How to Fix a Slow Admin Backend on WordPress

There are many tasks associated with effective WordPress management. You need to update plugins, moderate comments, publish new content, and more. But a slow admin backend makes it challenging (and frustrating) to manage your WordPress website.

There are various ways to optimize your admin backend to make it much faster to navigate and utilize the dashboard. You might need to switch web hosts, update your PHP version, clean up the WordPress database, or something else.

In this post, we’ll list some common causes of a slow admin backend. Then, we’ll discuss the top solutions and answer any questions you might have. Let’s jump right in!

Potential causes of a slow admin backend

Before we explore the solutions, let’s take a look at the most common causes of a slow admin backend.

1. A slow hosting provider

Every website owner needs a web host to store important files and make content publicly-accessible on the internet. It can be tempting to look for cheap hosting providers to keep costs low, but this usually means you’ll get lower-quality service. As such, you may experience a high time to first byte (TTFB) rate and a slow backend. 

Even if you have a good web host, you can still encounter problems if you’re not on the right plan. Each host provides a variety of packages that allocate different amounts of resources or support different levels of traffic. Therefore, it might simply be the case that you need to upgrade to a more powerful plan.

2. A poorly-configured server

If the server isn’t configured properly, it may take too long to respond to requests, resulting in a slow backend. That’s why it’s best to stick to reputable web hosting services that have the technical knowledge and expertise to optimize (and maintain) a server.

For starters, any software that’s deployed on the server needs to be updated regularly to maintain performance. Plus, some web hosts offer speed-focused features like caching technology or a content delivery network (CDN). And even the physical location of your server can impact loading times, especially if your audience is scattered around the country or world.

3. An old PHP version

Software updates typically come with speed improvements. PHP is no different.

PHP is the main programming language that WordPress is built on, alongside HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. You can go to Tools →  Site Health → Info to check your PHP version. Simply expand the Server tab and you’ll see the version listed here.

4. An old WordPress version

Using an outdated version of WordPress can also cause a slow admin backend. The content management system gets updated regularly, so it’s important that you download the latest version as soon as it’s available.

Updates tend to include new features and security enhancements. But you can also see performance improvements since the code may get refined/optimized which makes your website lighter. 

5. Resource-intensive plugins

You probably use several WordPress plugins on your site. These plugins are created by different developers or third-party services, so the coding practices vary.

Some plugins can slow down your overall performance because they add extra CSS and JavaScript. 

You may also encounter a slow WordPress backend if you use too many page builders or form builder plugins.

6. Plugin overload

Not all plugins have a negative impact on WordPress performance. In fact, some plugins are designed to improve page speed.

But every plugin adds weight to your site, which means your server has to load more resources. If you have more plugins than you actually need, this unnecessarily slows down your server response times. 

Plugins can also conflict with one another, leading to performance issues. Therefore, it’s best to stick with the plugins you need and delete those you no longer use. 

7. Theme-related problems

Plugins and themes play important roles in the WordPress ecosystem. Plugins add functionality, while themes affect the look and feel of your site.

Again, not all themes are developed the same way. Some come with excessive code, large file sizes, and complex designs and animations.

What’s more, you can get themes that contain lots of features, which may seem like a good thing, especially if you require specific functionality. But as you’d expect, this makes your server work harder to display your pages.

8. An overloaded database

The WordPress database consists of tables that store your site’s data. There’s a table for WordPress posts, post metadata, users, taxonomies, and more. 

If your database gets overloaded, you can end up with a slow backend. The main causes of an overloaded database are large numbers of database tables and poorly optimized queries. 

Inefficient queries consume excessive amounts of resources, which leads to slow loading times.

9. Database inefficiencies 

Database performance problems are a common cause of slow backends. Prime suspects are inefficient queries, which we mentioned above. This tends to be an issue because most developers (for themes and plugins) aren’t database experts.

Therefore, they might use inefficient code that executes many separate queries (rather than combining them into a single query), which slows down performance. But that isn’t all. The misuse of data types and a lack of database indexes can also lead to database inefficiencies. 

