- How to Find the Latest Versions of PublishPress Plugins
- Changelogs for PublishPress Authors Pro
- Changelogs for PublishPress Capabilities Pro
- Changelogs for PublishPress Checklists Pro
- Changelogs for PublishPress Permissions Pro
- Changelogs for PublishPress Pro
- Changelogs for PublishPress Revisions Pro
- Changelogs for PublishPress Blocks
- Changelogs for Free PublishPress Plugins
- Changelogs for the PublishPress Theme
- The Admin Menus Screen
- Control Access to WooCommerce Admin Menus
- Control Access to Contact Form 7 Admin Menus
- Control Access to Yoast SEO Admin Menus
- Control Access to Elementor Admin Menus
- Control Access to Jetpack Admin Menus
- Control Access to WPForms Admin Menus
- Control Access to The Events Calendar Admin Menus
- Control Access to Gravity Forms Admin Menus
- Number of characters in title
- Numbers of words in content
- Number of categories
- Number of tags or taxonomy terms
- Number of characters in excerpt
- Number of internal links in content
- Number of external links in content
- All links use a valid format
- ALT Text for all images
- Featured image
- Latin characters in permalink
- Approved by a user in this role
- Yoast SEO tasks
- WooCommerce product tasks
- Featured image height and width
- Getting Started With Notifications in PublishPress
- Understanding the PublishPress Notification Options
- Get PublishPress Notifications by Email or Slack
- How to Customize PublishPress Notifications With Shortcodes
- How to Use Reminder Notifications
- Notify Me: How to Manually Add Yourself to Notifications
- The PublishPress Notifications Log
- Hooks and Filters for Notifications
- Troubleshooting Email Notifications in PublishPress
- Control Access to Custom Post Types
- Control Viewing Access to Specific Categories
- Allow Editing of Specific Pages
- Force Users to Create Posts in a Category or Parent Page
- Block Users from Seeing Non-Editable Posts
- Control Viewing Permissions for WordPress Content
- Control Editing Permissions for WordPress Content
- Block Access to WordPress Category and Tag Pages
- Configure Who Can See Other People's Posts
- Developer Information for Permission Groups
- PublishPress Permissions Database Tables and Settings
- pp_create_group()
- pp_delete_group()
- pp_get_group()
- pp_get_group_by_name()
- pp_get_metagroup
- pp_get_groups()
- pp_get_group_members()
- pp_get_groups_for_user()
- pp_add_group_user()
- pp_remove_group_user()
- pp_update_group_user()
- ppc_get_roles()
- ppc_assign_roles()
- ppc_get_exceptions()
- ppc_assign_exceptions()
- Does My Plugin Support PublishPress Revisions?
- A List of Some Plugins Supported by PublishPress Revisions
- PublishPress Revisions Pro and The Events Calendar
- PublishPress Revisions Pro and WooCommerce
- PublishPress Revisions Pro and Advanced Custom Fields
- PublishPress Revisions Pro and Beaver Builder
- PublishPress Revisions Pro and WPML
- PublishPress Revisions Pro and Custom Post Type UI
- PublishPress Revisions Pro and Yoast SEO
- PublishPress Revisions Pro and the PODS Framework
- Submit and Moderate Revisions with the Divi Theme
- Create Revisions Using an API
- Advanced Accordion Block
- Advanced Button Block
- Advanced Icon Block
- Advanced Image Block
- Advanced List Block
- Advanced Table Block
- Advanced Tabs Block
- Advanced Video Block
- Columns Manager Block
- Contact Form Block
- Count Up Block
- Images Slider Block
- Info Box Block
- Login / Register Form Block
- Map Block
- Newsletter Block
- Recent Posts Block
- Search Bar Block
- Social Links Block
- Summary Block
- Testimonial Block
- Woo Products Block
- A WordPress Editorial Workflow for Writing, Reviewing and Publishing
- A WordPress Workflow for Editing and Reviewing
- Create a Workflow for University Departments in WordPress with PublishPress
- Create a Multi-Step Workflow in WordPress
- How to Create a Publishing Workflow for Authors in WordPress
- How to Get 2 People to Approve Content in WordPress
- How to Allow WordPress Admin Area Access for WooCommerce Users
- How to Manage Permissions for WooCommerce Products
- Allow WooCommerce Users to Edit Only One Product
- How to Approve and Schedule Changes to WooCommerce Products
- WooCommerce Users Can Edit Products Only in Some Categories
- How Create WooCommerce Users Who Can Only View and Edit Products
- How to Create and Schedule Revisions for WooCommerce Products
- How to Control Who Can Duplicate WooCommerce Products
- Create WooCommerce Users Who Can Only View Reports
- How to Control Who Can Access WooCommerce Coupons
- How to Create WooCommerce Users Who Can Only View and Edit Orders
- How to Manage Permissions for WooCommerce Orders
- How to Control Permissions for WooCommerce Refunds
- How to Create Checklists with WooCommerce
- activate_plugins
- add_users
- create_users
- delete_others_pages
- delete_others_posts
- delete_pages
- delete_posts
- delete_plugins
- delete_private_pages
- delete_private_posts
- delete_published_pages
- delete_published_posts
- delete_themes
- delete_users
- edit_dashboard
- edit_others_pages
- edit_others_posts
- edit_pages
- edit_plugins
- edit_posts
- edit_private_pages
- edit_private_posts
- edit_published_pages
- edit_published_posts
- edit_theme_options
- edit_themes
- edit_users
- erase_others_personal_data
- export
- export_others_personal_data
- import
- install_plugins
- install_themes
- list_users
- manage_categories
- manage_links
- manage_options
- manage_privacy_options
- moderate_comments
- promote_users
- read
- read_private_pages
- read_private_posts
- remove_users
- switch_themes
- unfiltered_html
- unfiltered_upload
- update_core
- update_plugins
- update_themes
- upload_files
activate_plugins
- Home
- WordPress Permissions
- Permissions
- activate_plugins
What is the activate_plugins permission in WordPress?
The activate_plugins permission allows users to click “Activate” and “Deactivate” for WordPress plugins. It also gives access to the “Plugins” screen so users can see what plugins are installed.
The screenshot below shows what a WordPress user will see if they are given the activate_plugins permission. They can click “Activate” or “Deactivate”. They can also perform the same actions using the “Bulk Actions” dropdown.

Users with the activate_plugins permission can not delete, install, edit or update plugins. There are separate permissions for these actions:
However, the activate_plugins permission is an essential prerequisite for all the permissions listed above. Because activate_plugins controls access to the “Plugins” area, you need this permission for you can use any of the other plugin permissions.
Who has the activate_plugins permission?
The activate_plugins permission is available on single WordPress sites and on multisite networks.
By default, the activate_plugins permission is only given to Super Admins, and Administrators.
Users not in these roles are not allowed to activate or deactivate plugins.
Control who has the activate_plugins permission
You can control who has the activate_plugins permission by installing the PublishPress Capabilities plugin.
- After installing PublishPress Capabilities, go to “Capabilities” in your admin menu.
- Using the dropdown in the top-left corner, choose the role you want to edit.
- Check or uncheck the “activate plugins” box in the “Other WordPress Core Capabilities” area.
