How to Hide WordPress Plugin and Theme Updates: Easy Updates Manager & Manual Code Method

Why Hide WordPress Plugin and Theme Updates?

WordPress regularly releases updates for themes and plugins to improve security, fix bugs, and introduce new features. However, in some cases, you might want to hide these updates from your dashboard. Here’s why:

• Prevent Accidental Updates – Sometimes, updates can break your website due to compatibility issues.
• Maintain Stability – If your website is running smoothly, you might not want to risk potential conflicts caused by an update.
• Control User Access – If multiple users manage your site, hiding updates can prevent unauthorized changes.
• Custom Development – If you’ve customized a plugin or theme, updating it may overwrite your modifications.

In this article, we’ll cover two effective methods to hide WordPress plugin and theme updates: using the Easy Updates Manager plugin and a manual code method.

1. Using Easy Updates Manager Plugin

The Easy Updates Manager plugin is a powerful tool that allows you to manage and disable updates for plugins, themes, and WordPress core.

Steps to Use Easy Updates Manager:

1. Install and Activate the Plugin:
   • Go to your WordPress dashboard.
   • Navigate to Plugins > Add New and search for Easy Updates Manager.
   • Click Install Now, then Activate the plugin.
2. Configure Update Settings:
   • After activation, go to Dashboard > Updates Options.
   • You can disable updates for WordPress core, plugins, and themes.
   • Choose specific plugins or themes for which you want to disable updates.
3. Save Changes and your updates will be hidden from the WordPress dashboard.

2. Manual Code Method to Hide Updates

If you prefer a code-based solution, you can disable plugin and theme update notifications by adding the following code to your theme’s functions.php file:

// Disable plugin updates
remove_action('load-update-core.php', 'wp_update_plugins');
add_filter('pre_site_transient_update_plugins', '__return_null');

// Disable theme updates
remove_action('load-update-core.php', 'wp_update_themes');
add_filter('pre_site_transient_update_themes', '__return_null');

// Hide update notifications in admin
add_action('admin_menu', function() {
    remove_submenu_page('index.php', 'update-core.php');
});

How This Works:

• Prevents update notifications from appearing in the WordPress admin dashboard.
• Removes update options from the dashboard menu to prevent users from accessing them.
• Ensures stability by stopping unintended updates that may cause conflicts.

Pros and Cons of Hiding Updates

Pros:

✅ Prevents compatibility issues from breaking the site.

✅ Ensures stability for business-critical websites.

✅ Stops users from making unintended updates.

✅ Protects customized plugins and themes from being overwritten.

Cons:

❌ Security vulnerabilities may arise if updates are ignored for too long.

❌ Some plugins may stop working if they require the latest version.

❌ Manual updates will be needed for essential security patches.

Final Thoughts

Hiding WordPress plugin and theme updates can be beneficial in certain cases, especially when you want to maintain website stability or prevent unauthorized updates. However, it’s important to manually check for security updates periodically to keep your website safe. Whether you choose Easy Updates Manager or the manual code method, make sure to use it wisely to avoid potential risks.

Would you like assistance with implementing these methods on your site? Let us know in the comments!