How Can I Deactivate All WordPress Plugins At Once?

To deactivate all WordPress plugins at once without touching each one individually, rename the /wp-content/plugins folder to /wp-content/plugins_temp via FTP or your hosting File Manager, then create an empty /wp-content/plugins folder in its place. WordPress will not find any plugins and all of them are deactivated instantly. Rename the folder back when you are done and all plugins reactivate with their original settings preserved. This is the safest way to troubleshoot plugin conflicts, recover from a fatal error, or isolate which plugin is causing an issue without losing any data or configurations.

Why This Technique Is Safer Than Deactivating One-by-One

When you deactivate plugins individually through the WordPress admin (Plugins > Deactivate), WordPress writes each deactivation to the database. If you are locked out of the admin because a plugin caused a fatal error, you cannot access the deactivate button. And if you deactivate 20 plugins one by one, you have to remember the original state to reactivate them correctly.

The FTP folder rename approach solves all three problems:

Works when you are locked out. You do not need admin access. Any method that gets you file system access (FTP, SFTP, cPanel File Manager, SSH, hosting control panel) works.

Preserves all plugin settings. Plugins are only “deactivated” because WordPress cannot find them. All their database settings, options, and stored data remain untouched. When you rename the folder back, every plugin reactivates with its configuration intact.

Reversible in seconds. One folder rename turns all plugins off. Another folder rename turns all plugins back on. No mass-activation required.

Deactivate All Plugins At Once

You need FTP, SFTP, cPanel File Manager, or any other method that lets you access your site’s files.

Connect to your site via FTP or open the File Manager in your hosting panel.
Navigate to /wp-content/.
Rename /wp-content/plugins to /wp-content/plugins_temp.
Create a new empty folder named /wp-content/plugins.

All plugins are now deactivated. You can access WordPress normally, and the site runs with zero plugins active.

Important: During this process, do not open the Plugins tab in your WordPress dashboard. WordPress will detect that the plugin files are missing and permanently mark them as deactivated in the database. If that happens, renaming the folder back will not auto-reactivate them, you will have to reactivate each one manually through the admin.

Reactivate All Plugins

Delete the empty /wp-content/plugins folder you created.
Rename /wp-content/plugins_temp back to /wp-content/plugins.

All plugins reactivate with their original settings preserved. WordPress sees the original folder with all the plugin files back in place and continues running them exactly as before.

Test Only One Plugin At a Time

To isolate a plugin conflict, activate one plugin at a time instead of all at once. This is the standard troubleshooting pattern: run the site with zero plugins, then add them back one by one until the issue reappears. The plugin you just added is the culprit.

Rename /wp-content/plugins to /wp-content/plugins_temp.
Create a new empty folder named /wp-content/plugins.
Copy the plugin folder you want to test from /wp-content/plugins_temp/ into /wp-content/plugins/. Example: copy /wp-content/plugins_temp/hide-my-wp/ into /wp-content/plugins/hide-my-wp/.
Test the site. If the issue reappears, that plugin is the cause. If not, copy the next plugin across and test again.
When you are done, delete the temporary /wp-content/plugins folder and rename plugins_temp back to plugins.

Copy one plugin at a time and check the site between each. This narrows down the conflict without having to deactivate 20 plugins and reactivate them in groups.

When to Use This Technique

Situation	Use This Technique?
Site shows “Error establishing a database connection” or white screen of death	Yes, start here before anything else
Locked out of WordPress admin after a plugin update	Yes, this bypasses the admin entirely
Need to isolate which plugin is causing a conflict	Yes, use the “test one plugin” method
Troubleshooting a compatibility issue between two plugins	Yes, activate both in isolation, then together
Site is slow and you want to identify a resource-hungry plugin	Yes, activate plugins individually and check performance
You want to simply temporarily disable one plugin and admin is accessible	No, use Plugins > Deactivate in the admin instead

If You Are Troubleshooting a WP Ghost Issue

WP Ghost has three built-in recovery options that are often easier than the FTP rename technique for WP Ghost-specific issues:

Safe URL: append a special parameter to any URL to temporarily bypass WP Ghost for that one request. Great for testing whether a problem is caused by WP Ghost or something else.

Pause 5 Minutes: from the WordPress Plugins page, click Pause 5 Minutes next to WP Ghost. All WP Ghost features deactivate for 5 minutes, then automatically reactivate.

Rollback to defaults: reset all WP Ghost settings back to defaults without losing data.

Full walkthrough in the Rollback Settings guide. If you cannot access the dashboard at all, see the emergency disable guide, or use the FTP rename method described above (WP Ghost’s plugin folder is /wp-content/plugins/hide-my-wp/).

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I deactivate all WordPress plugins at once?

Rename /wp-content/plugins to /wp-content/plugins_temp via FTP or File Manager, then create an empty /wp-content/plugins folder. WordPress deactivates all plugins instantly because it cannot find them. Rename the folder back to reactivate all of them with settings preserved. Do not open the Plugins tab in WordPress while the folder is renamed, or WordPress will permanently mark the plugins as deactivated in the database.

Will I lose my plugin settings?

No. Plugin settings are stored in the WordPress database, not in the plugin folder. Renaming the folder only hides the plugin files from WordPress temporarily. When you rename the folder back, all plugins reactivate with their original settings, options, and stored data intact.

Will my site break when all plugins are deactivated?

Your site will still load, but any functionality provided by plugins will be gone. Contact forms, e-commerce, caching, SEO features, membership features, etc. will all stop working until plugins are reactivated. For a brief troubleshooting session, this is usually fine. For longer tests, consider using a staging site instead of your live site.

Can I do this without FTP access?

Yes, any file system access works. Most hosting panels include a File Manager (cPanel, Plesk, DirectAdmin, hPanel) that lets you rename folders through a web interface without FTP software. SSH access also works if you are comfortable with the command line. The technique is the same, only the tool differs.

How do I test one plugin at a time?

After renaming plugins to plugins_temp and creating an empty plugins folder, copy just one plugin folder from plugins_temp into the empty plugins folder. Test the site. If the issue reappears, that plugin is the problem. If not, copy the next plugin and test again. This isolates exactly which plugin causes the issue.

What if I accidentally opened the Plugins tab while plugins were renamed?

WordPress detected missing files and marked each plugin as “deactivated” in the database. Renaming the folder back will not auto-reactivate them, but your plugin files and all plugin settings are still there. Just go to Plugins in the WordPress admin and click Activate on each plugin. Settings are preserved, only the activation state was reset.

Does this work for troubleshooting WP Ghost specifically?

Yes, but WP Ghost has easier recovery options first. Try the Safe URL to bypass WP Ghost for a single request, or Pause 5 Minutes from the Plugins screen. If those do not help or you cannot access the admin at all, the FTP folder rename method works (WP Ghost’s folder is /wp-content/plugins/hide-my-wp/). See the emergency disable guide for WP Ghost-specific recovery steps.

Is there a command-line way to do this?

Yes. If you have SSH access: mv wp-content/plugins wp-content/plugins_temp && mkdir wp-content/plugins. To reactivate: rmdir wp-content/plugins && mv wp-content/plugins_temp wp-content/plugins. WP-CLI users can also run wp plugin deactivate --all to achieve the same effect through the database.