How to Uninstall W3 Total Cache Plugin Manually + Best Alternative Plugin
W3 Total Cache is one of the most popular cache plugins for WordPress. It’s free to use and most importantly helps to boost your site’s performance.
However, sometimes, the W3 total cache plugin causes several issues, such as 404 broken page errors, conflict with other plugins, or even website crashes. Hosting companies like WPEngine blacklisted W3 total cache plugin as it may cause various security and performance issues on your site.
If you found the W3 total cache plugin is not helpful for you or causing issues, it’s better to completely uninstall W3 total cache plugin.
It’s also important to delete the stored files that the plugin created or it may create even more issues in the future.
In this tutorial, I will show you how to properly uninstall W3 total cache plugin and also delete the stored files that the plugin created on your server. I will also show you the best alternative to W3 total cache.
How to Uninstall W3 Total Cache Plugin Manually
Step 1, Clear All the Plugin’s Caches
The first thing you need to clear all the caches. It’s very simple with the W3 total cache plugin.
Log in to your WordPress dashboard. At the top of the page, you will see the Performance button. Hover your mouse over the option and a new menu will appear.
From there, click on the “Purge All Caches” option and it will clear all the caches.
Here’s a screenshot below for more details.
Step 2, Turn Off All Caching under General Settings
From your WordPress dashboard, go to the Performance menu and then General Settings. In the general settings Disable the following options:
- Preview mode: Disable
- Page Cache: Disable
- Minify: Disable
- Database Cache: Disable
- Object Cache: Disable
- Browser Cache: Disable
- CDN: Disable
Once disabled the options, click on the Save all settings button. It will disable all the caching functionality in your site.
At the top of General Settings, you will see a message “The plugin is currently disabled“.
Step 3, Deactivate and Delete the W3 Total Cache Plugin
Now go to Plugins > Installed Plugins. Find the W3 Total Cache plugin and deactivate the plugin.
Once Deactivated, Delete this plugin.
4. Delete the W3 Total Cache Files from WP-Content (If available)
Like other cache plugins, the W3 total cache plugin also stores its data in the WP content folder.
To delete the files and folders, login to your hosting cPanel account and go to the root directory where your WordPress was installed.
Then find the WP-Content folder and delete the followings:
- W3 total-cache-config.php
- advanced-cache.php
- db.php
- w3tc-config
- and also the “cache” folder
Don’t worry if you don’t see all the files.
Step 5, Check the .htaccess file
Finally, you need to check whether the W3 Total Cache plugin’s rules are still stored in the .htaccess file. The .htaccess file can be found in the root directory.
It looks like # BEGIN W3TC [caching type]” and “# END W3TC.
If the lines are present in your .htaccess file, carefully delete them and save the file.
Done! you have successfully Uninstalled W3 Total Cache Plugin.
Now, you may be wondering what is the best W3 total cache alternative.What is the Best Alternative to W3 Total Cache?
WP Rocket is the best cache plugin for WordPress. It costs only $49 (one-time investment) and comes with many useful features that other cache plugins don’t offer.
Here’s why WP Rocket is the best cache plugin for WordPress.
Ranked #1 on Different Facebook Polls
Why I like WP Rocket:
- It’s super easy to setup
- They are the highest-rated cache plugin for WordPress
- My site speed increased
- It allows you to lazy-load images
- It allows you to limit WordPress heartbeat
- I can easily optimize WordPress database
- Very easy to integrate with a CDN
- Their customer support is awesome
- and any more. Check WP Rocket full features
If you don’t want all the awesome features that WP Rocket offers, and want a free cache plugin, then WP Fastest Cache would be a good option.
However, with any of free cache plugins, you also need to install extra speed optimization plugins such as database clean up plugin, lazy load, heartbeat control plugin.
If the W3 total cache plugin causes issues or conflicts with other plugins, it’s better to completely uninstall W3 total cache plugin. If you find this tutorial helpful, don’t forget to share it.
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