Plugins are the add-ons that give your site extra abilities — a contact form, a shop, a photo gallery. You can switch any of them on or off from one screen, and switching one off leaves it installed and ready for next time.

## Before you start

- An administrator account on your site — only admins can switch plugins on and off.
- The plugin already installed. This guide covers switching plugins on and off, not adding new ones.

## Steps

### Step 1: Turn a plugin on

In the left-hand menu, click **Plugins**. Find the plugin you want and click **Activate** underneath its name. The page reloads with a **Plugin activated** message at the top and the row turns blue, so you can see at a glance that it's running.

![Turn a plugin on](https://wordpress.supportpages.io/rails/active_storage/blobs/proxy/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsiZGF0YSI6MTA0MzMsInB1ciI6ImJsb2JfaWQifX0=--9139cb5b8c90d0afcce3783352e152457c38e805/block_turn-on-a-plugin.png)

### Step 2: Turn a plugin off

Click **Deactivate** underneath the name of a plugin that's running. You'll see a **Plugin deactivated** message and the row goes back to its usual colour. The plugin stops working immediately, but nothing is removed — click **Activate** whenever you want it back.

![Turn a plugin off](https://wordpress.supportpages.io/rails/active_storage/blobs/proxy/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsiZGF0YSI6MTA0MzIsInB1ciI6ImJsb2JfaWQifX0=--a5e0eb51d476567b4fd44b7bb2df9fd4274a2017/block_turn-off-a-plugin.png)

## Tips

- Switching a plugin off is always safe to try. Its settings are kept, so turning it back on restores things the way they were.
- If your site starts behaving oddly and you're not sure which plugin is behind it, switch them all off, then switch them back on one at a time until the problem returns.
- The plugins list shows every plugin you have, with the ones that are running marked Active and the rest marked Inactive.

## Summary

**Activate** switches a plugin on, **Deactivate** switches it off, and neither one removes it from your site. You can go back and forth as often as you need.