How to Check PHP Version in WordPress Without Plugin?

There are different ways to check the PHP version being used by a WordPress installation. Most of them rely on WordPress plugins like Display PHP Version.

As we know, having too many plugins on our WordPress site heavily impacts the website’s performance. It might also expose the entire website to security issues or plugin incompatibilities.

There is an easy and straightforward method to check the PHP version in WordPress without plugins. By just accessing the default admin panel and without any extra add-ons or technical skills.

In this article, we will find step-by-step how to check PHP version in WordPress without a plugin.

Before getting into our article, it’s worth noting that both WordPress and PHP keep publishing updates on a regular basis. PHP updates usually take care of fixing bugs and handling security vulnerabilities. Likewise, WordPress continuously works on updating its software to ensure full compatibility with the latest PHP versions.

It’s very important for WordPress users to keep checking their PHP version to ensure it’s still supported, up-to-date and compatible with the used WordPress version.

To check the compatibility of your WordPress with PHP, please refer to our detailed compatibility guide.

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The 5 easy steps to check the PHP version in WordPress without any plugins:

1. Log In to WordPress Admin Panel

The very first step is to enter your WordPress admin panel. Usually, you can access it by typing /wp-admin or /wp-login.php suffix after your domain name in the web browser (unless you have modified it by a security plugin).

The URL should look like this:

https://your-domain-name/wp-admin
or
https://your-domain-name/wp-login.php

When the login interface shows up, enter your Username/Email and Password. Then, hit the Log In button. If you forgot your login credentials, you might use the Lost your password? link to restore them.

2. Navigate to Site Health Screen

After you logged in successfully to your admin control panel, you have to navigate to the website Site Health. To do so, you can choose one of the following two easy ways:

From the Dashboard page:

First, go to the Dashboard page by clicking on the Dashboard link at the top of the main navigation sidebar. Usually, you will be automatically redirected to this page when you log in to your admin control panel.

If you have the Site Health Status widget displayed on the Dashboard page, you can directly access the Site Health by clicking on Site Health screen.

If you couldn’t find the Site Health widget displayed on your dashboard, you can easily show it by expanding the Screen Options tab right below the top Navigation Bar. Then, check the box next to Site Health Status.

From the Tools menu:

Another method to access the Site Health screen is to navigate to Tools menu on the navigation sidebar. Then click on Site Health.

3. Navigate to Info Tab

When the Site Health page is displayed, you have to navigate to Info tab next to the selected Status tab.

The Info tab is rich in many details related to the WordPress installation on the server, such as WordPress version details, directories and their size, themes and plugins, media configurations, as well as server and database details.

4. Navigate to Server Section

Within the Info tab, scroll down and navigate to the Server section. Then expand it by clicking on the small arrow next to it to show all server details.

5. Find WordPress PHP Version

The Server section shows all server specifications where WordPress is installed and running. Among them, you will find the PHP version being used next to PHP version label.