10. A low WordPress memory limit

To keep a site running smoothly, your server must have the necessary storage capacity, processors, RAM, and memory. As you’d expect, memory gets consumed by plugins, media files, and more.

Therefore, if you don’t have enough memory to execute functions and run scripts, your site’s loading speed may suffer. This will also affect the backend. In some cases, it might not even load at all. 

So it’s important to ensure that your website scripts don’t exceed your server’s RAM allocation. 

11. Large media files

Large or high-resolution images take up a lot of bandwidth and slow down your website speed. The image format also plays a big part. 

For instance, a TIFF image contains lots of data since it’s an uncompressed format. This means that it will take up more storage space when you upload it to the media library. That’s why most admins use images in .PNG, JPEG, and .WebP (usually the preferred option). However, even these, when unoptimized, can be unnecessarily large for many sites.

The same goes for videos, since these generally result in very large file sizes.

12. Poorly-optimized code

Any theme or plugin on your website will be built on code that’s written by WordPress developers. These experts develop software using programming languages like PHP, CSS, JavaScript, and HTML.

Certain developers will optimize code so that it runs more efficiently and uses fewer resources. They may avoid unnecessary variables, use loops strategically, and remove bottlenecks.

But others will likely skip these practices. This will result in software that’s poorly optimized and contains heavy code, which can lead to slower loading times.

How to fix a slow admin backend on WordPress: 15 solutions to try

Now that you know more about the causes of a slow WordPress backend, let’s take a look at 15 ways to fix it.

1. Identify bottlenecks

There may be specific bottlenecks that are causing a slow admin backend. Common culprits include hosting, themes, and plugins. 

If you want to pinpoint time-consuming database queries, New Relic is a great tool. That said, it does add some JavaScript to your site, so it’s best to delete it after troubleshooting performance issues.

If you want a free solution, Query Monitor is an excellent option. You can use it to track down sluggish database queries, REST API requests, AJAX calls, and more. Plus, you can often access hosting provider information.

You can also observe your site’s error logs to spot performance issues. To do this, you’ll need to enable WordPress debug mode which will reveal any warnings or errors in the admin dashboard.

2. Install a caching and speed optimization plugin

If your WordPress admin backend is slow, you might consider installing a caching solution. Typically, caching plugins target the front end, but since they cache dynamic web pages to serve as static HTML pages, your site has more free CPU for the admin backend. 

You can find dedicated caching plugins like WP Super Cache, but full-service speed optimization tools like Jetpack Boost will also include caching.

With Jetpack Boost, you get fine-grained control over caching. You can set your own rules to keep shopping carts and live feeds interactive and up-to-date. Plus, you can refresh your cache on demand.

Jetpack Boost also provides lots of speed-focused features. You’ll get an instant performance score across mobile and desktop. Additionally, you can generate critical CSS and defer JavaScript so pages load faster. 

What’s more, Jetpack Boost gives you access to an image CDN which enables you to automatically resize images and convert them into efficient formats like WebP. Plus, you can distribute image loading across multiple servers.

3. Upgrade your PHP version

As we discussed, old PHP can slow your site down. This is particularly relevant for the backend because while the front end uses HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, the backend is almost strictly PHP. Plus, classic themes depend on PHP too.

WordPress 6.2 recommends you use the 7.4 version of PHP (or higher) to access performance enhancements. The good news is that you can easily upgrade PHP via cPanel (if your hosting provider gives you access to this).

Alternatively, your web host may provide a custom web hosting panel, which should also let you update PHP. If you don’t have these options, you can always contact your web host and ask them to do this for you. 

And if they don’t support the latest PHP versions, you might want to switch hosting providers.

4. Keep WordPress updated

Almost every WordPress release comes with security fixes and performance improvements. To give you an idea, WordPress 6.1 addressed various performance issues, including the way PHP handles core block registration.

If you’re not sure whether you’re running the latest version of WordPress, navigate to Tools → Site Health →  Info →  WordPress. If you see that your WordPress version is out-of-date, go to Dashboard → Updates.

