Keeping WooCommerce, WordPress, extensions, themes, and payment gateways up to date helps your store stay secure, compatible, and functional. This guide walks you through how to back up your store, test updates safely, and apply them to your live site without causing issues.
Back up your store
↑ Back to topA WordPress and WooCommerce store keeps data in two places: the wp-content folder (which contains themes, extensions, and uploaded files) and the database (which stores products, orders, posts, pages, and settings). Before you apply any update, back up both.
Automatic backups
↑ Back to topAn automated backup service is the most efficient and reliable approach. Jetpack VaultPress Backup is one option that integrates with WooCommerce.
An automated service can provide benefits such as:
- Automated regular backups of your entire site, including the database, content, extensions, themes, and settings.
- One-click restores so you can revert to a previous version quickly.
- Access to support from the backup provider.
Manual backups
↑ Back to topTo manually back up your store, complete these two steps:
- Back up your database. The WordPress Codex describes several methods, including manual and extension-based options.
- Using Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP), connect to your server and download the
wp-contentfolder to back up your theme and extension files. This step is especially important if you have made any customizations to your theme.
Test updates on a staging site
↑ Back to topAlways test updates before applying them to your live store. If you prefer not to handle this yourself, consider working with a WooCommerce Agency Partner.
Terms to know
↑ Back to topThe following terms describe the three environments used in a typical update workflow:
- Local — A WordPress installation on your personal computer, generally not accessible to the public.
- Staging — A copy of your live site where you test updates. It should replicate the same server setup as production.
- Production — Your live site, where customers visit and make purchases.
This is a simplified overview. There are many tools and approaches for testing updates, but the key principle is to never test updates directly on your production site. If you work with a developer, ask about their process for testing updates.
Local
↑ Back to topMost developers start with a local installation, where WordPress runs on their computer acting as a server. Using a code editor, you can build, update, and test changes on your own machine before deploying them.
When working on a local installation, consider using version control such as Git or Subversion (SVN). Version control lets you revert to a previous working version and can simplify deploying changes from local to staging and production.
Staging
↑ Back to topTo test an update beyond your local machine, create a second WordPress installation through your hosting provider and restore a backup of your live site to it. Many hosts offer tools for setting up a staging environment. Jetpack VaultPress Backup can also create a staging copy for you.
A staging site is a replica of your production site and a safe place to test updates. You can share it with others for help with testing. Test on different devices, check page load time, and verify that key store functions (such as checkout) work correctly.
Production
↑ Back to topAfter your staging tests pass, you can apply the updates to your live production site.
Note: Set your site to Coming soon mode before updating. This prevents customers from checking out or making payments during the update. If a transaction occurs mid-update, orders may be lost.
Some store owners use Git to deploy from a master branch. You can also click the Update button in the WordPress admin if you have already tested the updates on a staging site and confirmed they are safe. Keep your backups ready so you can restore quickly if anything unexpected occurs.
Find the tools and workflow that work best for you and your team. Investing time in a reliable testing process helps you avoid downtime, lost revenue, and troubleshooting after the fact.
Update extensions and payment gateways
↑ Back to topFrom the WooCommerce.com Marketplace
↑ Back to topTo receive updates for extensions purchased from the WooCommerce.com Marketplace, go to WooCommerce > Extensions > WooCommerce.com Subscriptions in your WordPress admin dashboard and verify that your store is connected to your WooCommerce.com account. For details, see Managing WooCommerce.com subscriptions.
Connecting your WooCommerce.com account to your store allows you to:
- View the status of WooCommerce and your installed extensions, themes, and payment gateways.
- Filter items using the Installed, Activated, Download, and Update Available options.
- Check which extensions, themes, and payment gateways are compatible with your version of WooCommerce.
For example, the Plugin and Tested up to WooCommerce version columns might show that WooCommerce Stripe is compatible up to WooCommerce 5.0. If you have WooCommerce 5.1 or later installed, you know to verify compatibility before updating.
Note: Always test updates on a staging site before applying them to production. See Test updates on a staging site above for instructions.
From third-party developers
↑ Back to topExtensions, payment gateways, and themes not developed by the WooCommerce team come from third-party developers. Contact the third-party developer directly for support with updates and compatibility.
Third-party developers can refer to the version-check support guide for instructions on adding compatibility checks to their extensions.
WooCommerce database update notices
↑ Back to topWhen you update to a new version of WooCommerce that requires a database update, a database update notice appears in your WordPress admin dashboard. This notice contains two options:
- Update WooCommerce Database — Click this button to update your database to match the new WooCommerce version. The database stores your products, orders, posts, and pages, so this step is essential.
- (descriptive link text describing the destination) about updates — Click this link to read about best practices for updating WooCommerce, extensions, and payment gateways, including the recommended update order.
Note: Ensure you have a backup in place before clicking Update WooCommerce Database.
Once the update begins, a WooCommerce database update notice appears. Click the View progress link to open the Scheduled Actions section, where you can see the update’s pending actions.
When the update finishes, a dismissible WooCommerce database update complete message confirms the process is done.
Related resources
↑ Back to topThe following resources provide additional information on backups, security, and managing WordPress extensions:
- WordPress Backups (WordPress Codex)
- Jetpack VaultPress Backup and Jetpack Security
- Managing plugins (WordPress Codex)
Questions and support
↑ Back to topDo you still have questions and need assistance?
This documentation is about the free, core WooCommerce plugin, for which support is provided in our community forums on WordPress.org. By searching this forum, you’ll often find that your question has been asked and answered before.
If you haven’t created a WordPress.org account to use the forums, here’s how.
- If you’re looking to extend the core functionality shown here, we recommend reviewing available extensions in the WooCommerce Marketplace.
- Need ongoing advanced support or a customization built for WooCommerce? Hire a Woo Agency Partner.
- Are you a developer building your own WooCommerce integration or extension? Check our Developer Resources.
If you weren’t able to find the information you need, please use the feedback thumbs below to let us know.