Disable Plugins and Change Theme from phpMyAdmin

Updated date: Updated Apr 2, 2026

Key Takeaways

Deactivating plugins and changing themes from phpMyAdmin can help regain access to the WP Admin dashboard. This method is useful when errors prevent dashboard access.
To disable plugins from phpMyAdmin, locate the active_plugins row in the wp_options table and delete its content. This action resets the site to a default state.
Changing themes from phpMyAdmin involves modifying the template and stylesheet rows in the wp_options table with a new theme name. Ensure the new theme is installed on the site.
Troubleshoot errors with WP Engine error logs for further assistance.

Deactivating plugins and changing themes is typically done easily from the WP Admin dashboard. However, if an error prevents access to the wp-admin dashboard, plugins and theme can be disabled from the database instead.

This is often helpful if a plugin or theme is causing the site to not load, by resetting the site to a more default state to regain wp-admin access.

Disable Plugins from phpMyAdmin

Log in to the User Portal
Select the environment name
Click phpMyAdmin at the top
Select the database name (typically wp_environmentname)
Select the wp_options table
- Take into account any custom database prefix, where wp_ may be replaced with something else.
Locate the row called active_plugins

Delete everything in the option_value column on this row
Press Enter or Return on the keyboard to save

Change Theme from phpMyAdmin

Log in to the User Portal
Select the environment name
Click phpMyAdmin

Select the database name (typically wp_environmentname)
Select the wp_options table
- Take into account any custom database prefix, where wp_ may be replaced with something else.
Locate the rows called template and stylesheet