Upgrade Readiness Tool

Upgrade to PayPal Payments, Safely

Note

We’re still putting the finishing touches on this page. The guidance below is accurate, but a few links and tools are still on their way.

Whether your store is brand new or has been running the same PayPal setup for years, this guide gets you onto the latest PayPal Payments plugin without surprises.

PayPal is moving to a newer, more secure way of connecting your store (the modern REST API). The latest PayPal Payments plugin uses it, and it unlocks more payment methods, stronger fraud protection, and faster support. Older integrations like PayPal Standard, PayPal Checkout, and PayPal Pro will keep working for now, but they will not receive new features, and they sit on connection technology that is being phased out.

If the idea of touching an older store makes you nervous, that is exactly what this page is built for. We will tell you what you are working with before you change anything, give you a clear route that matches your store, and put help one click away at every step.

Start here: run the Upgrade Readiness Check

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Before you update a single thing, run the check. It looks at your store and tells you exactly where you stand.

The Upgrade Readiness Check is a free helper you run from inside your WordPress admin. It is read-only. It does not change your site, your settings, or your live checkout. It simply reads your current setup and reports back.

What it checks:

  • Which PayPal integration you are on today. PayPal Standard (built into WooCommerce), PayPal Checkout, PayPal Pro, or an older legacy plugin.
  • Your environment. Your WordPress, WooCommerce, and PHP versions, compared against what the latest plugin needs.
  • Known conflicts. Plugins or themes that have caused checkout issues with PayPal Payments in the past.
  • Subscriptions. Whether you have active recurring payments that need special care during the upgrade.

What you get back:

A plain-language result that tells you how straightforward your upgrade will be, whether you can complete it yourself in a few minutes, and exactly where to get help if your store needs a little preparation first. If anything looks risky, you find out before you start, not halfway through.

[ Run the Upgrade Readiness Check ]

Which of these sounds like your store?

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Every store is a little different. Read the description that matches yours. The Upgrade Readiness Check will confirm it for you and point you to the right next step.

If your store is already up to date

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Your WordPress, WooCommerce, and PHP versions are current, and nothing conflicts with the new plugin.

This is the smooth case. You install the latest PayPal Payments plugin (or update the version you already have), then reconnect your PayPal account. Most merchants finish in just a few minutes, on their own. Jump to the upgrade steps below.

If your store needs a few updates first

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Your store works fine today, but your WordPress, WooCommerce, or PHP version is older than the latest plugin needs, or the check flagged a plugin or theme that could affect checkout.

Updating an older store can occasionally make something behave unexpectedly, and we take that seriously. You do not have to do this alone. If you would like a hand, the Readiness Check passes your details straight to our support team so we can guide you through the updates in the right order and keep an eye out for anything that needs attention. You stay in control of your store the whole time.

If your store is complex, or you would rather we handle it

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Your store runs on older hosting, has significant custom development, sells subscriptions or memberships, or simply cannot be updated through the normal process.

Stores like these deserve a careful, hands-on approach, and that is completely fine. Our team can work through the upgrade directly with you so that nothing on your live store is put at risk. The Readiness Check is still the right first step, because it gathers the technical details our team needs so we can start helping right away, without a long back-and-forth.

Whichever description fits, you are never stuck. If a do-it-yourself step does not go the way you expect, you can request help from our team at any point.

One step everyone takes: reconnect your PayPal account

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This is the single most important thing to understand, and it is true for every store.

Older PayPal integrations connect to your account using a legacy API username and password. The latest PayPal Payments plugin connects using PayPal’s modern, more secure method (a Client ID and Client Secret you generate with one click during connection). There is no automatic way to convert the old connection into the new one. So as part of your upgrade, you will reconnect your PayPal account once.

The good news:

  • It takes a few minutes. You click Connect to PayPal, log in, approve, and you are done.
  • Most of your existing PayPal settings carry over to the new plugin automatically. You are reconnecting the account, not rebuilding your configuration from scratch.
  • If you would rather not handle the reconnection yourself, our team can guide and assist you the entire way. Just ask.

Your past transactions are unaffected by reconnecting. They continue to live in your PayPal account. Recurring payments need a little more explanation, which is covered next.

Selling subscriptions or memberships? Read this first

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Recurring payments are the one area where upgrading needs extra care. The reassuring headline is that your existing subscribers keep getting billed. The detail that matters is how each subscription keeps running, because that depends on how it was set up, and the rules are easy to get wrong.

The plugin is built to protect active subscriptions. When it detects that you have active recurring payments, it deliberately keeps your legacy PayPal Standard option in place after the upgrade, so existing renewals are never cut off. Nothing disappears the moment you switch.

Here is what happens to each kind of subscription:

Subscriptions billed directly by PayPal (legacy PayPal Standard agreements). PayPal holds these recurring agreements on its side, and they continue to renew. You do not move them anywhere. The plugin keeps the legacy PayPal Standard option available specifically so these renewals are not interrupted, and they run on as they always have until they naturally end.

