As of 2026, here is the official support status for each Joomla version according to the Joomla project roadmap.

If your site is still on Joomla 3 or Joomla 4, it has been running without security patches for well over a year. Attackers specifically target end-of-life software because they know vulnerabilities will never be fixed. Upgrading is not optional for a business that values its data and reputation.

Your Migration Roadmap: A Complete Step-by-Step Process

Upgrading Joomla is not a single action but a phased process. Follow these steps in order to ensure a safe transition.

1. Take a Full, Verifiable Backup (Your Safety Net)

Before you do anything else, create a complete backup of both your website files and your database. Extensions are the most common reason Joomla migrations fail, and a complete backup is your only true safety net.

Method 1: Akeeba Backup (Recommended)
Akeeba Backup is the gold standard for Joomla backups. Download and install the latest stable version of the Akeeba Backup Core plugin. Navigate to Components > Akeeba Backup and run the backup wizard. After completion, download the generated .jpa backup archive.

Method 2: cPanel/Plesk Backup
Your hosting control panel almost certainly includes a backup utility. In cPanel, look for “Backup” or “Backup Wizard”. In Plesk, go to “Websites & Domains” and click “Back Up”.

The 3-2-1 Backup Rule
For critical data, follow the industry standard 3-2-1 rule: keep at least 3 copies of your data, on 2 different types of media, with 1 copy stored off-site (not on your server).

Before You Begin – A quick note on expertise: Upgrading a live Joomla site is a delicate operation. Many businesses choose to work with specialists who have handled hundreds of successful migrations. For complex Joomla environments, partnering with a proven team like Abbacus Technologies ensures experienced developers manage every step, from backup verification to post-upgrade testing, eliminating guesswork and risk.

2. Create a Staging Environment (Never Upgrade Live)

Never run a major upgrade directly on your live production website. A staging site is an exact copy of your live site used for testing. This is where you break things so your live site never breaks.

How to Create a Staging Site

• Local Server: Use WAMP (Windows), MAMP (macOS), or XAMPP to create a local development environment.
• Subdomain: Create a subdomain like staging.yourdomain.com on your hosting account.

Use Akeeba Backup and its Kickstart utility to restore your backup onto your staging environment. The environment should have near-identical PHP and database versions as your live server.

3. Audit Your Current Environment

Create a spreadsheet documenting every aspect of your current site.

• Joomla Core Version: Your starting point.
• PHP Version: Joomla 5 requires PHP 8.1 or higher, with PHP 8.2 recommended for best performance.
• Database Type: MySQL or MariaDB.
• Hosting Environment: Any limitations or special configurations.
• Third-Party Extensions: For each extension, note its name, version, and whether the developer offers a version compatible with your target Joomla release.

4. Perform a Complete Extension Audit

Extensions are the single biggest reason Joomla upgrades fail. For each extension on your list, visit the developer’s website to confirm Joomla 5 or Joomla 6 compatibility. If an extension has no compatible version, you must either find an alternative or accept that you will lose that functionality. Remove any unused or abandoned extensions to reduce your upgrade risk.

5. Review Your Template and Custom Overrides

Your Joomla template and any custom overrides you have created in /templates/your_template/html are a major potential failure point.

• Identify Your Template Framework: Many commercial templates (like those from Yootheme, Joomshaper, or RocketTheme) provide Joomla 5/6 ready versions.
• Review Override Files: Check each override file for deprecated code, outdated Bootstrap versions, or hard-coded assumptions that will break.

If your template does not have a Joomla 5/6 version, you will need to redesign your site using a new template. This is essentially a site rebuild.

6. Update to the Latest Version of Your Current Major Release

Before any major version jump, ensure you are running the absolute latest version of your current Joomla series. This ensures all compatibility and schema changes have been applied.

• Go to System > Update > Joomla.
• Install all available updates for your current series.

If you are on Joomla 3, you must first update to Joomla 3.10.x. If you are on Joomla 4, update to Joomla 4.4.x.

7. Check PHP Version and Server Requirements

Your target Joomla version requires a modern PHP version. Joomla 5 requires PHP 8.1+, with best performance on PHP 8.2+. Joomla 6 requires PHP 8.3 or newer. Check your PHP version from the Joomla admin: System > System Information > PHP Information. If you need to upgrade PHP, contact your hosting provider or do so through your hosting control panel.

8. Run the Joomla Pre-Update Check Tool

Joomla includes a built-in tool that verifies compatibility. Go to System > Update > Joomla and click “Pre-Update Check”. The tool will show:

• Required Settings: If any required server settings are not met (yellow triangle), you must resolve these before proceeding.
• Extension Compatibility: Extensions that are incompatible with your target version will be flagged.
• Recommended Settings: Yellow warnings for recommended but not required settings.

Fix all warnings before proceeding. Do not ignore them.

