Bought hosting, got a domain, and now you’re staring at a control panel wondering where WordPress is?
Here’s how to install WordPress fast: open your host’s one-click installer, pick your domain and set an admin login. It takes minutes. On a VPS, the manual install is six steps, and we ran it on a test server.
The install is the easy part. The risky part is a setup screen anyone can open. We’ll show you how to close it.
Which way should you install WordPress?
Use your host’s installer if you’re on shared or managed hosting. Do it by hand if you rent a bare server. Install it locally if you only want to practise.
| Route | Best for | What you need | Hands-on time |
|---|---|---|---|
| One-click installer | Beginners on shared or managed hosting | A hosting account and a domain | A few minutes of form-filling |
| Manual install | VPS owners and anyone who wants control | SSH or FTP, a database, the WordPress zip | Our run: under 10 minutes |
| Local test site | Learning, testing themes and plugins | Your own computer | A few minutes, nothing to pay |
Not sure what your hosting plan actually gives you? Our beginner’s guide to web hosting explains servers, domains and DNS in plain English.
One more option skips installing altogether. WordPress.com hosts the software for you, so there’s no install at all. The trade-off is less freedom with plugins and themes on its cheaper plans.
What we did (and what we didn’t)
We installed WordPress 7.1.4, the current release when we checked on 13 November, on a Linux test server. The stack was PHP 8.4 and MariaDB 11.4, which meets WordPress’s own recommendation of PHP 8.3+ and MariaDB 10.11+ or MySQL 8.0+.
We ran the install twice: once the classic way, through the setup screens, and once with WP-CLI, the command-line tool developers use. We timed each step and then read the fresh database to see exactly what WordPress ships with.
We didn’t run a host’s one-click installer for this guide. That section is based on how these installers work, not a fresh test.
How to install WordPress with your host’s one-click installer
Most hosts bundle a WordPress installer, so you never touch a database or upload a file. Here’s the flow:
One-click install in 5 steps
Same idea on almost every host
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Step 1 of 5
Find the installer
Log in to your hosting panel and search for “WordPress”. On cPanel hosts it usually sits under Softaculous Apps Installer. Many hosts also offer it during sign-up.
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Step 2 of 5
Pick the domain and folder
Choose your domain and leave the directory field empty. Fill it in and WordPress ends up at example.com/wp instead of example.com.
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Step 3 of 5
Choose HTTPS
If the installer offers https:// in the protocol box, pick it. Your host needs an SSL certificate on the domain first, and most issue a free one.
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Step 4 of 5
Set the admin account
Pick a username that isn’t “admin”, a long unique password and an email you actually read. That inbox gets your password resets.
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Step 5 of 5
Install, then log in
Click Install and wait. Then go to example.com/wp-admin and log in with the account you just made.
Common mistake: Clicking Install twice because the progress bar stalled. That can leave you with two copies. Open example.com/wp-admin in a new tab first. If the login page loads, it worked.
Which host? Lokesh moved 20 of his sites to Hostinger, and our Hostinger review explains why. Its plans include a WordPress auto-installer, and you can check Hostinger’s current WordPress plans before you buy.
Can’t decide between cheap shared hosting and a managed plan? Our managed vs shared WordPress hosting comparison works out when the extra cost pays off.
How to install WordPress manually, step by step
A manual install takes six steps: check the server, create a database, download WordPress, upload it, connect the database, and run the installer. It’s the route for a VPS, or for any host without an installer.
Renting your first server? Read what a VPS is and what it costs first, because on a bare VPS you’re also the one installing PHP and the database.
Manual WordPress install
What we ran on our test server
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Step 1 of 6
Check the server
WordPress recommends PHP 8.3 or newer, MySQL 8.0+ or MariaDB 10.11+, and HTTPS. It still runs on PHP 7.4, but that version no longer gets security fixes.
