Update Your PHP Version

PHP is the most popular server-side scripting language, powering millions of websites including yours. If you arrived at this page from a notice in your theme, your server is running an outdated and unmaintained version of PHP. This affects your website's performance, may cause unexpected issues, and exposes you to potential security vulnerabilities.

What is PHP?

PHP is the scripting language that powers your WordPress website. Like all software, PHP gets updated over time to patch security issues and improve performance. Keeping your PHP version up to date is just as important as keeping WordPress and your themes updated.

How to Update Your PHP Version

In most cases you cannot update PHP yourself — you need to contact your host. The upgrade is a straightforward process that should not impact your website or cost you anything extra. Here is a template you can send to your hosting company:

Dear host,

I'm running a WordPress website on one of your servers and my WordPress theme recommends using at least PHP 8.0. WordPress lists PHP 8.0+ as the recommended version on their requirements page: https://wordpress.org/about/requirements/

Can you please let me know if my hosting supports PHP 8.0 or higher and how I can upgrade?

Looking forward to your reply.

My Host Doesn't Support PHP 8.0

If your host doesn't support PHP 8.0 or higher, we recommend switching to a host that does. See our list of recommended web hosts. When contacting a new host, always ask which PHP version your website will run on before purchasing.

More Information

• PHP unsupported versions and end-of-life dates
• WordPress hosting solutions
• WPupdatePHP — a PHP library for plugin developers