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Install a WordPress plugin over FTP

Upload a plugin by hand when it is too large for the dashboard uploader, or when the dashboard is not available.

Most plugins install from Plugins → Add New. Install by hand when the dashboard uploader rejects the file for size, or when you cannot reach the dashboard at all. Applies to all shared and reseller hosting.

You need the plugin as a .zip file, and either FTP credentials or cPanel access.

Upload and extract

  1. Connect with an FTP client — FileZilla, Cyberduck and WinSCP are all suitable — or open File Manager in cPanel.
  2. Go to your site's wp-content/plugins directory. The site root is normally public_html.
  3. Upload the .zip file there.
  4. Extract it. In cPanel's File Manager, select the file and choose Extract.

Most FTP clients cannot extract archives, so if you uploaded by FTP you will still need File Manager for this step — or upload the already-extracted folder instead. Uploading an extracted folder over FTP is slower, because it transfers hundreds of small files rather than one large one, but it avoids the extra tool.

  1. Delete the .zip file once extracted. It serves no purpose and counts against your disk usage.

The result must be a folder in wp-content/plugins containing the plugin's PHP files. If extracting produced a folder containing another folder, move the inner one up a level — WordPress will not detect a plugin nested two levels deep.

Activate it

  1. Log in to the WordPress dashboard.
  2. Go to Plugins → Installed Plugins.
  3. Find the plugin and select Activate.

If the plugin does not appear

  • Check the folder structure, as above. A doubled folder is the usual cause.
  • Check permissions. Directories should be 755 and files 644. See Fix "Unable to create directory".
  • Confirm you uploaded to the right site. On an account with several domains, public_html belongs to the primary domain; addon domains have their own directories.

A better fix for the size limit

If you are doing this because the dashboard uploader rejects large files, raise the limit instead — it is a PHP setting, not a WordPress one:

upload_max_filesize = 64M
post_max_size = 64M

Set both in cPanel's MultiPHP INI Editor. post_max_size must be at least as large as upload_max_filesize, or uploads fail without a clear message.

Create a WordPress staging site with Softaculous

Clone your live site to a staging copy, test changes safely, then push the result back — and the merge choices that decide what actually moves.

Clone a WordPress site with WP Toolkit

Copy a WordPress installation to another domain or cPanel account using WP Toolkit in WHM, including Multisite networks Softaculous cannot handle.

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Upload and extractActivate itIf the plugin does not appearA better fix for the size limitRelated