My WordPress site is extremely slow after updating plugins
I updated about 5 plugins on my WordPress site yesterday and now it takes like 10 seconds to load any page. I checked with GTmetrix and it shows server response time is fine but the page load is terrible. I'm using a shared hosting plan with Bluehost. Did I break something or is there a quick fix?
1 Answer(s)
This is super common after bulk plugin updates. Here's what I'd do step by step. First, go to your WordPress admin, navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins, and deactivate all of them. Then reactivate them one by one, checking your site speed after each one. This will help you identify which plugin is causing the slowdown. Often it's a caching conflict or a plugin that's loading heavy scripts on every page.
Second, clear all your caches — server cache, browser cache, and any caching plugin you use (like WP Rocket or W3 Total Cache). Sometimes the old cached version conflicts with the new plugin code.
Third, check if any of those plugins added database queries. You can use Query Monitor (free plugin) to see which plugins are making the most DB calls. If one is making hundreds of queries per page, that's your culprit.
If none of that works, temporarily switch to a default theme like Twenty Twenty-Four to rule out theme conflicts. Most of the time it's one bad plugin update causing the issue.