How to switch the PHP version of your site (and which to choose)

Trinico Cloud cPanel hosting supports multiple PHP versions side-by-side. You can pick a different version for each domain or subdomain in your account. The right version depends on the application you are running and how recently it was updated.

Which version should I run?

• PHP 8.3 or 8.2 - the right choice for fresh installs of modern WordPress, Joomla, Laravel, Symfony or any actively-maintained software. Best performance, most secure.
• PHP 8.1 - safe fallback if a plugin you depend on has not been updated for 8.2 yet.
• PHP 7.4 - end-of-life since November 2022. Only use if you have legacy software that genuinely cannot upgrade. Plan to migrate within 6 months.
• PHP 5.x or 7.0/7.1/7.2/7.3 - obsolete. We strongly recommend updating your software rather than running these.

Step-by-step: change PHP version

1. Log in to cPanel.
2. In the Software section, click Select PHP Version.
3. The current version is shown at the top. Use the PHP Version dropdown to pick a different one. Click Apply.
4. The change takes effect immediately. Reload your website to confirm.

If your site breaks after the upgrade

The upgrade is reversible - go back to the same screen and pick the previous version. Then either update the plugin/theme that broke, or open a ticket and we will help diagnose. Common causes: deprecated PHP functions in old plugins, themes that still use mysql_* functions removed in PHP 7+.

Adjusting PHP settings (memory_limit, upload_max_filesize, etc.)

The same screen has a Switch To PHP Options button. From there you can tune:

• memory_limit - bump to 256M for resource-heavy WordPress sites or 512M for big WooCommerce shops.
• upload_max_filesize and post_max_size - raise to allow large file uploads (default is usually 32M or 64M).
• max_execution_time - raise to 300 if you do long-running imports.

Open cPanel Need help choosing a PHP version?