com and utilizing WordPress plugins.

Turning off Automatic Background Updates in this fashion means that WordPress will not automatically update whenever a new major or minor release is available. To reverse the process visit the tutorial on: Enabling Automatic Background Updates for WordPress Core

Disabling Automatic Background Updates via wp-config.php

For a refresher on editing files with vim see: New User Tutorial: Overview of the Vim Text Editor

Navigate to your root WordPress directory (in this case: /home/example/public_html) and edit the wp-config.php file:

vim wp-config.php

vim /home/example/public_html/wp-config.php

Add the following to the file:

/* Disable Automatic Background Updates for WordPress Core */
define( ‘WP_AUTO_UPDATE_CORE’, false );

In this case, I added the above code just above:

/* That’s all, stop editing! Happy blogging. */

Then exit and save the file with the command :wq .

About the Author: J. Mays

As a previous contributor, JMays shares his insight with our Knowledge Base center. In our Knowledge Base, you'll be able to find how-to articles on Ubuntu, CentOS, Fedora and much more!