Is there a way to deactivate a WordPress plugin?
The WordPress plugin handbook is made for developers along with best practices on how to deactivate a plugin vs uninstalling a plugin (remove data). Even it says: Less experienced developers sometimes make the mistake of using the deactivation hook for this purpose.
What do activation and deactivation hooks do for plugins?
Activation and deactivation hooks provide ways to perform actions when plugins are activated or deactivated. On activation, plugins can run a routine to add rewrite rules, add custom database tables, or set default option values. On deactivation, plugins can run a routine to remove temporary data such as cache and temp files and directories.
What happens when a plugin is deactivated?
On activation, plugins can run a routine to add rewrite rules, add custom database tables, or set default option values. On deactivation, plugins can run a routine to remove temporary data such as cache and temp files and directories.
Why do I have to reinstall a WordPress plugin?
The first reason is that a lot of WordPress users bounce between plugins frequently, and by leaving the tables and rows behind in your database, this retains your settings. This means that you can reinstall the plugin at a later time and all your data will still be there.
How to uninstall Polylang multilingual plugin in WordPress?
A quick click of the “Uninstall Gravity Forms” button and all the tables and data are gone. Here is another example on the Polylang multilingual plugin. You can see under their Tools section there is an option to remove all the data when using the “Delete” link.
Is there a way to remove the Wordfence plugin?
Weirdly enough Wordfence recommends you install another plugin, the Wordfence Assistant, which will help completely remove the plugin, data, and settings. As you can see below, once the plugin is installed there are options to delete the Wordfence data and tables, clear all locked out IPs, and live traffic data.