Table of contents

What is the latest WordPress version?What’s new in WordPress’ current version?A closer look at WordPress’ current versionImportance of using the latest WordPress versionWhy WordPress releases regularlyWhat version of WordPress do I have? How to check your WordPress versionLooking back on WordPress version historyWordPress version FAQsGetting startedMore WordPress help

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WordPress → Latest WordPress Version

Latest WordPress Version (and All the Previous Versions)

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WordPress is the most popular tool for website creation in the world. Over 40 percent of websites on the internet are powered by WordPress, and over 100 WordPress versions have been released in the last 19 years since it’s been on the market.

Why so many? What’s new about the latest? Why does it matter? Let’s get into it.

What is the latest WordPress version?

The WordPress current version is 6.9. It was released on December 2, 2025. Named Gene, WordPress version 6.9 improves collaboration, performance, and editor tooling.

This WordPress update includes:

Block-level commenting
Anywhere-access to the Command Palette
Automatic font size adjustments
New Abilities API
New Core blocks (Accordion, Time to Read, Math, Term Query)
Upgraded Core blocks (Heading, Button, Query Loop)
Performance improvements
Improved editor workflows
Accessibility improvements

What’s new in WordPress’ current version?

The latest WordPress is version 6.9. WordPress 6.9 “Gene” introduces a suite of features aimed at modernizing content creation, improving teamwork directly in the editor, and enhancing performance across both front and back ends.

This release focuses strongly on workflow, editing power, collaboration, responsive performance, and foundational platform updates that support future automation and AI integrations.

FUN FACT: WordPress 6.9 is named after Gene Harris, whose warm, soulful jazz performances echo the release’s objectives. Harris was celebrated for blending bebop technique with blues, gospel, and funk influences, creating music that was both technically sophisticated and deeply accessible.

A closer look at WordPress’ current version

Let’s do a short breakdown of WordPress version 6.9, the current WordPress version, below.

Block Notes: Users can now leave comments directly on blocks within the editor, similar to Google Doc comments.
Expanded Command Palette: Command Palette is available across the admin dashboard and editor, letting you navigate without exploring menus.
Editor workflow enhancements: The Site Editor introduces more intuitive drag-and-drop controls, improved template and block management, and visibility toggles.
New blocks: WordPress 6.9 introduces or updates Core blocks such as Accordion, Math, Time to Read, Term Query, and Comment Count/Comment Link without extra plugins.
Abilities API: A new Abilities API standardizes permission logic across PHP, REST, and JS, making automation and next-gen workflows (including AI integrations) easier to build.
Performance improvements: Smarter script loading, on-demand block CSS, optimized database queries, refined caching, improved WP-Cron handling, and rendering-path optimizations.
Accessibility enhancements: Over 30 accessibility improvements refine UI clarity, focus handling, semantic HTML defaults, screen reader announcements, and assistive technology behavior.

To summarize, WordPress 6.9 focuses on making sites faster, editing workflows more efficient and day-to-day site management smoother. The result is a more polished and reliable experience for developers, designers, and site administrators alike.

Importance of using the latest WordPress version

Once you get started with site creation, you will notice that you can create countless types of WordPress websites. No matter what type of site you are running, it’s of huge importance that you always use the latest WordPress version.

Why?

The answer is pretty simple. WordPress is free to use and the fact that it’s so popular makes it a target for hackers. They can study the source code and find exploits in it which will let them proceed with their malicious intent.

Frequently updating your installation to the current WordPress version will make sure that overall security of your site is up to date, that all bugs are patched, and that you are not missing out on any new features that developers push out.

Why WordPress releases regularly

Just like we mentioned above, hackers look for holes in WordPress code. That is why developers have to stay on top of things all the time. In summary, a release of a minor WordPress version means that a bug or a glitch that could be exploited was patched.

Why?

Making sure you’re on the current WordPress version ensures you’re up to date with security for your site and you have access to all the current features.

What version of WordPress do I have? How to check your WordPress version

You may be wondering, What version of WordPress do I have?

It’s simple and there are a few different ways to go about it, which we outline below.

Keep reading to learn how to check your WordPress version.