You can click on Check again to make sure that you’re running the latest version of the core software.

There are certain precautions you need to take before you update WordPress. For starters, you should make a fresh backup of your site in case anything goes wrong. 

Jetpack VaultPress Backup includes real-time backups and offers simple one-click restores. Additionally, backups are stored in Jetpack’s own cloud, so it won’t take up server storage. 

For extra peace of mind, you might want to run the update in a staging environment first. Then, once you know it’s safe (and compatible with other software), you can push the update to your live site. 

5. Optimize the WordPress admin screen options

WordPress automatically loads certain widgets in the dashboard (like Site Health). But some plugins add their own widgets. The problem is that too many widgets can affect the loading times of the admin backend.

An easy solution is to click on the Screen Options button at the top of the screen.

To disable some of these widgets, simply uncheck the box(es) beside the relevant options. Additionally, you can use this menu to show/hide sections on different admin screens like the Posts or Pages screen.

With this in mind, it’s a good idea to limit the number of posts, pages, and comments since fewer items will take less time to load. By default, WordPress displays 20 posts, but you might want to halve this number (or take it even lower). 

6. Disable the WordPress admin toolbar

When you log into WordPress, you’ll see a toolbar at the top of the screen that enables you to easily reach different parts of the page. Plus, there’s the option to log back out of the dashboard.

Many website owners use the toolbar to quickly bounce between the admin back end and the live site to preview changes made. That said, you might want to disable the toolbar since it can slow down loading times.

There are various ways to do this. If you want to disable the admin toolbar for all users (including admins), you can edit the functions.php file. 

To access this file, you’ll need to go to Appearance → Theme File Editor. 

At the bottom of the file, simply add the following code:

/* Turn off the WordPress Admin Bar for all users */

add_filter( 'show_admin_bar', '__return_false' );

If you want admins to be able to see the toolbar (but you don’t want other users to), tweak the code so it looks like this:

if ( ! current_user_can( 'manage_options' ) ) {

    add_filter('show_admin_bar', '__return_false');

}

You also have the option to disable the toolbar via the User Profile settings. All you have to do is go to Users → Profile and uncheck the box that says Show Toolbar when viewing site. 

7. Identify and replace resource-heavy plugins

As we’ve discussed, not all plugins drain server resources, but there are some that consume CPU and slow down performance. Therefore, it’s a good idea to identify the culprits to fix your slow admin backend.

You can do this manually by deactivating plugins one by one and running a quick website speed test. There are tons of speed test tools available, including:

• WebPageTest
• Pingdom
• Google PageSpeed Insights

You can also install a plugin like Query Monitor to find out which tools on your site consume a lot of resources.

If you find a slow plugin, consider disabling or deleting it if you don’t need it. If you do need it, try and find a lightweight alternative. 

8. Delete unnecessary plugins and widgets

We’ve already shown you how to disable unnecessary widgets in the dashboard using Screen Options. But you can also free up memory this way by using a plugin. The Admin Menu Editor makes it easy to hide certain widgets for certain user roles. 

On top of this, it’s good practice to delete plugins that you no longer use. If there are any tools that you don’t need, you can use the Bulk actions menu to remove them at once.

9. Use a lightweight well-coded theme

Many WordPress themes, especially multipurpose ones, include lots of design elements and premade layouts. In order to offer these features, themes add code to the functions.php file or ask you to install add-ons. This can slow down your admin backend because it adds more assets and files that WordPress needs to process and load. 

To check if your theme is affecting your site’s performance, switch to a default option like Twenty Twenty-Four. If you notice that the backend speeds up, then your previous theme was likely heavy-coded.

Remember to switch themes on a staging site first, as it might cause compatibility issues.

10. Clean up your database and optimize its performance

Over time, most WordPress databases become bloated with comments, posts, spam, and other items. Additionally, some plugins use transients to store temporary data in the database, which becomes a problem when these transients expire.

Essentially, your database becomes cluttered which can impact your site’s performance. It’s a good idea to browse through your dashboard and delete any content you don’t need, like drafts or pending posts.

