As WordPress continues to evolve, the auto-update feature was introduced as far back as version 3.7. Considering that many users are still running older WordPress themes and plugins that may trigger backend errors or frontend issues, here are a few methods for disabling WordPress auto-updates.

Method 1: Disable via wp-config.php

Add the following code to your wp-config.php file to disable WordPress auto-updates.

// Disable WordPress auto-updates
define( 'WP_AUTO_UPDATE_CORE', false );

Method 2: Set Folder Permissions to Read-Only via FTP

If you never plan to upgrade your WordPress, I suggest setting the WordPress folder to “read-only” permissions on your server. This not only disables auto-updates but also prevents WordPress system files from being infected by malicious PHP code. (For how to set folder permissions, I recommend searching Google.)