How to check your WordPress version through WordPress dashboard

By far, the easiest and most commonly used method to check your WordPress version is through the WordPress dashboard. All in all, you just need a few clicks for this method.

Simply login to your dashboard with WordPress admin credentials and navigate to your main dashboard and click on updates.

Once you are there, you will see a screen that will look just like the one below.

As you can see, the WordPress version will be written in bold letters accordingly. If your installation is not up to date, you will have an option to update it.

How to check your WordPress version through your website frontend

The second way to find out which version you are using is to open your site in the browser and then right click and select View page source. After you do that, another tab will appear and you will see the code of your site, similar to the image below.

While you are on that screen, press Ctrl+f on your keyboard to open a search bar. Type the word “generator” in the search bar and you will see this.

Your WordPress version will be highlighted and you will be able to easily spot it.

How to check your WordPress version through your terminal

This is a bit advanced, but if your site is running on Managed WordPress, managed WooCommerce, cloud, or a dedicated server, you will have access to your terminal. You will need to use the SSH creds to access your server. If this is the environment that you are using and you are able to login to your server use this command. It will show you which WordPress core version is being used on the site.

You will need to be in the WordPress install directory in order to use WP-CLI;

cd public_html

Once you are logged in, run the following WP-CLI command:

wp core version

As a result, output will look like this:

6.9

In the hope that you’ll be able to find out your WordPress version more easily now, let’s check the version history of the latest releases.

Looking back on WordPress version history

WordPress is popular because its core is quite easy to work with. Additionally, it offers a huge variety of themes and plugins to extend the capability of your site.

Below you can find a short breakdown of WordPress version history and the key features in these WordPress versions.

WordPress versions comparison

WordPress version	Release date	Key features
WordPress 6.8	December 2, 2025	Faster page loading, Block commenting, better style controls, new blocks, single-keystroke Command Palette
WordPress 6.8	April 15, 2025	Style Book enhancements, Editor improvements, Speculative loading, bcrypt password hashing, Accessibility improvements
WordPress 6.7	November 12, 2024	New default theme, automation improvements, new font styling capabilities, Zoom Out, HEIC images, new APIs
WordPress 6.6	July 16, 2024	Color palettes, font sets, quick previews, plugin rollbacks, pattern management, grid blocks
WordPress 6.5	April 2, 2024	Font Library, Block Bindings API, interactivity API, enhanced Site Editor, dependency management, improved link controls, refined preferences panel, performance optimizations
WordPress 6.4.2	December 6, 2023	Maintenance and security release
WordPress 6.4.1	November 3, 2023	Maintenance release
WordPress 6.4	November 7, 2023	Improved site editor, block hooks, ability to categorize patterns, improved design and writing experience, enhanced Command Palette, Lightbox, Twenty Twenty-Four theme
WordPress 6.3	August 8, 2023	Streamlined site editor, block theme previews, easier pattern creation and syncing, new command palette, enhanced design tools, style revisions, new footnotes block, new details block, and enhanced navigation
WordPress 6.2	March 29, 2023	New stable site editor, scaled block settings, color-coded labels for templates and reusable blocks, improved navigation experience, new style book, custom CSS support for specific blocks or whole site, Openverse integration, widgets now become template parts when switching from classic to block theme
WordPress 6.1.1	November 15, 2022	Maintenance release
WordPress 6.1	November 1, 2022	Full site editing, expanded templates and patterns extended to all post types, table of contents block, improved writing blocks, Twenty Twenty-Three theme, performance improvements, improved accessibility, new functions, and hooks to improve the development experience
WordPress 6.0.3	October 17, 2022	Security release
WordPress 6.0.2	August 30, 2022	Security and maintenance release, 12 fixes for core, 5 bug fixes for block editor
WordPress 6.0.1	July 12, 2022	Maintenance release, improved editor experience, 11 fixes for core, 18 bug fixes for block editor
WordPress 6.0	May 24, 2022	New Webfonts API, improved editor performance, extensive bug fixes, new design tools, expanded block editor functionality
WordPress 5.9.5	October 7, 2022	Security release
WordPress 5.9	January 25, 2022	Full site editing, site-wide blocks, navigation blocks, enhanced lazy loading, Twenty Twenty-Two theme, performance improvements
WordPress 5.8.6	October 7, 2022	Security release
WordPress 5.8	July 20, 2021	Improved functionality, power, and support for blocks, new blocks and patterns, improved template editing, improved image flow, improved design features like suggested patterns and duotone filters, Global Styles and Global Settings APIs, IE11 support dropped
WordPress 5.7.8	October 7, 2022	Security release
WordPress 5.7.2	May 12, 2021	Security update which patched vulnerability in PHP mailer
WordPress 5.7.1	April 14, 2021	Security release which fixed 26 bugs in total, data exposure vulnerability within REST API patched, PHP 8 vulnerability within media library patched
WordPress 5.7	March 9, 2021	Font size adjustment, full-height blocks, streamlined block inserter, one-click switch between HTTP and HTTPS, lazy loading for iframes, simpler color palette, social icons block, New Robots API
WordPress 5.6.4	May 12, 2021	Same date and same features as release 5.7.2
WordPress 5.6.3	April 14, 2021	Same date and same features as release 5.7.1
WordPress 5.6.2	February 22, 2021	Small maintenance update which fixed user reported issues discovered in version 5.6.1
WordPress 5.6.1	February 3, 2021	Maintenance release

