Disable Update Notification for Individual Plugins

WordPress checks for plugin updates in the background and stores the result in the update_plugins site transient. By filtering that transient you can hide available updates for a single plugin, for example one you’ve customized and don’t want anyone to overwrite from the dashboard. If you don’t want WordPress to show update notifications for Akismet, the code looks like this:

function filter_plugin_updates( $value ) {
    unset( $value->response['akismet/akismet.php'] );
    return $value;
}
add_filter( 'site_transient_update_plugins', 'filter_plugin_updates' );

How it works

The site_transient_update_plugins filter runs every time WordPress reads the stored update data. Plugins with an update waiting are listed in its response property, keyed by their plugin file. Removing the key with unset() makes WordPress treat that plugin as up to date, so no update notice or count appears for it.

• The key is the plugin’s folder and main file, here akismet/akismet.php. To find it for another plugin, hover its Activate or Deactivate link on the Plugins screen: the URL contains it, with the / encoded as %2F.
• To hide updates for several plugins, add one unset() line for each.
• Put the code in a custom plugin or your child theme’s functions.php. In a plugin it keeps working if you switch themes. If functions.php is getting long, split it into include files.
• You will no longer be told about security fixes for that plugin, so check for new versions yourself from time to time.

Related articles

• WordPress security basics: other hardening steps, since hidden updates can include security fixes