Title: Changing PHP version
Last modified: April 25, 2021

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# Changing PHP version

 *  [1fatbear](https://wordpress.org/support/users/1fatbear/)
 * (@1fatbear)
 * [5 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/changing-php-version-2/)
 * My ISP sent out an email to everyone saying that they were eliminating all of
   the earlier versions of PHP and would only be using PHP 7.4. I looked at my WP
   admin site and the only place I could find that says what version I am currently
   at is in the Site Health. It says:
 * > Your site is running an older version of PHP (7.2.25), which should be updated
 * I logged in to my ISP’s control panel and opened their “PHP Manager”. It listed
   PHP 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 and I chose 7.4.
 * Then I looked at the WP Site Health again and it still said 7.2.25.
 * I found some instructions from WP support which said to backup and then upgrade
   my site, themes, and plugins to the latest. They were already at the latest, 
   but I clicked the re-install version 5.7.1 button.
 * After that was done I checked the Site Health again and it still says
 * > Your site is running an older version of PHP (7.2.25), which should be updated
 * I double-checked on the ISP’s control panel and confirmed that I do have PHP 
   7.4 set as the version I wish to use.
 * Any idea what I’m doing wrong?
 * Thanks.
 * The page I need help with: _[[log in](https://login.wordpress.org/?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fwordpress.org%2Fsupport%2Ftopic%2Fchanging-php-version-2%2F%3Foutput_format%3Dmd&locale=en_US)
   to see the link]_

Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)

 *  [George Appiah](https://wordpress.org/support/users/gappiah/)
 * (@gappiah)
 * [5 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/changing-php-version-2/#post-14363274)
 * First, let’s note that WordPress does not have control over the version of PHP
   it runs. It merely uses whatever is loaded by your web server software (Apache,
   Nginx, IIS, etc). So any PHP upgrade can only happen on your server, there’s 
   nothing to upgrade from WordPress’s perspective as far as PHP is concerned.
 * One of two things could be happing with your case. Either:
 * 1) Site Health is misreporting the version of PHP you’re running, OR
 * 2) Even though you’ve set your account to use 7.4, version 7.2.25 may still be
   the loaded version (a custom configuration file may be pointing to the older 
   version, or some environments, especially private servers, may require a reload/
   restart of the web server software for the new version of PHP to be loaded).
 * Let’s find out:
    1. Create a new blank file named `test.php` in the root of your WordPress site (
       the same place where you have **wp-content**, **wp-admin**, and **wp-includes**
       folders and several **wp-** files)
    2. Open to EDIT the blank `test.php` file, drop in this single line of code, save
       and close the file: `<?php phpinfo(); ?>`
    3. Open the file’s URL in your browser ([http://example.com/test.php](http://example.com/test.php)).
       If all went well, you should see a page like shown below, with the version of
       PHP loaded by your webserver at the very top.
 * **PS: Delete the `test.php` file after this test.**
 * If the test shows you’re running PHP 7.4, then Site Health is simply misreporting
   and will eventually sort itself out. Nothing to do again.
 * But if the test shows 7.2.25, then Site Health is right, and your site is indeed
   running this version of PHP. You’ll need to work with your ISP to ensure your
   site is running the correct version of PHP you’ve set in the ISP’s control panel.
 * ![](https://i0.wp.com/i.snipboard.io/cgyAn0.jpg?ssl=1)
 *  Thread Starter [1fatbear](https://wordpress.org/support/users/1fatbear/)
 * (@1fatbear)
 * [5 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/changing-php-version-2/#post-14363351)
 * I will do that.
    Thank you very much!

Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)

The topic ‘Changing PHP version’ is closed to new replies.

 * In: [Fixing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting/)
 * 2 replies
 * 2 participants
 * Last reply from: [1fatbear](https://wordpress.org/support/users/1fatbear/)
 * Last activity: [5 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/changing-php-version-2/#post-14363351)
 * Status: not resolved

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