How can you detect WordPress plugins a website is using?

Updated Written By Christoffer
How can you detect WordPress plugins a website is using?

There is no other CMS that is as popular as WordPress.

It is said that over 40% of all websites are built on WordPress.

With that many websites built on the WordPress platform, the interest in investigating a WordPress website is high.

In this article, you will learn how to check out what WordPress plugins a website uses and how to check the source code yourself.

How can you check the website for plugins?

There are two main methods for detecting WordPress plugins: 1) using an online tool or 2) checking the source code.

Method 1) Using an online tool

Using an online tool will give you an immediate answer on what plugins a WordPress website is using:

  1. Copy the URL you want to check.
  2. Paste it into our WordPress plugin and theme detector.

In a few moments, you will have the website’s plugins, themes, and other tools.

Method 2) Checking the source code

  1. Open the website: Open the website you want to check.
  2. View page source: Right-click anywhere on the page and open “View Page Source” or “View Source.” You can also use the shortcut Ctrl+U on Windows or Cmd+U on Mac.
  3. Search for plugins clues: Open the search with Ctrl+F on Windows or Cmd+F on Mac and search for “/wp-content/plugins/“, “wp-content/plugins“, or “/plugins/“.
  4. Identify plugins: The name after “/wp-content/plugins/” reveals the actual plugin name. Search for it on Google to identify the exact name of the plugin. E.g. https://example.com/wp-content/plugins/contact-form-7/includes/css/styles.css indicating that the site uses the “Contact Form 7” plugin.

Can we identify every plugin a WordPress website uses?

The short answer is no.

We can only see plugins loaded on the front end, which is the actual webpage we can see.

Any WordPress plugins on the backend (which handles database, admin dashboard, or server logic) can not be identified without logging into the WordPress dashboard.

However, many plugins can still be identified through this method.

Learn how to detect if a website is built using WordPress.

What is the difference between a WordPress plugin and a theme?

A WordPress plugin adds features to the WordPress site. It does not depend on the theme and can affect the back and front end.

A WordPress theme, on the other hand, controls the overall design or layout of a WordPress site. This can be colors, fonts, or page layouts.

Article by

Christoffer Pettersen

Founder, Web developer

Pettersen is the founder of Stackcrawler, a platform that helps analyze tech stacks. He is passionate about new trends and technologies in the software industry.