Install WordPress security updates within 24 to 48 hours, check for other updates at least weekly, and check your website after every significant change. The right routine depends on how important the site is to your business, how many plugins it uses and how much custom code it has.
At Scripto Agency, we look after multiple client websites and check each one every three days. This guide explains that routine and how to adapt it to your own site.
Quick Answer: How Often Should You Update WordPress?
Apply security updates promptly, check everything else at least weekly, take a backup before major changes, and check important features after updating.
| Update Type | Recommended Schedule |
|---|---|
| Security updates | Within 24 to 48 hours |
| Plugin and theme updates | Check at least weekly; Scripto Agency checks every three days |
| Minor WordPress core updates | Let them install automatically, then check the site |
| Major WordPress releases | Check compatibility, take a backup, then update |
| PHP version | Move off any version that no longer gets security fixes |
| Unused plugins and themes | Review monthly and delete what you no longer need |
This is a practical schedule, not an official WordPress rule. Sites that take payments or store customer accounts need closer monitoring.
How Often Should You Update WordPress Core, Plugins, and Themes?
Check WordPress core, plugins and themes at least weekly, and install security fixes for any of them within 24 to 48 hours. Each part does a different job, so the details below differ slightly.
How Often to Update WordPress Core
Let minor core updates install automatically, and install major releases once you have checked that your theme and plugins support them.
- Install security fixes as soon as practical.
- Read the release notes for major versions before updating.
- Take a backup before a manual core update.
- On sites with custom code or complex integrations, test major releases on a staging copy first.
A well-built WordPress website design makes core updates easier, because compatibility is considered from the start.
How Often to Update WordPress Plugins
Check plugins at least weekly, and update the ones that touch logins, forms, bookings or payments first.
Plugins come from different developers, so how they work together matters. Read the release notes when they are available, and delete plugins you no longer use once you have confirmed the site does not depend on them. If a plugin has not had an update in over a year, look for a maintained alternative.
How Often to Update WordPress Themes
Check themes at least weekly, but look before you update, because a theme update can overwrite changes made directly to its files.
If someone has edited the theme files, move that code into a child theme first, so it survives the update. Afterward, check the layout, navigation, mobile view and key page elements.
Do You Need to Update PHP Too?
Yes. PHP is the server software WordPress runs on, and old versions stop getting security fixes. PHP 8.1, for example, stopped receiving security updates at the end of 2025, so a site still running it is exposed even if WordPress itself is current.
PHP is changed from the hosting account, not from WordPress. When we have access to a client’s hosting, we update PHP ourselves; when the client holds the hosting account, we ask them to do it. Either way, we take a backup first, and so far no PHP update has caused a problem on the sites we manage.
What WordPress Updates Automatically (and What It Doesn’t)
WordPress installs minor core updates automatically by default. Plugins, themes and major core releases only update on their own if you turn that on.
- Minor core updates: automatic by default, including maintenance and security fixes.
- Major core updates: usually need a separate setting or a manual update.
- Plugins and themes: auto-updates can be turned on for each one individually.
- Premium plugins: some need an active license or a manual update, depending on how the developer delivers updates.
How We Handle WordPress Updates at Scripto Agency
We turn on automatic updates, update premium plugins by hand and check every client website every three days.
- Automatic updates: auto-updates are on for every plugin that supports them.
- Premium plugins by hand: premium plugins that cannot update themselves, we update manually.
- A check every three days: we open each website to confirm it loads properly and its pages work.
Clients also tell us as soon as something feels off, and we fix it from there. Between the three-day checks and client reports, problems do not sit unnoticed for long.
Before a manual core update, we take a backup. Our backups come from the host, plus UpdraftPlus or All-in-One WP Migration before big changes, and we keep 15 days of them. Wordfence handles security scans on every site.
We update on the live site after taking a backup, not on a staging copy. On the sites we manage, that has been enough: so far, no update has broken a client website. The three-day interval is our own workflow, not a rule for every WordPress site.
