# I don't see any updates for the plugins?

Normally, pending updates should be visible in the backend under "Updates" or in the list of plugins. If that's not the case, there could be several reasons.

## Check Website Health

Go to Tools > Website Health to see if there are any messages from WordPress itself regarding external connections. WordPress automatically detects potential issues when fetching updates and logs them here.

## A Plugin Manages Updates

Check whether you’re using a plugin that manages plugin updates for your project. An example of this would be [ManageWP](https://de.wordpress.org/plugins/worker/). Check the settings of this plugin to see what needs to be done to display updates from other plugins. If necessary, contact the support team for the plugin that manages your updates.

## Updates are disabled

Check whether the constant `DISALLOW_FILE_MODS` is set in your project’s wp-config.php file. You can access this file via FTP, for example. If you have any questions about this, contact your hosting provider’s support team.

## A security plugin is blocking external access

Security plugins can also affect plugin updates. These plugins typically prevent WordPress from accessing external resources, which is a perfectly reasonable security measure in some projects. Check whether you’re using a security plugin that provides such a feature. If you have any questions, contact the plugin’s support team.

## A hosting firewall is blocking external access

If none of the above cases apply to your project, a firewall on your hosting server may also be preventing WordPress from accessing external sources. Contact your hosting provider’s support team for clarification.

### Note regarding my commercial plugins

The commercial plugins I’ve developed (such as [Personio Integration](https://plugins.thomaszwirner.de/plugin/personio-integration/)) access the domain laolaweb.com for updates. This domain may need to be allowed through any upstream firewalls. The plugin automatically configures WordPress to allow access—no manual intervention is necessary.

## Manually Downloading and Installing Updates

If the normal update process doesn’t work, you can also update the plugins manually.

1. Go to the relevant plugin page on wordpress.org.
2. In the top-right corner, you’ll find the "Download" link to get the latest version as a ZIP file. Save this file locally on your computer.
3. In the WordPress dashboard, go to Plugins > Add New > Add Plugin and select the ZIP file you downloaded in step 2. Confirm the upload.
4. As a final step, confirm that you want to overwrite the existing plugin.

### Note regarding my commercial plugins

For these, you can go to <https:> by entering the project domain or license to retrieve the current version. It is then also available there as a ZIP file.