Disable WordPress plugins through phpMyAdmin

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I recently encountered some problem with my WordPress blog after updating it to version 2.8. Due to this update, the plugins also needed to be updated. So, while doing that, there was some problem and my blog wasn’t ready to open. So, I thought of disabling all the plugins and start over again.

But, my admin page was also not opening. So, I searched for methods that would disable plugins without logging in to WP-Admin.

I found out that the plugins could be disabled through phpMyAdmin.

Here are the steps to disable plugins through phpMyAdmin:

Login to phpMyAdmin:

This can be done through cPanel.

Browse to your blog’s database:

By default, you will be in Structure tab. Switch on to SQL tab, which is besides Structure tab.

Run SQL Query:

Navigate to the “active_plugins” column of the “wp_options” table using the following SQL query (edit the default WordPress table prefix “wp_” if needed):

SELECT * FROM wp_options WHERE option_name = 'active_plugins';

Once the active_plugins column appears, click to edit it. You will see something similar to the following, depending on the number and type of plugins you have installed:

a:26:{i:0;s:19:"akismet/akismet.php";i:1;s:43:"all-in-one-seo-pack/all_in_one_seo_pack.php";i:2;s:25:"blog-stats/blog-stats.php";i:3;s:14:"copyescape.php";i:4;s:31:"dd-formmailer/dd-formmailer.php";i:5;s:36:"google-sitemap-generator/sitemap.php";i:6;s:32:"login-lockdown/loginlockdown.php";i:7;s:18:"mybloglog_wp_2.php";i:8;s:33:"related-sites/RelatedWebsites.php";i:9;s:21:"sociable/sociable.php";i:10;s:23:"statpress/statpress.php";i:11;s:23:"tweetmeme/tweetmeme.php";i:12;s:27:"tweetmyblog/tweetmyblog.php";i:13;s:37:"twittercounter/ald-twittercounter.php";i:14;s:53:"what-would-seth-godin-do/what_would_seth_godin_do.php";i:15;s:17:"wp-ban/wp-ban.php";i:16;s:29:"wp-dbmanager/wp-dbmanager.php";i:17;s:21:"wp-email/wp-email.php";i:18;s:43:"wp-google-analytics/wp-google-analytics.php";i:19;s:27:"wp-imagefit/wp-imagefit.php";i:20;s:61:"wp-limit-posts-automatically/wp-limit-posts-automatically.php";i:21;s:27:"wp-pagenavi/wp-pagenavi.php";i:22;s:29:"wp-postviews/wp-postviews.php";i:23;s:33:"wp-security-scan/securityscan.php";i:24;s:21:"wp-table/wp-table.php";i:25;s:31:"wp-useronline/wp-useronline.php";}

That entire array of code represents every active plugin on your site. Thus, to quickly disable all plugins without using the WP Admin area, highlight the entire block of code, cut it out, and paste it into a safe, offline text file. After removing the code, click the button to save your changes and that’s it. All WordPress plugins are now deactivated (yet still installed, and with all plugin options intact). This obviously is a huge time-saver that really comes in handy during those mission-critical, time-sensitive situations where every second counts. Once you are ready to re-activate your entire set of plugins, simply cut/copy & paste the preserved code back into the “active_plugins” field. Click save and done. Again, don’t forget to backup your database before editing it

Alternately, here is a one-second query to disable all plugins:

UPDATE wp_options SET option_value = '' WHERE option_name = 'active_plugins';

Upon execution, this query will clear the active_plugins field of all active plugins, effectively disabling (without uninstalling or modifying) the entire set. This method is great if you plan on re-enabling each plugin individually, say, after resolving some heinous server error. Whereas the previous technique makes it easy to re-enable all plugins en masse, this query is perfect for simply “nuking” all active plugins with no remorse.

Other posts by Mahesh Kukreja

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