How to Disable WordPress Plugins from the Database
You can disable all WordPress plugins directly from your database. Alternatively you can disable all plugins from File Manager. This is useful when you have problems with your WordPress installation, such as not being able to log in to the admin dashboard, or having blank pages on the website.
If you don’t know which is the database used by your WordPress website, you can check the DB_NAME variable in the WordPress configuration file – wp-config.php. This file is usually located in the document root directory of your application and can be opened via the File Manager.
To disable all plugins, go to phpMyAdmin and select your WordPress database from the menu on the left. Then find and select the _options table. Note that the prefix could be different as it is set during the initial WordPress installation.
Inside the table find the option active_plugins. You can use the Number of rows: drop down menu to see more rows per page (250 should be enough) and the Filter rows: field to search the current page for the option name.
Click the pencil icon to edit the table. Its content will vary, depending on what plugins you have enabled. For example, if you have the Akismet and Hello Dolly plugins enabled, the code there will be:
a:2:{i:0;s:19:”akismet/akismet.php”;i:1;s:9:”hello.php”;}
To disable all plugins, replace the code with the following:
a:0:{}
Note that this table may have a different prefix instead of wp_. You will see the correct prefix of the database once you access the phpMyAdmin tool and select the WordPress database.
Disabling the plugins in this way will not delete them from your WordPress application. They will simply be deactivated. You can easily activate them from your WordPress admin area at any time.
