How to disable a WordPress plugin with WP-CLI

Disabling a failing WordPress plugin from the shell is often the fastest way to restore a site when wp-admin is unreachable or a plugin update breaks every request. The wp plugin deactivate command removes the plugin from the active set without needing the dashboard, which makes it a practical recovery step during incidents and remote maintenance windows.

WP-CLI resolves plugin state against the WordPress installation it boots, so the current directory, site URL, and multisite context all matter. On single-site installs the change is stored for that one site, while on multisite –url targets one site and –network deactivates a network-active plugin across the whole network.

The workflow assumes WP-CLI already works against the site and that the correct document root is known. When a broken plugin crashes during bootstrap, WP-CLI can still skip loading that plugin with –skip-plugins=plugin-slug so the deactivation command can complete, although must-use plugins are still loaded.

1. Change into the exact WordPress document root.

   $ cd /var/www/example.com/public_html

2. Confirm the command is targeting the expected site and identify the active plugin slug before changing anything.

   $ wp option get home
   https://www.example.com
   $ wp plugin list --status=active --field=name
   google-site-kit

   Use the active-plugin list to copy the exact slug instead of guessing from the plugin's display name.

   Related: How to use WP-CLI safely on a production WordPress site

3. Deactivate the plugin by slug.

   $ wp plugin deactivate google-site-kit
   Plugin 'google-site-kit' deactivated.
   Success: Deactivated 1 of 1 plugins.

   On multisite, add --url=https://site.example.com to target one site and add --network only when the plugin is network-active for the entire network.

   If the plugin crashes before the command finishes, retry with wp --skip-plugins=google-site-kit plugin deactivate google-site-kit so WP-CLI can boot without loading that plugin first.

4. Verify that the plugin now reports as inactive.

   $ wp plugin list --name=google-site-kit --field=status
   inactive

   An inactive result confirms that WordPress will stop loading that plugin on the next request.

5. Re-test the failing admin page or public URL immediately after the deactivation.

   If the site is still broken, check the remaining active plugins with wp plugin list --status=active --field=name and then inspect the current theme or any must-use plugins.