For the health and safety of your site, we recommend creating regular backups of your site and database. This is especially important before installing, updating or removing plugins. Learn more about the benefits of regular backups here.
In this article, we explain how you can easily update your Yoast SEO plugin.
How to update a Yoast plugin using the Updates DashboardHow to update a Yoast plugin using the Plugins OverviewUpdating a Yoast plugin manually using FTPCan I update the plugin on a Staging or Development Site?Automatic updates in WordPress 5.5
How to update a Yoast plugin using the Updates Dashboard
Updating via the updates admin is the quickest way to update all plugins and themes in just a few clicks. We recommending backing up your site before running updates.
Log in to your WordPress website.When you’re logged in, you will be in your ‘Dashboard’.Click on ‘ Updates’Add a checkmark for each available Yoast plugin update.On this page, you will see all of the items that your site has identified as needing updated. Scroll down to the Plugins section and put a checkmark next to the Yoast plugins.Click ‘Update Plugins’
How to update a Yoast plugin using the Plugins Overview
We recommending backing up your site before running updates. Log in to your WordPress website. When you’re logged in, you will be in your ‘Dashboard’. Click on ‘Plugins’. On the left-hand side, you will see a menu. In that menu, you may see a number next to ‘Plugins’ in the menu. This indicates the number of updates that are available for your plugins. If you see a number, click on ‘Plugins’. Click ‘Update now’ for the Yoast plugin. Review the plugin list and look for the plugin update notification. Click ‘update now’ to begin the update process. Repeat for every plugin with an update notification.
The information below is written for advanced users. If you are not comfortable with using FTP/SFTP please contact your hosting provider, as they can help you with FTP
Updating a Yoast plugin manually using FTP
If your WordPress admin doesn’t show the available update (which might happen due to a failure to communicate with a WordPress server or if you have an older version of Yoast), if the automatic update doesn’t work or if you need to manually install the plugin for the first time, you can install or update by using File Transfer Protocol (FTP) or preferably the secure version, Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP).
Your host provider may be able to help you with FTP/SFTP. You may wish to contact them first before using the steps below. Alternatively, your host provider may have some other method to help install plugins instead of using FTP/SFTP.
Requirements for the manual update
To manually update the plugin, you must have:
Your FTP or SFTP login informationIf you do not have this information, please contact your host provider and obtain your host (or IP address), Username, Password, and Port number.An FTP or SFTP programWe use and recommend FileZilla but any FTP or SFTP program should work, including file managers provided by most web hosts.A Backup of the Site Your host provider may be able to provide a backup or have one that can be made available. You may also wish to review the plugin repository for a backup plugin that can meet your needs.
Manually updating the plugin
Now that you have the required stuff, a manual update consists of downloading, unzipping and uploading the plugin files.
Go to your My Yoast portal.Log in, if needed. Don’t have a My Yoast account? Create one using our QuickStart Guide.Click on ‘Downloads’.Downloads is located in the sidebar (desktop) or bottom (mobile).Download the plugin zip to your computer.Extract the downloaded .zip file.Upload the extracted files to your plugins folderUpload the extracted plugin folder to the wp-content/plugins folder in your WordPress directory online. The name of the extracted plugin folder should be equal to the name of the existing plugin-folder online.NOTE: Make sure you overwrite the existing plugin-files. Doing so is not expected to remove your existing SEO data or settings. It is all expected to still be saved and will work and appear after the FTP install.
Can I update the plugin on a Staging or Development Site?
To update the plugin please add your site in your My Yoast and switch the subscriptions. This guide explains more: Switching From Development Server to Live Server
Automatic updates in WordPress 5.5
WordPress 5.5 offers the possibility to enable auto-updates for your plugins. Note that, you can only enable automatic updates for Yoast SEO. Automatic updating is not possible for Yoast SEO Premium or the Yoast SEO add-ons.
If you want Yoast SEO Free to automatically update, go to your admin dashboard, click on “Plugins” in your menu, and then click “Enable auto-updates” next to Yoast SEO.
If you have Yoast SEO automatically updated, you will receive a notification on your dashboard. The notification will contain a short summary about the update and a link to the release post on yoast.com.