How to deactivate WordPress plugins from the database using phpMyAdmin

21.07.2023

Fozzy

In this guide, you can see the steps to deactivate a plugin/plugins from the database using phpMyAdmin.

Deactivating All Plugins in the WordPress Database

1. Log in to the control panel and go to the File Manager.
2. Find the wp-config.php file and open it for viewing, usually this file is located in the document root of the site.
3. Find the line:
define ( ‘DB_NAME’, ‘database_name’ );
where “database_name” is the name of your database, remember the name of the database.
4. Go to PHPMyAdmin and select the database you found in the previous step.
5. Select the table named wp_options and go to active_plugins, usually line 33, and click the Edit button
6. Change option_value to: 0: {} to disable all plugins.:
0: {}
7. Save changes
8. Now you can look in the WordPress admin panel and see that all plugins are deactivated

Deactivating one of the many plugins in the WordPress database

Steps 1 to 5 are the same as the instructions for disabling all plugins:

1. Log in to the control panel and go to the File Manager.
2. Find the wp-config.php file and open it for viewing, usually this file is located in the document root of the site.
3. Find the line:
define ( ‘DB_NAME’, ‘database_name’ );
where “database_name” is the name of your database, copy the database name..
4. Go to PHPMyAdmin and select the database you found in the previous step.
5. Select the table named wp_options and go to active_plugins, usually line 33, and click the Edit button.

But the following steps are different, for example, you need to deactivate the Classic editor plugin, for this:

6. Click the Edit button and you will see the following information, there are 6 active plugins in the option_value field:
a:6:{i:0;s:19:“akismet/akismet.php”;i:1;s:33:“classic-editor/classic-editor.php”;i:2;s:9:” hello.php”;i:3;s:35:“litespeed-cache/litespeed-cache.php”;i:4;s:23:“loginizer/loginizer.php”;i:5;s:47:” really-simple-ssl/rlrsssl-really-simple-ssl.php”;}
7. Now remove the “Classic Editor” plugin from option_value. And do not forget to change the active plugin number. from a:n to a:n-1, where n is the number of active plugins. For example:
a:5:{i:0;s:19:“akismet/akismet.php”;i:2;s:9:“hello.php”;i:3;s:35:“litespeed-cache/litespeed- cache.php”;i:4;s:23:“loginizer/loginizer.php”;i:5;s:47:“really-simple-ssl/rlrsssl-really-simple-ssl.php”;}
As you see the code i:1;s:33:“classic-editor/classic-editor.php”; was deleted and changed a:6:{ to a:5:{
8. You can now look in the WordPress admin panel and see that the Classic Editor plugin is deactivated.