Subscriptions managed by the WooCommerce Subscriptions extension. Here it depends on which PayPal method was processing them:

  • If they ran through PayPal Checkout (the older PPEC extension): the new PayPal Payments plugin can take these over, so renewals move onto the modern integration going forward.
  • If they ran through PayPal Standard: the new plugin does not take these over, and that is okay. Your legacy PayPal Standard option stays available for as long as you have active subscriptions in WooCommerce, so those renewals keep processing without interruption while they wind down.

Our recommendation: if you sell subscriptions or memberships, let our team help rather than going it alone. The right setup depends on your particular mix of subscription types, and a short check with us before and after the upgrade is the surest way to confirm that every renewal keeps flowing. The Readiness Check will flag your subscriptions and connect you with us.

[ Request subscription help ]

Before you begin

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A few minutes of preparation removes almost all of the risk.

  • Back up your site. A complete backup (files and database) is essential before any plugin change. If anything goes sideways, you can restore in minutes. Don’t have a backup solution ready? Message your hosting provider or install a plugin like BackWPup to create regular backups of your site.
  • Note your current settings. Take a quick screenshot of your existing PayPal configuration so you have a reference.
  • Pick a quiet window. Schedule the upgrade during low-traffic hours to keep any customer impact to a minimum.

Upgrade steps

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The detailed, screen-by-screen instructions already live in the official WooCommerce documentation, and we keep those current. Use the guide that matches your situation:

The short version:

  1. Back up your site (see above).
  2. Run the Upgrade Readiness Check and follow the guidance it provides.
  3. Install or update the WooCommerce PayPal Payments plugin (Plugins > Add New, or Update Now if you already have it).
  4. Go to WooCommerce > Settings > Payments, click Set Up (or Manage) next to PayPal, and click Activate PayPal Payments.
  5. Click Connect to PayPal and follow the prompts to reconnect your account.
  6. Confirm your payment methods are enabled and place a test order to verify checkout.

Requirements for the latest plugin: a PayPal business or personal account, WordPress 6.5+, WooCommerce 9.6+, and PHP 7.4+. The Readiness Check confirms whether you meet these before you start.

If something breaks, or you would rather not risk it

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You do not have to troubleshoot alone, and you do not have to be technical to get this done.

  • Hand off from the Readiness Check. If the check finds anything that needs preparation, it can send your store’s details (versions, active plugins, detected conflicts, current PayPal integration, and any active subscriptions) straight to our support team with one click. They get everything they need to help you, without asking you to dig for technical information.
  • Talk to a Payments Specialist. Call (888) 429-3035 for guidance through any part of the upgrade.

Our promise: if your upgrade hits a wall, you can reach a real person at any step. The goal is a working checkout on the latest plugin, and we stay with you until you have one.

After you upgrade: turn on the good stuff

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Once you are on the latest PayPal Payments plugin, a few features are worth enabling.

Advanced fraud protection (anti-carding / reCAPTCHA)

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Protects your store against carding attacks by showing anti-bot verification (reCAPTCHA) dynamically, based on fraud scoring. Available by default on version 3.3.0 and later.

To configure: WooCommerce > Settings > Integration, select WooCommerce PayPal Payments reCAPTCHA, and enable both v2 and v3. (You will need a Google account to generate your keys. The default v3 risk threshold is 0.5.)

Fastlane – No account. No password. Just fast, secure checkout.

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Fastlane is a fast and easy way for guest users to check out online. Buyers save their card and shipping info with Fastlane during their first checkout with any participating Fastlane store. Then, Fastlane prefills the buyer’s saved details on future purchases everywhere Fastlane is available. Buyers are always able to review their details before paying.
See Fastlane in action or get more details in the FAQ section.

To configure: WooCommerce > Settings > Payments > PayPal Payments > Payment Methods, enable Fastlane by PayPal. Note: You will need to enable Advanced Credit and Debit Card Payments to use Fastlane.

Quick answers

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Will I lose my settings? When you install the latest plugin and reconnect the account, it carries over your existing PayPal configuration where possible. The new PayPal Payments also provides more functionality that may not have been available in older integrations, so you may find new options worth configuring.

Will my existing subscriptions keep renewing? Yes, your subscribers keep getting billed. How each subscription keeps running depends on how it was set up, which is explained in Selling subscriptions or memberships? above. If you sell subscriptions, we recommend letting our team help.

Do I really have to reconnect PayPal? Yes, every store does. The old and new connection methods are not interchangeable, so reconnecting once is required. It takes a few minutes, and we can do it with you.

My store is really old and I am worried about breaking it. What do I do? Run the Readiness Check first. It is read-only and changes nothing. If your store needs preparation, it connects you with our team, who will guide the updates in the right order.

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