You can also dive into phpMyAdmin to clean up or remove database tables (especially those from plugins). To do this, simply check all the relevant tables and click on Table Maintenance → Optimize Table.

You can also find plugins like WP-Optimize to automate the process for you. But again, it’s best to back up your database before you make these changes, using a plugin like Jetpack VaultPress Backup.

There are various things you can do to optimize your database. For instance, you can regularly delete spam comments, empty your WordPress trash folder, and reduce the number of saved revisions.

11. Increase the WordPress memory limit

You might also have a slow admin backend if your PHP memory limit is too low. This refers to the maximum amount of memory a PHP script can use, and it’s usually set by your hosting provider. 

Like your PHP version, you can check your PHP memory limit by going to Tools → Site Health → Info → Server.

If it’s lower than 256MB, you may want to increase it. You might be able to do this in cPanel, but if your host doesn’t give you access to a hosting panel, you can edit your wp-config.php file via FTP. 

At the bottom of the file, simply add the following line of code to define your memory limit:

define('WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', ‘XM');

Instead of “X”, make sure to input the value of your choice. Bear in mind that you can’t override the limit set by your web host. In this case, you’ll need to contact your hosting provider.

12. Clean up your WordPress media library

Although images make your pages more engaging, it’s easy for the media library to become too bloated with unused files. This can slow down your entire WordPress site, including the backend.

When you upload an image to the media library, WordPress makes several copies in different sizes, so you can end up with more files than you need

You can put a stop to this by going to Settings → Media. Then, change the values besides each image size to “0” so that WordPress can no longer save multiple versions of the same image.

It’s also a good idea to upload smaller images (rather than shrinking them after uploading), so you can save space on the server. Image scaling enables you to resize images without compromising on quality. 

Jetpack Boost will automatically resize images for you and convert them into efficient formats. What’s more, the plugin can detect and fix images with suboptimal size, aspect ratio, and resolution. 

13. Optimize custom code and script

If you don’t optimize code and scripts on your website, render-blocking resources like CSS and JavaScript can make you (and your visitors) wait longer for content to load.

The good news is that there are a few things you can do to speed up your site. For starters, you can eliminate these render-blocking resources. 

If you’re not sure whether this is an issue for your site, you can run a quick PageSpeed test. Once the test is complete, scroll down to the Diagnostics section. Here, you might see a suggestion to Eliminate render-blocking resources.

Clicking on this tab will reveal a list of resources that PageSpeed uncovered during the test. Now, there are steps you can take to remove them from your site. 

First, you can generate critical CSS, which extracts the necessary CSS to display above the fold. This means that the browser will process this code first so that your most important styles will load right away.

Additionally, you can reduce unnecessary JavaScript. When the browser parses HTML, it stops so that it can execute JavaScript. This delays the loading of the page. If you reduce the code or defer it, the browser can focus on the HTML first so it loads faster. 

Although you have the option to take care of this manually, it’s easier to automate these processes using a plugin like Jetpack Boost.

When you install the plugin, all you have to do is head to the dashboard to enable the toggles to generate critical CSS above the fold, defer JavaScript, and combine and compress JavaScript and CSS code for faster loading. 

14. Optimize Your server configuration

If you’ve implemented some of the previous solutions, and you’re still encountering a slow admin backend, there may be a problem with your server configuration. WordPress may be consuming too much CPU and RAM.

Some of the steps we’ve covered in this guide can help with this. For example, it’s a good idea to change the PHP memory limit or enable caching at the server level. But, you may also want to use a content delivery network (CDN).

This can speed up the delivery of static content like images and scripts, and boost server response times. You can use Jetpack’s CDN, which is a beginner-friendly option that doesn’t require complex configuration steps. All you need to do is enable it from your dashboard.

You may also need to upgrade RAM allocation, which is easiest to do by upgrading your existing web hosting plan. 

Additionally, it can be a good idea to use premium DNS providers. Unlike free DNS providers, premium ones tend to use a global network of servers so you can respond to DNS queries with low latency. This way, you can access content more quickly, including the admin backend. 

