If you have websites build on top of WordPress then I am sure you must have searched or looked for the answer whether any inactive plugin will make your site slow or not. One of the benefits of having WordPress based blog or website is that you have thousands and thousands of plugins which makes your job much easier and simpler, even if you are new to WordPress and don’t have any knowledge about coding or so on, then also you have plugins to make your job much easier.
As told earlier, there are lots of plugins for different works, and over the period of time you might end up installing lots of plugins and you might not be using all of them and some of them may be inactive and you are no longer using them at all.
Does Inactive Plugins Affect Loading Time?
So does these inactive plugins affect the loading time of your wesbites, does these inactive plugins make your site slow, this is one of the most frequently asked question over WordPress forums.
Well a simple answer is NO, nope, inactive plugin does not affect your site loading time and they are not the reason for your sites slow loading time.
Let’s try to crack this in detail:-
When you request a website or we can say WordPress based website in your web browser, then website send some files to your browser so that it can render and display contents to you, WordPress never send any files from any inactive plugin, which means no file is being loaded from inactive plugins and end result is, it’s not making your site slow.
You can take these inactive plugins as extra contents which WordPress throw in a store room or garage, and it will use them only when you ask for it, means when you activate them.
WordPress loads these plugins only when you open up your Plugin page, even then also it only loads header of those plugins to display its information.
Should I Delete Those Inactive Plugins?
Well answer to this question is very simple, if you have downloaded and installed any plugin to try out something and it didn’t work, then simply delete that plugin without any second thought.
If you have uninstalled plugin for some time or due to any reason like you might be trying out something else or so on and soon you will be back to that plugin, then keep it, no need to delete that plugin as when you deactivate any plugin, WordPress still keeps its setting with it so that when you activate it again, you will have as it is settings back.
Any Risk Involved In Keeping Inactive Plugins?
Yes, some time attackers might use those plugins to attack your websites as even those are inactive, but they have got files which can get infected, another thing is that even if you are not using those plugins, WordPress keep showing you updates for those plugins which are annoying.
As a security measure, you should delete inactive plugins if you are not planning to use it in near future, else keep it with you.
So now we know none of the inactive plugins make your site slow, if your website is not loading fine, then you should look for other reasons.
