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How to Remove Malware From WordPress (Beginners Guide)
Security & Malware Removal
How to Remove Malware From WordPress (Beginners Guide)
If your WordPress website is hacked, injected with malicious code, redirecting users, or showing strange pop-ups, you might be dealing with malware. Don’t panic — malware removal is 100% possible even for beginners. This guide walks you through detecting, cleaning, and securing your website step-by-step.
1
How to Know If Your WordPress Site Has Malware
Common signs of infection.
Symptoms include:
- Your website redirects to spam websites
- Unknown admin users appear in dashboard
- Google flags the site as malicious
- Random pop-ups or advertisements
- Files modified without your knowledge
- Host sends malware warning
- Site becomes extremely slow or crashes
Detecting early reduces cleanup time and prevents damage.
2
Scan Your WordPress Website for Malware
Use a security plugin to find infected files quickly.
Best malware scanners:
- Wordfence Security — best free scanner
- MalCare — automatic malware detection
- iThemes Security Pro
- Sucuri SiteCheck (online scanner)
Scan your entire site — core files, plugins, themes, uploads, and database.
3
Take a Full Backup Before Cleaning
This protects your data in case something goes wrong.
Before deleting or editing infected files, create a full backup (files + database).
Recommended backup tools:
- UpdraftPlus
- All-in-One WP Migration
- BlogVault
Store the backup off-site (Google Drive, Dropbox, S3).
4
Automatically Remove Malware Using a Cleanup Plugin
Fastest and safest way for beginners.
Best auto-cleanup tools:
- MalCare — 1-click malware removal
- Sucuri — enterprise-grade malware cleanup
- Wordfence Premium
Automatic cleanup removes malware from files and database without breaking your site.
5
Manually Remove Malware (Advanced)
Useful if your scanner cannot auto-clean.
Steps to clean manually:
- Identify infected files via scanner logs
- Open each file and remove suspicious code (iframe, eval, base64, obfuscated script)
- Compare file with a clean WordPress core file
- Delete unknown PHP files inside:
- /wp-admin
- /wp-includes
- /wp-content/uploads/
- Remove infected cron jobs
- Clean infected database tables (wp_options, wp_posts, wp_users)
Manual cleanup is risky — always keep a backup.
6
Reinstall WordPress Core Files
Replaces corrupted or infected system files.
Go to Dashboard → Updates → Reinstall WordPress.
This reloads a fresh copy of WordPress without affecting your content or settings.
7
Reset All Passwords
Hackers often steal passwords after infection.
Reset passwords for:
- All WordPress users
- Hosting account
- FTP / SFTP users
- Database user
- Email accounts (if used for WP login)
8
Delete Unused Plugins and Themes
Inactive plugins can still introduce vulnerabilities.
Remove:
- Plugins you don’t use
- Outdated themes
- Nulled / cracked templates
Use only trusted sources like WordPress.org or official authors.
9
Enable Firewall to Prevent Future Malware Attacks
Firewalls block threats before they reach your site.
Recommended firewalls:
- Wordfence Firewall
- Cloudflare WAF
- MalCare Firewall
10
Harden Your WordPress to Stay Malware-Free
After cleanup, secure your website permanently.
Hardening tips:
- Enable 2FA
- Secure wp-admin
- Disable file editing
- Update plugins weekly
- Use strong passwords
- Install SSL/HTTPS
- Regular automatic backups
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