9. Change the Update Channel to “Joomla Next”

By default, Joomla only shows updates within your current major version (the “Default” channel). To see the next major version, you need to change the update channel.

• Go to System > Update > Joomla.
• Click the “Options” button.
• Under the “Update Source” tab, change “Update Channel” from “Default” to “Joomla Next”.
• Click “Save & Close”.

After a major version update, the channel setting automatically reverts to “Default”, preventing accidental jumps in the future.

10. Execute the Major Version Upgrade

With the channel set to “Joomla Next”, return to the Joomla Update screen and click “Check for Updates”. The new major version should now appear. Click “Install the Update”.

The process may take several minutes. Do not close your browser or navigate away. When completed, you will see a success message with the new Joomla version number.

Important: If you are on Joomla 3, you must first upgrade to Joomla 4 before Joomla 5. There is no direct upgrade path. Similarly, from Joomla 4, upgrade to 4.4, then to 5.x, then to 5.4, then to 6.x. Each major version jump requires its own pre-update check and extension audit.

11. Clear All Caches and Perform Post-Upgrade Testing

Immediately after the upgrade completes:

• Clear Joomla’s Cache: Go to System > Maintenance > Clear Cache. Select all cache groups and click “Delete”.
• Clear Your Browser Cache: Perform a hard refresh (Ctrl+F5 or Cmd+Shift+R) to force your browser to reload all assets.
• Clear Joomla Update Cache: If the new version doesn’t appear after the upgrade, go to Components > Joomla Update and click the “Clear Cache” button.

Now, thoroughly test your website:

• Browse your frontend pages. Check for broken images, missing styles, or JavaScript errors.
• Navigate through your admin dashboard.
• Test all key functionality: contact forms, login systems, search, e-commerce checkout if applicable, and any custom features.
• Verify that your third-party extensions are functioning correctly.

12. Verify Database Structure

Even after a successful upgrade, your database schema may not be fully up to date. Go to Extensions > Manage > Database. If you see a message that “Database table structure is not up to date”, click the “Fix” button. This is a critical step often overlooked but necessary for long-term stability.

13. Update Your Staging Environment (If Used)

If you tested the upgrade on a staging site, repeat the process on your live site only after the staging test is 100% successful.

14. Re-enable Third-Party Extensions (If You Disabled Them)

If you disabled any extensions before the upgrade (a common troubleshooting step), re-enable them one by one and test after each to identify the cause of any new issues.

15. Final Security and Performance Checks

• Update All Extensions: After the core upgrade, update every third-party extension to its latest version.
• Review User Permissions: Major upgrades sometimes reset or alter ACL (access control) settings.
• Regenerate Your Sitemap: Notify search engines of your updated site structure.
• Monitor Error Logs: Keep an eye on your server error logs and Joomla’s error log for the first week after upgrade.

Troubleshooting Common Joomla Upgrade Errors

Even with careful preparation, things can go wrong. Here are the most common errors and their solutions.

“Could not load root metadata”

This error prevents the upgrade from starting. As a temporary workaround, modify libraries/src/Updater/Updater.php, locate line 263, and change $update_result = $adaptor->findUpdate($updateSite); to $update_result = false;. Note: This is a temporary fix and should be reverted once the root cause is resolved.

Permission Errors During Automatic Upgrade

File permission conflicts can block the upgrade process. Check your Joomla file permissions. For directories, they should be drwxrwxr-x (755). For files, they should be -rw-rw-r– (664). Then retry the upgrade with “Write files directly” selected.

“Database Table Structure NOT Up to Date”

After upgrade, go to Extensions > Manage > Database. If you see this message, click the “Fix” button. If that doesn’t resolve it, you may have an empty #__schemas table in your database. This often occurs when Joomla was installed via a custom script rather than the official installer. Fixing this requires manually adding the missing schema version using phpMyAdmin, but only if you are confident working directly with the database.

Blank Page (White Screen of Death) After Upgrade

A blank page almost always indicates a PHP error. Enable Joomla’s debug mode by editing configuration.php and setting public $debug = true;. Then reload the page to see the actual error message. Common causes include incompatible extensions or memory limit exhaustion.

Template Styles Broken or Missing

If your frontend looks unstyled, you may have a Gzip compression conflict in your .htaccess file that is double-compressing CSS and JavaScript files. Check your .htaccess for ## These directives are … sections. Also, verify that your template has been updated to a Joomla 5/6 compatible version.

Extensions Not Showing in Pre-Update Check

The pre-update check only provides compatibility information for extensions that use an update server. Extensions that do not use an update server will show in the list with a “Missing Compatibility Tag” warning. For these, you must manually check the developer’s website.

Upgrade Gets Stuck or Times Out

Large sites may hit PHP execution time limits. Increase your PHP max_execution_time to 300 or higher. If your hosting panel doesn’t allow this, add php_value max_execution_time 300 to your .htaccess file.

