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Uninstalling WordPress and Starting Over Cleanly Print

  • wordpress, database, softaculous, hacked, plugins, cpanel, backup, filemanager, password, htaccess
  • 0

Sometimes a fresh start is faster than repairing a badly broken or compromised site.

Before you delete anything

Take a full backup and download it. Export your content from Tools → Export if you want to bring posts and pages into the new installation, and note your theme, plugin list and any licence keys.

Removing a Softaculous installation

  1. cPanel → Softaculous → WordPress → Installations.
  2. Click the X next to the installation.
  3. Tick remove directory, database and database user, then confirm.

Removing a manual installation

Delete the WordPress files from public_html in File Manager (remember hidden files such as .htaccess), then drop the database and its user from MySQL Databases.

Reinstalling

Install fresh via Softaculous, then import your content from Tools → Import → WordPress using the export file.

If the site was hacked

Do not import the old database or reuse old plugin files — that is how reinfection happens. Rebuild with fresh downloads and copy content across manually, and change every password on the account.


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