Newer PHP is faster and safer. The gap between a version from a few years ago and the current one is large enough to notice without any other change - often a third off page generation time, sometimes more.
Change it in cPanel under Select PHP Version, or MultiPHP Manager on some servers.
How to do it without breaking anything:
- Back up first. One minute, and it turns a bad outcome into a two-minute rollback.
- Update your software before PHP, not after. Current versions of WordPress, plugins and themes are the ones tested against current PHP.
- Step up one version at a time if you are several behind. It makes any problem obvious instead of mysterious.
- Test the parts that break quietly - contact forms, checkout, admin pages, anything that sends email. The home page is rarely where the problem shows.
If something breaks, switch back. The setting takes effect immediately in both directions, so you are never stuck.
A version that has reached end of life gets no security fixes at all. If you are running one, moving is not an optimisation, it is maintenance - and we can help if an old application makes it awkward.
