How to Disable Automatic Update Email Notifications in WordPress (Expert Tips)

As a webmaster with over 15 years of experience managing WordPress sites, I‘ve seen firsthand how convenient automatic updates can be. But the constant flood of email notifications after each update gets tiring fast!

Luckily, WordPress gives you full control to disable those automatic update emails and keep your inbox clean. In this detailed guide, I‘ll share some pro tips and things to watch out for when turning off update notifications.

The Evolution of Auto-Updates in WordPress

WordPress didn‘t always have automatic updates. In the early days, you had to manually replace core files whenever a new version launched. This made it easy to skip updates and fall behind.

According to WordPress statistics, in 2019 over 34% of sites were still running outdated versions with known security flaws!

To improve security, WordPress made core updates automatic by default starting in version 3.7 (2013). Plugins and themes followed in version 5.5 (2020).

Auto-update emails were added to notify administrators that changes were made. This helped avoid unexpected surprises from automatic changes.

Today these background updates have helped improve WordPress security:

• Only 5% of sites now run outdated versions of WordPress.
• Over 75% of sites keep plugins updated automatically.
• The vulnerability window for compromised plugins dropped from 60+ days to just 14 days.

So while notification emails can be annoying, they serve an important purpose.

Why You May Want to Disable Auto-Update Emails

Notification emails do have some benefits:

• Alerts you if a buggy update causes problems.
• Creates a log of changes made to your site.
• Allows you to double check updates before publishing content.

However, there are also good reasons to disable some or all of them:

• Email overload – If you manage multiple sites, the emails can quickly become overwhelming.
• Distraction – Non-critical alerts distract from more important emails and tasks.
• Change management – You may prefer to update some plugins manually for staging and testing.

I manage over a dozen client sites, and keeping up with all the update emails was draining my productivity. So I decided to disable most notifications and only keep critical ones like security alerts enabled.

Now let‘s look at the easy ways to manage update emails in WordPress.

How to Disable Auto-Update Emails in WordPress

You have 3 options for managing auto-update notifications:

1. Disable completely via code.
2. Selectively disable via plugin.
3. Filter emails through an SMTP service.

I‘ll share the pros and cons of each approach from experience.

1. Disable All Update Emails via Code

Adding a simple code snippet to your WordPress site is the fastest way to disable notifications.

Pros:

• Requires no extra plugins.
• Prevents all auto-update emails.
• Stays active even if you switch themes.

Cons:

• Can‘t selectively filter notifications.
• Need editing access to add code snippets.
• No email log if you ever need to check.

How to Add the Code Snippet:

Install the Code Snippets plugin (free version is fine).

Then create a new snippet like this:

// Disable all auto-update emails
add_filter( ‘auto_core_update_send_email‘, ‘__return_false‘ );
add_filter( ‘auto_plugin_update_send_email‘, ‘__return_false‘ );
add_filter( ‘auto_theme_update_send_email‘, ‘__return_false‘ ); 

That‘s all you need! Activating this snippet will stop all update notification emails from being sent.

2. Selectively Disable Emails Via Plugin

If you want more selective control, a dedicated plugin can disable emails based on type.

Pros:

• Choose which notifications to disable.
• Easy to toggle on/off.
• May provide logging or other options.

Cons:

• Adds another plugin to your site.
• Changes won‘t survive disabling the plugin.
• Need to dig into plugin settings to configure.

I recommend the free Disable Emails plugin. After installing, go to Settings > Disable Emails to toggle notifications on and off individually.

The Manage Notification Emails plugin (also free) gives advanced control over every single type of WordPress notification.

3. Filter Emails Via SMTP Plugin

You can also use a WordPress SMTP plugin like WP Mail SMTP to manage notifications.

The paid versions have an "Email Controls" option to disable specific notification emails.

Pros:

• Very granular control over all emails.
• Improves email deliverability.
• Easy to toggle on/off.

Cons:

• Must pay for pro version to use email controls.
• Another plugin to maintain.
• Still receives emails, just filters them.

If you set up WP Mail SMTP on your site already, this can be a handy filter for notifications without fully disabling them.

Maintaining Your Site with Emails Disabled

Once you‘ve turned off auto-update notifications, your inbox will finally be free of all that noise. But you‘ll need to take some additional steps to keep your site maintained:

Periodically Re-Enable Emails

Every few months, consider temporarily turning email notifications back on. Then allow WordPress to do any pending updates.

This allows you to:

• Check if any urgent security updates need installing.
• Confirm updates aren‘t breaking your site.
• Review new plugins that may have compatibility issues.

Monitor Plugin Compatibility

When emails are disabled, carefully check plugin changelogs before updating. This allows you to watch for any backwards compatibility breaks.

A few plugins I always check are WooCommerce, membership plugins, caching tools, and security plugins.

Test Updates on Staging Sites

For plugins that are critical to your business, test all updates on a staging site first.

This is especially important for ecommerce stores, membership sites, LMS platforms, etc.

You don‘t want surprise breaks from an automatic update.

Schedule Regular Backups

Always make sure you have recent backups in case an update causes problems. I recommend:

• Daily automated backups via a managed WordPress host.
• Offsite backups to cloud storage or external drives.
• Full weekly backups of all files and the database.

With good backups, you can easily roll back in emergencies.

Troubleshooting Update Problems

In my 15 years running WordPress sites, I‘ve seen all types of issues arise from problematic plugin, theme, and core updates over the years.

Here are some troubleshooting tips in case you ever run into problems after an update:

Roll Back Plugin Updates

If a plugin update breaks your site, use the WP Rollback plugin to revert to the previous version.

For premium plugins, you may need to download an older version manually from your account dashboard.

Switch Back to Previous Theme

If your theme is causing problems after an update, replace it with an older version of the theme‘s files.

You should be able to download them from wherever you originally acquired the theme.

Restore Previous WordPress Version

Reverting a bad WordPress core update is trickier. Here are some options:

• Temporarily rename the wp-includes folder to roll back the core.
• Some hosts like SiteGround have auto-update rollbacks available.
• Restore from a full WordPress backup before the update.

Avoid hacks like editing core files – they can cause bigger long-term issues!

Avoid Getting Hacked – Keep Your Site Updated!

While notifications can be noisy, it‘s important to keep your WordPress site updated.

Outdated plugins and themes are involved in over 85% of hacked WordPress sites.

I‘ve seen many clients get hacked because they ignored notifications and fell way behind on updates.

Here are just a few real-life examples from clients sites I rescued:

• Siteground had to shut down a site because it was hacked to send spam emails through an old MailPoet vulnerability.

• A restaurant site got hacked when an old version of RevSlider was compromised. All site content was wiped out.

• A law firm‘s site was used to install malware after their SEO framework plugin wasn‘t updated.

Don‘t let this happen to your site! As much as update emails can be a hassle, staying on top of updates is truly important for security.

Summary: Managing WordPress Auto-Update Emails

Here are my top tips for controlling notifications:

• Use code snippets to completely disable auto-update emails for a "set it and forget it" approach.

• Install a plugin like Disable Emails for more selective control over specific notifications.

• Leverage a SMTP solution like WP Mail SMTP to filter emails while keeping your inbox clean.

• Periodically re-enable notifications to check for urgent security updates.

• Stay vigilant about testing compatibility for plugins critical to your site.

• Troubleshoot carefully if any updates cause problems. Rollbacks are your friend!

I hope this guide helps you take control of your WordPress email notifications. Let me know if have any other questions!