Deactivating and uninstalling

There are two different actions, and only one of them can remove data.

Deactivating

• All tables, definitions, settings and values stay in your database.
• Queued and scheduled background work (imports, schema changes, Pro tasks) is cancelled so it does not fail without the plugin. When you activate the plugin again, paused tasks are resumed.
• Your URLs are refreshed, so custom post types you defined with the plugin stop working while it is off.
• Field values stop appearing on edit screens and on your site while the plugin is inactive, because nothing reads the tables. Shortcodes print as plain text, and theme code that calls wpmcf_get_field() needs the plugin (guard such calls with function_exists).

Deleting the plugin

Default: your data stays

With Delete all plugin data on uninstall off (the default), deleting the plugin removes the plugin's files and nothing else. Reinstall it later and everything is back: field groups, tables, values, post types, taxonomies, Global Data and settings.

Posts, pages and other content you created always stay, including entries of custom post types you defined (they are simply not registered while the plugin is gone, so they do not show in the admin).

With "Delete all plugin data on uninstall" on

Go to WPM Fields › Settings › General › Data and switch Delete all plugin data on uninstall on, then Save changes. When you then delete the plugin from the Plugins screen, the plugin removes, for that site:

• every table that starts with {prefix}wpmcf_: all field group tables and their values, the settings table (definitions of groups, post types, taxonomies, options pages, Global Data and plugin settings), tasks and task logs, and the Pro tables (generated pages, data tables) if present,
• every plugin option and transient (names starting with wpmcf_),
• the plugin's queued actions in Action Scheduler,
• the uploads folder wpmcf-imports (files from CSV imports),
• cached data in persistent object caches that support group flushing.

Not removed:

• Posts, pages, media and other content, including posts converted from generated pages.
• JSON files saved in your theme's wpmcf-json folder (Local JSON).
• Anything stored by other plugins.

This is permanent. There is no undo and the tables are not archived.

Back up first

1. Export your definitions under WPM Fields › Tools (field groups, post types, taxonomies, options pages as JSON).
2. Pro: download data tables as CSV.
3. Take a full database backup, because values live in tables that WordPress's own export does not include.

Multisite

On a network the cleanup runs for each site separately, and only on sites that switched the setting on. See Multisite. A site deleted from the network always loses its plugin tables.

Free and Pro together

If you delete the free copy after installing Pro, the same rules apply. Make sure Delete all plugin data on uninstall is off first (it is off by default), so your data is kept.

Troubleshooting