Upgrading PrestaShop can improve security, performance, compatibility, and features, but you should prepare carefully before upgrading your live store.

1. Check Your Current PrestaShop Version

First, find your current version from:

Back Office → Advanced Parameters → Information

Write down:

• Current PrestaShop version
• PHP version
• MySQL/MariaDB version
• Installed modules
• Current theme

This information is important for checking compatibility.

2. Take a Complete Backup

Never upgrade a live PrestaShop store without a recent backup.

Create:

Website files backup

Back up your entire PrestaShop installation, including:

• /img/
• /modules/
• /themes/
• /override/
• /upload/
• /download/
• /config/
• PrestaShop core files

Database backup

Export the complete PrestaShop database using phpMyAdmin or your hosting backup system.

Keep the files and database backup somewhere outside the server as well.

3. Check Module Compatibility

Go to:

Back Office → Modules → Module Manager

Check your installed modules.

Before upgrading, verify that important modules support the target PrestaShop version.

Pay particular attention to:

• Payment modules
• Shipping modules
• Tax modules
• SEO modules
• Security modules
• Analytics modules
• Custom checkout modules
• Custom-developed modules

An incompatible module can cause errors after an upgrade.

4. Check Your Theme

Your theme is one of the most important things to check.

Verify that your theme supports the new PrestaShop version.

Also check whether the theme has customized:

• Product pages
• Checkout
• Cart
• Header/footer
• Category pages
• Order pages

If your theme contains custom code, make sure it is compatible before upgrading.

5. Check PHP Compatibility

Check the PHP version required by your target PrestaShop version.

Don’t simply upgrade PHP at the same time as PrestaShop unless you have confirmed that both versions are compatible.

A good approach is:

Check PrestaShop requirements → check modules/theme → check PHP compatibility → then upgrade.

6. Create a Staging Website

This is one of the safest ways to upgrade.

Create a copy of your live store on a subdomain such as:

staging.yourstore.com

Copy:

• PrestaShop files
• Database
• Images
• Theme
• Modules

Then perform the upgrade on the staging website first.

7. Put the Store in Maintenance Mode

When you’re ready to upgrade the live store:

Back Office → Shop Parameters → General → Maintenance

Enable maintenance mode.

This prevents customers from placing orders while the upgrade is being performed.

8. Use the Official Upgrade Method

For supported PrestaShop versions, use the official PrestaShop Update Assistant where appropriate.

The exact upgrade path depends on your current and target versions. For example, upgrading between minor releases is different from making a major-version jump.

Don’t assume that the latest version can always be installed directly over an older version.

Check the official upgrade documentation for your specific version.

9. Run the Upgrade

Before starting:

✅ Backup completed
✅ Staging upgrade tested
✅ Modules checked
✅ Theme checked
✅ PHP compatibility checked
✅ Maintenance mode enabled

Then run the upgrade.

Do not close the browser, restart the server, or interrupt the process while the upgrade is running.

10. Clear the Cache

After the upgrade, clear PrestaShop’s cache.

Go to:

Advanced Parameters → Performance

Then clear the cache.

If you’re using server-level caching, CDN caching, or a caching module, clear those caches as well.

11. Test Your Store

Don’t immediately disable maintenance mode.

First test the important functions.

Front office

Check:

• Homepage
• Categories
• Product pages
• Product images
• Search
• Cart
• Checkout
• Customer registration
• Customer login
• Contact form

Back office

Check:

• Orders
• Customers
• Products
• Categories
• Discounts
• Shipping
• Payment configuration
• Tax settings
• Modules

Place a test order

If possible, place a test order using your payment gateway’s test/sandbox mode.

Verify that:

Order → Payment → Email → Stock → Invoice

all work correctly.

12. Check Your SEO

After upgrading, check:

• URLs
• Meta titles
• Meta descriptions
• Canonical URLs
• Robots.txt
• XML sitemap
• 301 redirects
• Product structured data
• Category pages

Also check your important pages for 404 errors.

13. Disable Maintenance Mode

Only after testing everything:

Back Office → Shop Parameters → General → Maintenance → Disable

Then visit the store as a normal customer and test the complete shopping process again.

Safe PrestaShop Upgrade Checklist

☐ Check current PrestaShop version
☐ Check target version requirements
☐ Check PHP compatibility
☐ Check database compatibility
☐ Backup files
☐ Backup database
☐ Check modules
☐ Check theme
☐ Create staging website
☐ Test upgrade on staging
☐ Enable maintenance mode
☐ Upgrade live store
☐ Clear cache
☐ Test front office
☐ Test back office
☐ Test checkout/payment
☐ Check SEO/URLs
☐ Disable maintenance mode
☐ Keep the backup until everything is confirmed

Most important rule

Don’t upgrade directly on the live store without testing first.

The safest workflow is:

Backup → Staging → Test → Upgrade → Verify → Go Live

If you tell me your current PrestaShop version and the version you want to upgrade to (for example, 1.7.8 → 8.2), I can give you the exact upgrade path and compatibility checklist.