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Step 2 of 6
Create a database and a user
Make an empty database and a user with full rights to it, and only to it. In cPanel that’s the MySQL Database Wizard. On a VPS, run the SQL below.
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Step 3 of 6
Download and check WordPress
Get the zip from the official download page. WordPress publishes a SHA-1 checksum for each release, so you can confirm the file wasn’t tampered with.
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Step 4 of 6
Upload the files
Put the contents of the wordpress folder into your web root (often public_html). Upload what’s inside the folder, not the folder itself.
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Step 5 of 6
Connect the database
Open your domain. WordPress asks for the database name, user, password and host, then writes wp-config.php for you.
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Step 6 of 6
Run the installer
Enter the site title, admin username, password and email. Click Install WordPress, and you’re done.
Here’s the database step as we ran it. Swap in your own names and a long password:
CREATE DATABASE wp_site DEFAULT CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;
CREATE USER 'wp_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'use-a-long-random-password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON wp_site.* TO 'wp_user'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;Then download and verify the release on the server. The official WordPress download page always has the current version:
$ curl -sO https://downloads.wordpress.org/release/wordpress-7.1.4.zip
$ curl -s https://downloads.wordpress.org/release/wordpress-7.1.4.zip.sha1
b552c39cd95d89895b4e7a55af53a03687aff4f6
$ sha1sum wordpress-7.1.4.zip
b552c39cd95d89895b4e7a55af53a03687aff4f6 wordpress-7.1.4.zipThe two checksums matched. The zip was about 37 MB and unpacked into 3,782 files taking 117 MB, which is why uploading over FTP feels slow. On a VPS, download it straight to the server instead.
After that, the screens did the rest. The database step took a split second. The final Install button took 10.4 seconds on our small test server, and it created 12 database tables.
The setup screen anyone can finish
Between uploading the files and finishing setup, your site is open to strangers. Until wp-config.php exists, anyone who visits your domain lands on WordPress’s setup screen.
We checked on our test install. A plain request with no login went straight to /wp-admin/setup-config.php and got the setup form.
Why does that matter? Whoever completes that form first chooses the database and the admin account. Point it at a database they control, and they’re the administrator of your server’s copy of WordPress, able to upload plugins that run code.
Bots scan for half-finished installs, so the window matters.
Warning: Never upload WordPress and come back later. Run setup straight away, or create wp-config.php yourself before the files go live.
One-click installers sidestep this, because they write the config and finish the install in one go.
Is there a faster way for developers?
Yes. WP-CLI installs WordPress in three commands, with no browser at all. It’s our pick on a VPS you’ll rebuild more than once.
$ wp core download
Success: WordPress downloaded. # 1.9 s
$ wp config create --dbname=wp_site --dbuser=wp_user --dbpass='your-password'
Success: Generated 'wp-config.php' file. # 0.4 s
$ wp core install --url=https://example.com --title="My Site" \
--admin_user=yourname --admin_password='long-password' [email protected]
Success: WordPress installed successfully. # 0.9 sThat’s about 3 seconds of machine time on our server, plus the minute it takes to type. Save them in a script and your next server takes seconds.
Testing on a cheap cloud server? An hourly DigitalOcean Droplet is a common place to practise this, and you can delete it the same day.
Want to practise first? Install WordPress on your computer
A local install runs WordPress on your laptop where nobody else can see it. It’s the safe place to try themes, break plugins and learn the dashboard before you pay for hosting.
- WordPress Playground runs a full WordPress site inside your browser tab. Nothing to install. Treat it as a scratchpad, not a place to keep work.
- Local (free, Windows, Mac and Linux) builds a proper local site with a database in a few clicks. It’s the easiest desktop option we know.
- XAMPP or MAMP give you a local web server, then you follow the manual steps above. More fiddly, but you’ll understand every moving part.
When the site is ready to go live, you move it to a host with a migration plugin. That’s easier than it sounds, but it’s still extra work. If you already know you’re building a real site, install it on the host from day one.
