Version Locker: Disable Updates, Rollback and Downgrade

Install Version Locker and go to Tools > Version Locker. Toggle the lock on any plugin to hold it at its current version, or turn on “Disable all plugin updates” in the Settings tab to stop every plugin update at once. Both are reversible at any time.

Lock that single plugin from the Plugins tab. Every other plugin keeps updating as normal. Locks are per item, so you are not forced into an all-or-nothing choice.

Yes. The Settings tab has a separate switch for core updates, which also turns off core auto-updates. It is independent of your plugin and theme locks.

Go to Tools > Version Locker > Settings and choose the release you want under “Hold WordPress on”. Version Locker then offers that exact version under Dashboard > Updates, and you start the change there yourself. Nothing is downloaded or installed until you do. Once the site is on that release, further core updates are held back so it stays there.

Pick the version that was working from the same dropdown, then run the update from Dashboard > Updates. WordPress reinstalls that release using its own update routine, so it behaves exactly like a normal core update. Take a database backup first: the files move backwards, but a database that has already been upgraded does not.

Yes. If WP Downgrade is already holding a version on your site, Version Locker detects it, tells you which version it found, and pre-selects the same release so you only have to press Save. You get the same specific core version control, plus plugin and theme locks, rollback, an activity log, and a delay window in the same plugin.

It can break a site, so Version Locker will not do it silently. WordPress upgrades the database as it goes and has no reverse migration, which means going from, say, 7.x back to 6.x can leave the database ahead of the code. That move is refused until you confirm you have a working backup. Moving back within the same major version, such as a patch or minor release, does not carry that risk.

Yes. Set a waiting period in days and every new release is held for that long before WordPress offers or installs it. It only ever delays an update. It never starts one, and it never switches on auto-updates for a site that had them off.

Lock the plugin, then use the roll back link on its row. You will see every version WordPress.org still publishes, older than the one you have installed. Pick one, confirm, and Version Locker reinstalls it and pins the plugin there so the update you are stepping away from does not come straight back. Take a database backup first: rolling back replaces files, but it cannot undo database changes a newer version already made.

Yes. Set a waiting period in the Settings tab and every new release is held for that many days before WordPress offers it. Each release gets its own window. This only delays updates. It never starts one, and it never turns on auto-updates for a site that had them off.

Locked items are removed from the counts WordPress uses for the update badge, so the number reflects only the updates you can actually apply. Version Locker still shows you the held update on its own screen, including the new version number, so nothing is hidden from you.

It can, if you lock something and forget about it. That is why every lock records the version it was pinned at, shows how far behind you have fallen with a major, minor, or patch badge, and can be given a date to unlock itself. Locking is meant to delay an update you have not tested yet, not to avoid updating forever.

Locking does not. It only uses WordPress filters to control update behavior, so your files are left exactly as they are.

Will locked items still show update available?

Can I still update a locked item?

What is the difference between locking one item and turning off all updates?

Does “Disable all plugin updates” stop someone uploading a plugin ZIP by hand?

Can I copy my settings to another site?

Does this work on Multisite?

Protection works across the whole network, though, because it has to. Plugin and theme files exist once and are shared by every site, so a lock set on any single site stops those files being updated from anywhere, including Network Admin. Without that, one site could overwrite the version another site deliberately kept.

No. Version Locker does no work at all on front-end page views. Its data is only read when WordPress is deciding about updates, which happens in the admin and on cron, never when a visitor loads a page.

By default, all locks and settings are preserved on uninstall. To delete all data on removal, turn on “Delete everything on uninstall” in the Settings tab before uninstalling.