Two Ways to Disable the WordPress Update Notifications in the Dashboard

While it is important to keep WordPress updated to the current version there may be times when you want to control when the updates occur.

For example, if you do site maintenance for clients, you may want to do the updates on your own schedule after making a full back-up and not run the risk of the client clicking the update button before you are ready. You may also want to do some research about plugin compatibility before upgrading. Some people see the update button and are compelled to click the button – they just can’t resist.

So, there may be good reasons for you to disable the update notifications. Here are two ways that you can do this.

Disable automatic updates with a function

The following function will remove the WordPress update notification. Add this to Appearance > Editor > functions.php. As always, make a backup of the file before editing it.

add_action('admin_menu','wphidenag');
function wphidenag() {
remove_action( 'admin_notices', 'update_nag', 3 );
}

via wpbeginner

Disable automatic updates with a plugin

You can also disable automatic updates with the Disable WordPress Core Updates plugin. Once the plugin is installed and activated, the update notification will no longer be available.

Not updating WordPress regularly is a terrible idea but there are good reasons for not wanting the update notifications to be available. This is usually when working with client sites.

If you would like assistance setting this up on your own site or other customizations, please contact me.

photo credit: smoorenburg