What can go wrong during the install?
Four problems cause most failed installs, and each has a quick fix.
- “Error establishing a database connection”. The name, user, password or host in wp-config.php doesn’t match the database. Our database connection error fix walks through each cause.
- Your site lives at example.com/wordpress. You uploaded the folder, not its contents. Move the files up one level, or start again in the right place.
- A PHP version warning. WordPress stops and tells you your server’s PHP is too old. Switch to PHP 8.3 or newer in your hosting panel, then reload.
- WordPress can’t write wp-config.php. The folder isn’t writable. WordPress shows you the file’s contents instead, so create wp-config.php by hand and paste them in.
WordPress is installed. Now fix these defaults
A fresh install isn’t ready to publish. We read our test site’s database straight after setup, and five things needed changing:
- Permalinks were set to Plain, so posts lived at addresses like ?p=1. Go to Settings, then Permalinks, and pick Post name before you publish anything. Changing it later breaks old links.
- The clock was UTC+0. Set Settings, then General, to your city, or scheduled posts go out at the wrong hour.
- Three pieces of sample content shipped: a Hello world! post, a Sample Page and a draft Privacy Policy, plus one sample comment. Delete the first two and the comment. Edit the privacy page before you publish it.
- Comments were open on new posts. Leave them on only if you’ll moderate them; otherwise turn them off in Settings, then Discussion.
- HTTPS isn’t automatic. Both address fields under Settings, then General, should start with https://. If not, get an SSL certificate from your host first, then update them.
Two other defaults are fine but worth a look. The Twenty Twenty-Five theme was active, with two older themes beside it. Akismet and Hello Dolly were installed but switched off. Delete what you won’t use, since unused code still needs updates.
Then cover the basics: a WordPress backup plugin before you add content, and a security plugin before you open the site to the world.
Once real content is in, our WordPress speed fixes show which changes made the biggest difference on our own blog.
Frequently asked questions
Is WordPress free to install?
Yes. The WordPress software is free and open source, and installing it costs nothing. What you pay for is the domain name and the hosting that runs it. Premium themes and plugins are optional extras, and a new site rarely needs any on day one.
What’s the difference between WordPress.com and installing WordPress myself?
WordPress.com is a hosted service: no install, no server, but plugins and custom themes depend on your plan. Installing WordPress yourself means using the free software from WordPress.org on your own hosting, with full control over plugins, themes and files.
Can I install WordPress in a subfolder or on a subdomain?
Yes. For a subfolder such as example.com/blog, upload the files into that folder or type it into the installer’s directory field. For a subdomain like blog.example.com, create the subdomain in your hosting panel first, then install WordPress into its folder.
Do I need to know how to code to install WordPress?
No. A one-click installer needs only a username, a password and an email address. The manual route needs no coding either, just care with the database details. Only the WP-CLI method asks you to use a terminal.
Should I change the wp_ table prefix when I install WordPress?
You can, and the install screen is the only easy moment to do it. A custom prefix such as wp7x_ stops some lazy automated attacks that assume the default. It’s a small gain, not real protection, so strong passwords and updates matter far more.
How do I install WordPress in another language?
The first setup screen of a manual install asks for a language, and most one-click installers have a language box too. Pick it there and WordPress downloads the translation for you. You can also change it later under Settings, then General, with Site Language.
How do I move a local WordPress site to my live host?
Use a migration plugin to package the files and database, then restore that package on a fresh install at your host. The plugin also swaps your local address for your real domain. Take a backup of both sides first, and expect large media libraries to take a while.
The bottom line
For most people, how to install WordPress comes down to one click in your host’s WordPress installer. Running your own server? Do the manual install, or the three WP-CLI commands if a terminal doesn’t scare you.
Whichever you choose, finish setup the moment the files land, so nobody else can. Then fix the permalinks, timezone and sample content before your first post.
Next step: log in to your hosting panel and find the installer. Your first post is ten minutes away.