15. Consider upgrading to a better hosting provider

We mentioned, in the first section, that one of the main causes of a slow admin backend is a slow hosting provider. It might be the case that you simply need to upgrade your hosting package to access additional resources. But in certain scenarios, it can be beneficial to switch to a more reputable hosting provider. 

Different hosts use different server types, which can impact website performance. Some even provide server-level caching and other optimization features.

Frequently asked questions

Want to learn more about fixing a slow WordPress admin backend? We’ll dig a bit further below.

How can I benchmark the performance of my WordPress admin backend?

The best way to get a good benchmark is to run website speed tests using tools like Pingdom and PageSpeed Tests. According to Pingdom, website load time should not exceed two seconds. 

Beyond the objective measurements, you may feel a noticeable difference in the time it takes to move around the backend or start to hear complaints from others. If this is the case, you probably need to take action — even if you’re not yet sure of a specific change in metrics.

What type of hosting should I prioritize to enhance WordPress performance?

Managed hosting is the best option for WordPress performance. This is because your server gets configured and optimized specifically for the CMS. 

Plus, you can often access extra performance features like caching technology, image optimization, and more. There are tons of great WordPress hosting services.

Why is the PHP version important for WordPress performance?

PHP is the main programming language that WordPress is built upon. Like WordPress, PHP is updated regularly. Besides security improvements, each version of PHP gets more efficient, which enables you to improve WordPress performance.

How can I clean up my WordPress database to improve performance?

The WordPress database can easily become bloated with posts, comments, and tables put there by plugins you no longer use. Therefore, you’ll want to clean up the database to improve performance. 

You can do this manually by accessing phpMyAdmin and combing through any tables you no longer need. Then, click on Table Maintenance → Optimize Table. You can also install a plugin to do this for you. 

What are the best practices for optimizing MySQL for WordPress?

If you want to optimize your MySQL WordPress database for better performance, you should reduce the number of saved revisions, prevent spam comments, and regularly empty the trash folder. Plus, you can delete unused plugins/themes and disable pingbacks and trackbacks. 

How do I identify and fix slow database queries?

Slow database queries typically arise in areas that don’t get cached like the WordPress backend. The good news is that you can identify these queries using a plugin like Query Monitor. You can also analyze error logs. Then, you might be able to fix the problem by disabling plugins you don’t use, or you can use a CDN or install a caching plugin.

What regular maintenance tasks should I perform to keep my admin backend fast?

There are various ways to keep the WordPress backend efficient. For starters, you should make sure you’re running the latest version of WordPress and the latest version of PHP. You’ll also want to clean the database and media library. Plus, it’s a good idea to audit themes and plugins and find lighter alternatives for ones that drain server resources.

How often should I update WordPress, plugins, and themes?

All software on your site, including WordPress core, plugins, and themes, needs updating regularly. Updates come with new features and security fixes but can also contain more efficient code and other performance-related functions. Therefore, it’s best to update software as soon as new releases become available. 

Luckily, WordPress notifies you of any new updates. But before you update software, it’s a good idea to back up your website and deploy the update in a staging environment first.

How can I speed up the front end of my WordPress website?

The easiest way to speed up the front end of your WordPress site is to install a speed optimization plugin like Jetpack Boost. It has an advanced cashing feature, content delivery network (that also automatically resizes images), and toggles to automatically generate critical CSS, defer non-essential JavaScript, and much more. Learn more about speeding up WordPress.

Jetpack Boost: Speed up your WordPress site

Most website owners and site administrators use the WordPress backend on a regular basis. You might need to update important settings, install new themes and plugins, or manage content. This process becomes very tedious with a slow backend.

There are various ways to speed up the admin backend. You might need to optimize the WordPress database, increase the memory limit, or update your WordPress version. An even easier option is to start by installing a speed optimization plugin.

With Jetpack Boost, you’ll get an instant performance score for desktop and mobile. Then, you can use Jetpack’s image CDN, automatically generate critical CSS, and defer non-essential JavaScript to speed up your site. Get started with Jetpack Boost today!