The first Release Candidate (“RC1”) for WordPress 6.9 is ready for download and testing!
This version of the WordPress software is still under development. Please do not install, run, or test this version of WordPress on production or mission-critical websites. Instead, it’s recommended to evaluate RC1 on a test server and site.
WordPress 6.9 RC1 can be tested using any of the following methods:
| Plugin | Install and activate the WordPress Beta Tester plugin on a WordPress install. (Select the “Bleeding edge” channel and “Beta/RC Only” stream.) |
| Direct Download | Download the RC1 version (zip) and install it on a WordPress website. |
| Command Line | Use this WP-CLI command: wp core update --version=6.9-RC1 |
| WordPress Playground | Use the 6.9 RC1 WordPress Playground instance to test the software directly in your browser. No setup is required – just click and go! |
The scheduled final release date for WordPress 6.9 is December 2, 2025. The full release schedule can be found here. Your help testing Beta and RC versions is vital to making this release as stable and powerful as possible.
Please continue checking the Make WordPress Core blog for 6.9-related posts in the coming weeks for more information.
What’s in WordPress 6.9 RC1?
Check out the Beta 1 announcement for details on WordPress 6.9.
You can browse the technical details for all issues addressed since Beta 4 using these links:
- Gutenberg commits for 6.9 since November 7, 2025
- Core commits for 6.9 since November 7, 2025
- Closed Trac tickets since November 7, 2025
Want to know more about this release? Here are some highlights:
- Site Editor improvements and Refined content creation
- Ability to hide blocks
- New blocks
- Notes on blocks
- Universal command palette in wp-admin
- Developer updates
- Updates to dataviews and dataforms components
- New abilities API
- Updates to interactivity API
- Updates to block binding API
- Performance Improvements
- Improved script and style handling
- Optimized queries and caching
- Added ability to handle “fetchpriority” in ES Modules and Import Maps
- Standardizing output buffering
The final release is on track for December 2nd. As always, a successful release depends on your confirmation during testing. So please download and test!
How you can contribute
WordPress is open source software made possible by a passionate community of people collaborating on and contributing to its development. The resources below outline various ways you can help the world’s most popular open source web platform, regardless of your technical expertise.
Get involved in testing
Testing for issues is crucial to the development of any software. It’s also a meaningful way for anyone to contribute.
Your help testing the WordPress 6.9 RC1 version is key to ensuring that the final release is the best it can be. While testing the upgrade process is essential, trying out new features is equally important. This detailed guide will walk you through testing features in WordPress 6.9.
Calls for testing
Thank you to everyone who helps test the following enhancements and bug fixes:
- Accordion Block
- Ability to Hide Blocks
- Classic themes loading block styles on demand
- Modified notes notifications
- Abilities API
If you encounter an issue, please report it to the Alpha/Beta area of the support forums, or directly to WordPress Trac if you are comfortable writing a reproducible bug report. You can also check your issue against a list of known bugs.
Thank you to everyone who helps with testing!
Update your theme or plugin
For plugin and theme authors, your products play an integral role in extending the functionality and value of WordPress for all users.
Thanks for continuing to test your themes and plugins with the WordPress 6.9 beta releases. With RC1, you’ll want to conclude your testing and update the “Tested up to” version in your plugin’s readme file to 6.9.
If you find compatibility issues, please post detailed information to the support forum.
Test on your hosting platforms
Web hosts provide vital infrastructure for supporting WordPress and its users. Testing on hosting systems helps inform the development process while ensuring that WordPress and hosting platforms are fully compatible, free of errors, optimized for the best possible user experience, and that updates roll out to customer sites without issue.
Want to test WordPress on your hosting system? Get started with configuring distributed hosting tests here. Thank you to all web hosts who help test WordPress!
Curious about testing releases in general? Follow along with the testing initiatives in Make Core and join the #core-test channel on Making WordPress Slack.
An RC1 haiku
As the sun rises,
RC1 breaks its cocoon
and emerges strong.
Props to @akshayar, @davidbaumwald, @jeffpaul, @desrosj, @westonruter, @ellatrix, @priethor, @krupajnanda and @cbravobernal for proofreading and review.
Source: Community