Security Best Practices Before and After Upgrade

Before Upgrade

• Take a verified backup and store it off-server.
• Put your site offline during the actual upgrade to prevent any user interaction or data changes.
• Disable non-essential third-party extensions to reduce variables.
• Note your current PHP version so you can restore it if needed.

After Upgrade

• Update all extensions to their latest versions immediately.
• Change your administrator password as a precaution.
• Run a security scan using tools like Akeeba Admin Tools.
• Monitor your site for unusual activity for the first week.
• Set a calendar reminder for the next minor update (every few months) to avoid falling behind again.

From Joomla 3 to Joomla 6: A Realistic Path

If you are still on Joomla 3, you have a multi-stage journey ahead of you. There is no direct upgrade path. Your route must be:

Joomla 3.10.x → Joomla 4.4.x → Joomla 5.4.x → Joomla 6.x

Each stage requires its own complete backup, staging test, extension audit, and pre-update check. This is why many businesses on Joomla 3 are facing a rebuild, not a simple upgrade. The changes between Joomla 3 and Joomla 4 were architectural, involving the removal of legacy code and the introduction of a new MVC structure. Templates and extensions built for Joomla 3 rarely work on Joomla 4 without significant modification.

The Backward Compatibility Plugin introduced in Joomla 5 can help extensions designed for Joomla 4 to run on Joomla 5. Similarly, the Behaviour – Backward Compatibility 6 plugin included with Joomla 5.4.x assists third-party extensions to use classes no longer included in Joomla 6. However, these are temporary bridges. For long-term stability, you need extensions that are natively compatible with your target version.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1: Can I upgrade from Joomla 3 directly to Joomla 5?

No. You must first upgrade to Joomla 4, then to Joomla 5. Skipping major versions is not supported and will break your site.

Q2: How long does a Joomla major version upgrade take?

A minor or patch update takes only a few minutes. A major version migration (e.g., 4 to 5) should be treated as a full development project, taking anywhere from a few hours to several days depending on the complexity of your extensions and customizations.

Q3: What happens if I don’t upgrade my Joomla site?

You will run unsupported software that receives no security updates. Your site remains vulnerable to known exploits, hackers specifically target end-of-life software, and you may face hosting suspension, SEO penalties, and compliance violations for standards like PCI or HIPAA.

Q4: Do I need to upgrade my PHP version before upgrading Joomla?

Yes. Your target Joomla version requires a specific minimum PHP version. Joomla 5 requires PHP 8.1+, and Joomla 6 requires PHP 8.3+. Upgrade PHP before the Joomla upgrade, but test thoroughly first.

Q5: My extension isn’t compatible with Joomla 5/6. What do I do?

You have three options: find an alternative extension that offers the same functionality, hire a developer to create a custom solution, or accept the loss of that functionality. Do not proceed with an incompatible extension installed – it will break your site.

Q6: Should I upgrade to Joomla 5 or Joomla 6?

Joomla 5.4.x is a Long Term Support (LTS) version, meaning it will receive security updates until October 2027. Joomla 6 is the latest version but may have a shorter support window. For most businesses, the LTS version (Joomla 5.4) is the safer choice unless you need a specific feature only available in Joomla 6.

Q7: What is the “Joomla Next” update channel, and why is it dangerous?

The “Joomla Next” channel shows the next major version as an available update. If you leave it enabled on a production site, a routine “Check for Updates” could accidentally offer you a major version jump, potentially breaking your site. Always revert to the “Default” channel after completing a major upgrade.

Q8: How do I know if my template is ready for Joomla 5/6?

Check your template developer’s website for a Joomla 5 or Joomla 6 compatible version. If none exists, your current template will likely break. You will need to either find a new template or hire a developer to rebuild your template.

Q9: I see a database error during upgrade. How do I fix it?

Go to Extensions > Manage > Database. If the database schema is not up to date, click the “Fix” button. If that fails, you may need to manually repair your #__schemas table using phpMyAdmin. Always take a fresh backup before making manual database changes.

Q10: Should I hire a professional for my Joomla upgrade?

If your site has more than a handful of extensions, custom templates, or any e-commerce functionality, the risks of a DIY upgrade are substantial. A failed upgrade can take your site offline for days and potentially lose data. Professional Joomla developers have the tools and experience to execute the process safely and efficiently.

Final Thoughts

Upgrading Joomla is not a casual task, but it is a necessary one for the security and longevity of your website. The process I have outlined is the result of thousands of successful migrations across countless Joomla sites.

The key principles are simple: never skip the backup, always test on a staging site, audit every extension, and follow the official upgrade path step by step. Your Joomla website is a business asset. Treat its upgrade with the same care you would any other critical business system.