WordPress version FAQs

What is the current version of WordPress?

The current WordPress version is 6.9 and was released on December 2, 2025.

How do I know my WordPress version?

You can check your WordPress dashboard to find your WordPress version. You can also find it in the front end of your WordPress website. WordPress versions update all the time. You should be checking regularly that you’re using the latest version of WordPress.

What is the latest WordPress version 2025?

Version 6.9 is the latest major WordPress release. It was released on December 2, 2025. Key updates include block-level editor notes for team collaboration, an expanded Command Palette for faster navigation, new and upgraded core blocks (such as Accordion and Time to Read), as well as significant performance improvements.

What versions of WordPress are there?

There are hundreds of versions of WordPress if you count every maintenance or security version. But major releases go from 1.0, 1.2, 1.5, 2.0, and all the way to the latest major WordPress version, 6.9.

Latest WordPress version FAQs

The easiest way is through your WordPress dashboard. Log in to the admin area and look at the “At a Glance” section on the main dashboard page; your current WordPress version is typically displayed there.

You can also check under Dashboard → Updates, where WordPress will show your installed version and whether an update is available. For advanced users, the version number is also listed in the page source or within the wp-includes/version.php file.

Before updating, create a full backup of your site, including files and database. The safest method is to test updates in a staging environment, which mirrors your live site without affecting visitors.

In staging, you can:

Run the WordPress update
Check plugin and theme compatibility
Test key functionality like forms, checkout, or logins

Once everything works properly, you can confidently apply the update to production.

Letting your host manage updates provides convenience and consistency. Benefits often include automatic core updates, proactive security monitoring, backups, and compatibility testing.

The downside is reduced control. Some users prefer to delay major updates until they verify plugin compatibility themselves. Managed updates may also cost more than basic hosting. For most businesses, though, automated management reduces risk and saves time.

If you’re comfortable handling backups, troubleshooting conflicts, and monitoring security patches, updating WordPress yourself can work. However, managed hosting simplifies the process by automating updates and providing support if something goes wrong. You trade some control for greater stability and reduced maintenance effort. The right choice depends on your technical skill level and how critical your site is to your business.

The best approach combines automation with oversight. Enable automatic updates for minor releases, maintain regular backups, and monitor plugin and theme compatibility.

Using staging environments for major updates adds an extra layer of safety. Whether you manage updates yourself or use a managed host, consistency is key. Keeping WordPress, plugins, and themes current helps maintain security, performance, and long-term stability.

Getting started with WordPress

That’s where fully managed WordPress hosting comes in. Fully managed hosting means you don’t have to worry about that — your website is in the hands of hosting experts.

Liquid Web offers WordPress hosting for every need and skill level. If managed hosting sounds like a weight off your shoulders, our WordPress experts can take care of the technical server work for you.