What Version of WordPress Do I Have? How to Easily Check Your WordPress Version in 2024
Do you need to know which version of WordPress your website is running? Whether you‘re troubleshooting an issue, checking compatibility with a new plugin or theme, or just staying on top of important updates – quickly finding your current WordPress version number is an essential skill for any website owner.
In this guide, we‘ll walk you through multiple easy ways to check which WordPress version you have in 2024. We‘ll cover methods for logged-in admin users as well as how to detect the WordPress version of any website, even if you don‘t have admin access.
By the end, you‘ll know exactly what version of WordPress you have and how to use that information to keep your site secure and running smoothly. Let‘s dive in!
Why It‘s Important to Know Your WordPress Version
With WordPress powering over 40% of websites on the internet, it‘s crucial to stay up-to-date with the latest version. Each major WordPress release includes new features, performance improvements, and most importantly – security fixes.
Knowing which version of WordPress your site is currently running allows you to:
- Ensure you have the latest security patches and aren‘t vulnerable to known threats
- Check compatibility before installing a new plugin, theme, or custom code
- Troubleshoot issues by checking the WordPress Releases category to see if it‘s a known bug
- Get the right help in support forums by sharing details about your WordPress environment
Keeping your site updated with the latest WordPress version, plugins, and themes is one of the most basic and important WordPress security best practices. But you have to know what version you‘re starting with to determine if updates are needed.
How to Check Your WordPress Version in the Admin Dashboard
For logged-in WordPress administrators, finding your current WordPress version number is easy. Here are a few places to quickly check right from your WordPress dashboard:
Method 1: Check WordPress Version in the Footer
The simplest way to find your WordPress version is to log into your admin dashboard and scroll down to the bottom of the page. In the footer, you‘ll see a line that says "Thank you for creating with WordPress" followed by the version number.
This footer text is shown on all admin pages, so you can quickly find your WordPress version no matter where you are in the back-end of your site.
Method 2: View WordPress Version from the At a Glance Widget
On the main Dashboard page, you‘ll also find an At a Glance widget that shows an overview of your WordPress site. This includes the current WordPress version number.
Note that your At a Glance stats may look different based on which other elements you‘re displaying. To customize this widget, click the Screen Options tab at the top of the Dashboard and check the boxes for the information you want to include.
Method 3: Find WordPress Version in the Site Health Tool
WordPress comes with a built-in Site Health tool under the Tools menu that assesses your site‘s performance and security. In addition to the status report, this tool provides a wealth of information about your WordPress configuration – including the current version number.
From your WordPress dashboard, go to Tools > Site Health. Then click the Info tab at the top of the page.
Under the WordPress section, you‘ll see your current version listed. This page also provides details on your PHP version, database, web server, and other key components of your WordPress environment.
Method 4: View the WordPress Version from the Updates Page
If a new WordPress version is available, you can see your current version and the update on the Updates page. In your WordPress dashboard, go to Dashboard > Updates to view your WordPress version and available updates.
Here you can initiate the update to the latest WordPress version in one click. Make sure to always create a complete WordPress backup before updating your WordPress version or any plugins and themes.
How to Check the WordPress Version for Any Website
What if you want to know the WordPress version of a website you don‘t own or control? While some site owners hide their WordPress version number publicly as a security measure, in many cases it‘s still possible to detect the version from the front-end of the site. Here‘s how:
Method 1: View the WordPress Version in the Site‘s Source Code
Many WordPress sites include a meta generator tag in the head of the site‘s HTML that specifies the current WordPress version. To check for this, visit the website in any browser, right-click on the page and select View Page Source (Chrome) or View Source (Firefox).
In the source code, use Ctrl+F or Cmd+F to search for "generator". If the meta generator tag is present, you‘ll see a line like this:
The number following "WordPress" is the current version the site is running. Note that security-conscious WordPress site owners often remove this tag, so you may not find it on every site.
Method 2: Check the WordPress Version in the Site‘s RSS Feed
WordPress automatically generates an RSS feed for a site‘s posts that is typically available at domain.com/feed. Visit this URL and view the source code of the feed page. Look for a line like this at the top of the file:
https://wordpress.org/?v=6.2.2
This generator tag also reveals the current WordPress version number powering the site.
Method 3: Detect the WordPress Version from Site URLs
Did you know that WordPress often appends a version number to the end of internal script and stylesheet URLs? While intended to help with caching and performance, these version parameters can also be used to determine the WordPress version a site is running.
In your browser, view the source code of the site‘s homepage or any other page. Look for WordPress script and stylesheet file paths that include a query string starting with "?ver=".
For example:
In this case, you can see the site is using WordPress 6.2.2 and the jQuery library version 3.6.4 that ships with WordPress core.
To get an even more complete picture of the WordPress version and included files, try viewing the source code of the site‘s login page which is typically available at domain.com/wp-login.php.
Checking WordPress Plugin and Theme Versions
In addition to your WordPress version, it‘s also important to keep your plugins and themes updated to patch security vulnerabilities and ensure compatibility. Reputable WordPress plugin and theme developers maintain a changelog and release notes detailing the changes in each new version.
To manually check the versions of your plugins and themes, go to the Plugins or Appearance page in your WordPress dashboard. The version number for each installed plugin and theme will be listed under the name.
[Screenshot of Plugins page with versions]It‘s a good habit to regularly view the available updates for your plugins and themes and apply them in a staging environment before updating your live site.
You can also automate WordPress updates or manage them remotely for multiple sites using tools like iThemes Sync. Services like ManageWP even offer a Safe Updates feature that automatically creates a restore point before updating WordPress.
Why Some Sites Hide WordPress Version Information
In our examples above, we looked at ways to find a site‘s WordPress version number in the source code, RSS feed, and versioned file paths. However, you may come across sites where this information has been intentionally hidden or obscured.
Some WordPress site owners remove the meta generator tag, version parameters, and other identifying information as a security hardening step. The idea is that if a hacker doesn‘t know which specific WordPress version a site is running, it will be more difficult for them to exploit known vulnerabilities in that version.
However, the WordPress core team argues that hiding the WordPress version number publicly "is not a security measure". WordPress has a well-defined security release process and many vulnerabilities are disclosed before a patch is available.
"Remember, the bad guys can still figure out the version you are running in other ways." – WordPress Codex
Whether or not you choose to hide your WordPress version, keeping your WordPress site updated is one of the most important factors in keeping your site secure. Regularly monitoring your site for indicators of compromise and proactively protecting your admin dashboard are also essential security steps.
Conclusion
Knowing your current WordPress version is crucial for maintaining a healthy, secure, and high-performing website. By checking your WordPress version in the admin dashboard, you can ensure you‘re running the latest release and are ready to update when new versions become available.
For site owners and developers, being able to detect the WordPress version of any site is a valuable troubleshooting skill. By viewing the source code and RSS feed of a WordPress site, you can usually determine the current WordPress version even without admin access.
Staying on top of the latest WordPress version and keeping plugins and themes updated will help protect your site against security vulnerabilities. While hiding the WordPress version publicly may reduce the risk of automated exploits, it‘s not a substitute for a comprehensive WordPress security strategy that includes firewalls, malware scanning, SSL, backups, and safe updating practices.
Now that you know how to check your WordPress version in 2024, you have the information you need to keep your site updated and secure going forward. Make a plan to regularly monitor your WordPress version, plugins, and themes to ensure peak performance and protection against the latest threats.
