How to Turn Off All WordPress Plugins from the Database

What is happening here?

A plugin is an add-on that gives your site extra features. Sometimes a plugin breaks the site. You may see a white screen or an error and be unable to log in.

WordPress keeps the list of active plugins in its database. A database is like a filing cabinet for your site's data. phpMyAdmin is a tool to open it. You reach it from cPanel, the control panel for your hosting. If you empty the list, all plugins turn off. Your plugin files and settings stay in place.

Warning: take a backup of the database first. In phpMyAdmin click Export and then Go. Also write down the old value of the row. You will need it later to see which plugins were on.

Steps

1. Log in to your client area at https://secure.hostvento.com/clientarea.php.
2. Open cPanel for your hosting service.
3. Click phpMyAdmin.
4. Click your WordPress database on the left.
5. Click the table wp_options. Your prefix may not be wp_.
6. Find the row where option_name is active_plugins. Use the Search tab if you cannot see it.
7. Click Edit on that row.
8. Copy the whole option_value text and save it in a text file.
9. Clear the box and type exactly:

   a:0:{}

10. Click Go.

The text a:0:{} means an empty list.

Next steps

1. Try to log in to your dashboard.
2. Go to Plugins. All of them show as inactive.
3. Turn on plugins one by one. Check your site after each one.
4. When the problem returns, the last plugin you turned on is the cause.
5. Delete that plugin or look for an update.

Another way without the database

In cPanel File Manager, open wp-content. Rename the plugins folder to plugins-off. WordPress then cannot find any plugin. Rename it back when done.

Quick recap

• Back up the database and save the old value.
• Set active_plugins in wp_options to a:0:{}.
• Turn on plugins one at a time to find the bad one.