2026年11月14日
This article is a localized edition of the Japanese original. Read the Japanese original
WP Rocket is a paid caching plugin sold by WP Media. Page caching starts as soon as you activate it, and some optimizations such as CSS and JavaScript minification are also on from the start. From there, the basic approach is to turn on the high-impact features, such as lazy loading and delayed JavaScript execution, one at a time while checking how your site looks.
The screen labels and defaults in this article were checked against the WP Rocket 3.24 source code (released October 2026) and the official documentation as of November 2026. In the Japanese interface only some labels are translated and newer ones stay in English, so this article uses the English labels throughout.
Install WP Rocket
- Buy a plan on the official site (wp-rocket.me). Plans differ by the number of sites; as of November 2026 there are Single (1 site), Plus (3 sites) and Multi (50 sites or more). Prices change with promotions, so check the official pricing page when you buy.
- Download the ZIP file from your WP Rocket account page. Safari on a Mac may unzip the file automatically on download; if it does, turn off automatic unzipping in its settings and download again.
- In the WordPress admin screen, go to "Plugins" → "Add New Plugin" → "Upload Plugin", choose the ZIP, then install and activate it.
With WP-CLI, run the following.
wp plugin install /path/to/wp-rocket_3.24.zip --activateThe ZIP downloaded from your account page contains your license information, and the license is validated automatically when you activate the plugin. You normally do not need to enter a license key by hand.
Running page caching twice, with another caching plugin (W3 Total Cache, WP Super Cache, LiteSpeed Cache and so on) alongside WP Rocket, causes display problems. Deactivate and delete other caching plugins before installing WP Rocket.
What is already working after activation
The settings screen is under "Settings" → "WP Rocket" in the admin screen. On first activation, the following are turned on (checked against the defaults in the source code).
| Feature | Initial state |
|---|---|
| Page cache (including a separate cache for mobile) | On |
| Minify CSS files | On |
| Minify JavaScript files | On |
| Google Fonts optimization | On |
| Activate Preloading | On |
| Reduced Heartbeat frequency | On |
| LazyLoad for images and iframes, Load JavaScript deferred, Delay JavaScript execution, CDN | Off |
| Cache Lifespan | 10 hours |
If you have been using WP Rocket since an older version and the mobile cache is off, the settings screen shows an "Enable Mobile Cache" button. Click it to turn on the mobile cache.
Before you change settings
WP Rocket's optimizations can break your layout depending on your theme and other plugins. Working in this order makes it easier to find the cause.
- Turn on one option and click "Save Changes"
- While logged out (or in a private window), open the front page, a post, a page and any page with a form, and check them
- If something is wrong, turn only that option off again
By default, logged-in administrators are not served cached pages. Check the display while logged out.
JavaScript & CSS tab
This tab groups the CSS and JavaScript optimizations.
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Minify CSS files | Removes whitespace and comments from CSS. On by default |
| Optimize CSS delivery | Choose either "Remove Unused CSS" or "Load CSS asynchronously". Both are processed on WP Rocket's servers |
| Minify JavaScript files | Removes whitespace and comments from JavaScript. On by default |
| Load JavaScript deferred | Adds defer to scripts so they load without blocking HTML parsing |
| Delay JavaScript execution | Does not run JavaScript until the user interacts, for example by scrolling or clicking. Speed scores tend to improve, but sliders, menus and similar features may not work until the user interacts |
If something stops working after you enable Delay JavaScript execution, either select the relevant plugin or theme under "One-click exclusions", or exclude files by entering part of each file's URL, one per line, in "Excluded JavaScript Files".
The CSS combining and DNS prefetch settings from earlier versions are not shown on the 3.24 settings screen. If the steps in an older tutorial do not match your screen, check this first.
Image & Media tab
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| LazyLoad: Enable for images | Loads off-screen images when the visitor scrolls near them |
| Enable for CSS background images | Also lazy-loads CSS background images |
| Enable for iframes and videos | Lazy-loads iframes such as embedded videos |
| Replace YouTube iframe with preview image | Shows a thumbnail image instead of the YouTube embed until it is clicked |
| Excluded images or iframes | File names or class names of images you want to exclude from lazy loading |
| Add missing image dimensions | Adds dimensions to img tags without width and height, reducing layout shifts while loading |
| Preload fonts, Self-host Google Fonts | Settings to preload fonts and to serve Google Fonts from your own server |
If even the images visible on first load (above the fold) are lazy-loaded, the page looks slow to appear. WP Rocket has a feature that detects above-the-fold images from actual page views and loads them with priority. If your main image still appears late, add its file name to "Excluded images or iframes".
Preload tab
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Activate Preloading | Collects pages from your sitemap and other sources and builds the cache before visitors arrive. On by default |
| Exclude URLs | URLs to leave out of preloading |
| Enable link preloading | Starts loading a page when the visitor hovers over a link to it |
Cache Rules tab
This tab decides what is cached and for how long.
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Never Cache URL(s) | URLs of pages not to cache. Add your login URL here if you changed it, for example |
| Never Cache Cookies | Visitors with these cookies are not served the cache |
| Never Cache User Agent(s) | Specific user agents are not served the cache |
| Always Purge URL(s) | URLs whose cache is also cleared when you update a post |
| Cache Query String(s) | Also caches URLs with the specified query strings |
| Cache Lifespan | How often the whole cache is rebuilt. The default is 10 hours |
If you use WooCommerce
When WooCommerce is active, WP Rocket automatically excludes the cart, checkout and My Account pages from caching (the settings screen says so). You do not need to add these URLs to "Never Cache URL(s)" by hand.
If you have added your own logic that changes the display based on the cart contents (such as member-only price displays), you need to handle it separately, for example by adding the cookies that logic uses to "Never Cache Cookies".
Clear the cache and use WP-CLI
After changing settings, or when something looks wrong, you can clear the cache from the "WP Rocket" menu in the admin bar.
To work from WP-CLI, install the WP-CLI package published by WP Media (wp-rocket-cli).
# Add the wp rocket command
wp package install wp-media/wp-rocket-cli
# Clear the cache (skip the confirmation prompt)
wp rocket clean --confirm
# Start preloading the cache
wp rocket preload
# Export the settings to a JSON file (for moving them to another site, for example)
wp rocket exportWhen your license expires
When your license expires, WP Rocket's caching keeps working, but you no longer get plugin updates or support. The official documentation says server-side features such as Remove Unused CSS stop 15 days after expiration. Without updates, bug fixes and security fixes no longer reach you, so if you keep using it, renew the license or switch to another caching method.
Copies of WP Rocket circulating outside the official source (so-called nulled versions) may contain malware. Do not use a copy obtained anywhere other than your account page on the official site.
To compare with free caching plugins, see also How to set up W3 Total Cache, How to set up WP Super Cache and How to set up LiteSpeed Cache.
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