Deactivate or uninstall Always Alert

Understand what pauses on deactivation, what data remains, and what the uninstall process removes.

Written By Kelsey

Last updated About 1 month ago

Deactivation and uninstall have different effects. Choose the action that matches whether the pause is temporary or the product is being removed permanently.

Before either action

Always Alert may be providing a live fallback path. Before disabling it:

  1. Confirm the client or operational owner understands that fallback copies and monitoring will stop.

  2. Verify the forms’ normal recipients and mail transport.

  3. Export any log records required for an active investigation or maintenance record.

  4. Record the change in the site’s maintenance notes.

  5. Arrange an alternative monitoring process if the site still requires one.

Deactivate the plugin

Go to Plugins, find Always Alert, and select Deactivate.

While deactivated:

  • fallback recipients are not added;

  • form activity is not observed by Always Alert;

  • no-activity checks, weekly digests, heartbeats, and reminders do not run;

  • emergency oversight does not run;

  • the existing settings, log, and monitoring state remain in the WordPress database for a later reactivation.

After reactivation, review the licence and settings and run both a Mail Handoff Test and real form tests. Do not assume the previous configuration is still operational without verification.

Inactive or expired licence

An inactive licence also pauses Always Alert’s core protection and monitoring. WordPress displays an oversight-paused notice on a previously configured site.

Reactivate the licence, then validate the full mail path before treating protection as restored.

Uninstall the plugin

To remove Always Alert permanently:

  1. Deactivate it under Plugins.

  2. Select Delete.

  3. Confirm the deletion.

The uninstall cleanup removes:

  • Always Alert settings;

  • activity log entries;

  • aggregate monitoring state;

  • Always Alert scheduled events;

  • legacy Always Deliver settings, logs, monitoring state, and scheduled events if they exist.

After uninstall, the plugin’s stored data cannot be restored unless you have an external site or database backup.

What uninstall does not remove

Uninstall cannot recall emails already sent to normal, fallback, post-launch, or emergency recipients. Those messages are subject to the retention and access controls of the relevant mailboxes and mail providers.

It also does not change the site’s form recipients, SMTP plugin, DNS records, transactional-provider account, or mailbox rules.

If you are replacing Always Alert

Test the replacement before deleting Always Alert, but avoid leaving two tools adding duplicate recipients to production messages. Use a controlled staging or maintenance window and inspect the final recipient lists.

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