If you don’t have time to watch updates yourself, our WordPress maintenance services handle them for you.
What Affects How Often You Should Update WordPress?
Three things decide how often a site needs checking: what it does, how complex it is and how quickly you could recover from a bad update.
Website Type and Business Risk
A simple business website needs less attention than a store that takes orders every day. On a store, an update can affect checkout, payments, order records or customer accounts, so check it at least twice a week and test the full purchase process after updating.
Plugin and Integration Complexity
Sites with many plugins, custom code, booking systems or third-party integrations need more compatibility checks. An update that works on one site can cause issues on another because the setups differ, so this is where a staging copy earns its keep.
Backup and Recovery Options
The faster you can restore a site, the less risk each update carries. On WooCommerce sites, remember that restoring an old database backup can wipe out newer orders, so recovery needs more care there.
How Long Does a WordPress Update Take?
Most WordPress updates take seconds to a few minutes to install. The checks around them take longer than the update itself.
- Plugin or theme update: usually under a minute each on decent hosting.
- Minor core update: runs automatically in the background, usually within a day of release.
- Major core update: a few minutes to install, plus the backup before and the check after.
- PHP update: a quick switch in the hosting panel, plus the backup before and the check after.
If an update seems stuck for more than a few minutes, do not run it again straight away. Check whether the site shows a maintenance message, then look at what changed before trying again.
How to Update WordPress Safely
Back up, update one thing at a time, then check the pages that matter.
- Take a backup before major updates, and make sure you can reach it if you need to restore.
- Read the release notes for security fixes, compatibility information or known issues.
- Update one change at a time when the update is risky, so a problem is easy to trace.
- Check key features: pages, navigation, contact forms, login and checkout where relevant.
What Happens If You Don’t Update WordPress?
An outdated WordPress site stays open to known security holes, and its plugins and theme slowly stop working with newer software.
- Security weaknesses that stay unpatched.
- Broken forms, layouts or plugin features.
- Downtime or interrupted business functions.
- Harder troubleshooting once several components fall behind.
We have cleaned 3 to 4 hacked WordPress sites, and they followed the same pattern: spam pages created on the site, malicious files added to the WordPress folders and unknown admin users added so the attacker could get back in.
Updates alone cannot guarantee security, but they close the most common way in. A cleanup also costs far more than the updates would have; our guide to WordPress maintenance cost compares the two.
What to Do If a WordPress Update Breaks Your Website
Stop further updates, find what changed, and restore your backup if you cannot fix the problem quickly.
- Pause other updates so you are not changing several things at once.
- Identify what broke and note which update ran just before the problem.
- Fix or restore: fix the clash if the cause is clear, or restore the last working backup if it is not.
- Check the site again and deal with the cause before retrying the update.
On stores, check the recovery plan before you restore, so recent orders are not lost. If you would rather hand this off, see our WordPress maintenance plans.
WordPress Update FAQs
Install security updates within 24 to 48 hours, check for other updates at least weekly, and check the site after every significant change. Stores and sites with logins need closer checks. At Scripto Agency, we check each managed site every three days.
Yes. WordPress installs minor core updates automatically by default. Plugin and theme auto-updates can be turned on one by one, while major core releases may need a separate setting or a manual update.
Yes, although it is uncommon. An update can clash with a theme, another plugin or custom code, which is why a recent backup and a quick check after updating matter.
Most plugin and theme updates take under a minute, and minor core updates run automatically in the background. A major core or PHP update takes a few minutes, plus time for a backup before and a check after.
There is no single order that suits every website. Check compatibility information for the updates involved and make one change at a time when the change carries a higher risk.
Yes. Take a recent backup before major core, plugin, theme or PHP updates, especially on business websites and online stores, and make sure you know how to restore it.
Want Us to Handle Your WordPress Updates?
Scripto Agency checks client websites every three days, keeps 15 days of backups and fixes anything an update breaks, from $80 a month with no contract.
See WordPress Maintenance Plans