How to Update WordPress Plugin with zip file Manually?

Do you want to update the WordPress plugin manually? Are you failing to update your WordPress plugin?

I’m sharing step by step procedure to update the WordPress plugin manually without losing any plugin content.

If you are using any premium WordPress theme for your blog, you might have seen that there are some plugins come with the theme. These plugging needs to be there to run your WordPress theme properly.

I remember. I was facing some theme issues with my blog. When I contacted WordPress theme provider, they asked me to update one of the plugins.

As this updated plugin was not there on the WordPress repository, they sent me a zip file of the updated plugin.

3 Steps to Update WordPress Plugin with Zip file [Manually]

Here are the steps I followed to update my WordPress plugin from the Zip file. Follow the same steps if you want to update your WordPress plugin from zip.

Steps 1: Deactivate the Old Plugin

1. First of all, login to your WordPress dashboard as an admin.
2. Deactivate the current plugin that you want to update.
3. Now, open a new tab in a web browser and log in to Cpanel.
4. Click on “File Manager” in Cpanel.
5. Go to the plugin directory/folder inside “wp-content”.
6. You can see the folder with the name of your plugin. Simply rename that folder with any name.
   Example: If the plugging name is “XYZ”, rename it to “XYZ-old”
7. The name of the plugin in WordPress is the same as the folder name. Go to the WordPress dashboard and plugins. You can see the plugin name has changed from “XYZ” to “XYZ-old”.
8. Deactivate the plugin “XYZ-old”
   Note: If you deactivate the plugin, it simply stops working. It does not delete any of the plugin configuration, data, or any other related files. Don’t worry about losing plugin data.

Step 2: Update the Plugin from Zip

9. Now again go to the WordPress dashboard and click on Plugins -> Add New.
10. Download the zip of the updated plugin on your local computer.
11. Click on the “Upload Plugin” option at the top and upload the plugin zip file you have.
12. After that activate the plugin.

Good Job!

You are running updated plugin with your WordPress blog.

Step 3: Verify Updated Plugin and Delete Old Plugin

Here are few more steps to follow to make sure everything is fine.

13. Check if everything is fine and the plugin is working as expected.
14. If everything is fine, go to the Cpanel and File Manager. Delete the old plugin directory which you have renamed earlier.
15. If you find any issue with the updated plugin, you can simply deactivate the updated plugin and activate the old plugin.

These are the simple steps I follow to update WordPress plugin with zip file manually. You can follow the same steps. If you have any questions or difficulty while following these steps, let me know in the comment.

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Aniruddha Chaudhari

I am a Python enthusiast who loves Linux and Vim. I hold a Master of Computer Science degree from NIT Trichy and have 10 years of experience in the IT industry, focusing on the Software Development Lifecycle from Requirements Gathering, Design, Development to Deployment. I have worked at IBM, Ericsson, and NetApp, and I share my knowledge on CSEstack.org.