How to determine which plugins to deactivate.

If you have the PRO version, click on the Plugin icon to get an automatic suggestion of the unused plugins.

If you only have the free version, you need to understand which plugins are needed.

First, deactivate on the frontend all plugins that work only in the backend (for image optimization, website migration, database optimization, backups, etc.).

Consider all the plugins that you are sure you don’t need on every page.

For example, if you have Contact Form 7 and a contact form only on your contact page, you can safely disable it on all other pages.

If you have only a slider on your homepage, disable Revolution Slider on all pages except the homepage, and so on.

Then you will have some pages where you are not completely sure.

For these pages, you can use the “Lens” as shown in the picture.

You will see a preview of that page with the plugins you have disabled.

If you don’t save the options, you will see only a preview.

If the page has issues, you will need some of the plugins you disabled for the preview.

If the page doesn’t appear broken, the disabled plugins are probably not needed, but you should still check the description of each plugin to be sure.

Some plugins add functionalities that are not visible on the page, e.g., analytics. For these plugins, gather information about their purpose.

If you are working on someone else’s website and did not install the plugins, you may still have a few plugins that you aren’t completely sure about.

Preview the page with and without the uncertain plugins. If page loading is very similar, keep the plugins active. Otherwise, disable one plugin at a time to identify the cause of performance issues.

At this point, you should have very few critical plugins. Focus on them, read their descriptions, consult the plugin author, and collect enough information. You will then understand whether you can safely disable them.

Clicking on the Page Speed Insights icon allows you to check the performance impact of deactivating specific plugins.

Other users will see the page loading with the saved plugins. Only Page Speed Insights will test the page with the plugins you are experimenting with.

In short, to determine if you can deactivate a specific plugin on a specific page:

• Deactivate on the frontend all plugins that work only in the backend.
• Deactivate everywhere all plugins that add specific elements on the page, but keep them active on the pages where those elements are needed.
• Check the page preview with the Lens. If the page is broken, do not deactivate the plugin. If the page is okay, read the plugin description to understand its function.
• Check the preview with and without the plugins you are unsure about. If page loading is similar, keep those plugins active. If you notice a performance difference, focus on those plugins and gather more information before deciding whether to disable them.