Dec 2, 2015

Download a Plugin or Theme from the WordPress Admin Dashboard

Typically, if I need to download a plugin or theme that’s running on a remote server, I connect to that server via FTP or SSH and transfer the files to my local machine. However, sometimes I don’t have access to the server for one reason or another, but I DO have the username and password to the WordPress admin dashboard. Below, I’ll outline how I download a plugin or theme from the WordPress admin dashboard using the help of a free plugin.

Update 4/26/19

As Linkpak Digital pointed out in the comments, the Advanced Code Editor plugin mentioned in the section below is no longer available on the wordpress.org Plugin Directory. I now recommend using this one instead: https://wordpress.org/plugins/download-plugins-dashboard/

Old Steps

  1. Log in to the WordPress admin for the site where the plugin/theme you want is installed.
  2. Go to Plugins > Add New. Search for and install the [Advanced Code Editor]https://wordpress.org/plugins/advanced-code-editor/) plugin.
  3. Go to Plugins > Installed Plugins and activate it.
  4. Go to Plugins > Editor if you want to download a plugin, or Appearance > Editor if you want to download a theme.
  5. Select the plugin/theme from the dropdown menu and click select
  6. Click the far-right button to download it
Advanced Code Editor comments