Studio sites

A Studio site is a WordPress instance running locally on your computer, and each of your sites will be listed in the WordPress Studio sidebar. 

WordPress Studio allows you to create, maintain, and work on unlimited local WordPress websites.

Add a new site

To add a new site to Studio:

1. Click the Add site (+) button at the top of the sidebar to display the Add a site screen.
2. You will be presented with three options: Create a new site, Connect a site, or Import from a backup. You can also choose a Blueprint under Start from a Blueprint; see Blueprints.

3. For now, select the Create a new site option.
4. Enter a Site name. If you’re logged in to WordPress.com with Studio Code turned on, you can also describe the site you want under What should we create?: Studio creates the site and opens its chat with your description already sent.
5. (Optional) Expand Advanced settings to enable the following additional settings:
   • Select a custom local path
   • Select a WordPress version, or keep Automatic updates to let WordPress update itself
   • Select a custom PHP version
   • Select PHP runtime and file access
   • Select admin credentials
   • Use a custom domain.
6. Click Create site.

Any new site is started by default, which is depicted by a green dot in the sidebar:

Using a custom domain and SSL

By default, new Studio sites use localhost. If you prefer to use a custom domain, select Use custom domain under Advanced settings → Domain when creating the site. Studio will suggest a domain for you but you can also enter your own. Custom domains must end in .local.

After clicking Create site, you will be prompted to enter your system password. Once confirmed, the custom domain will then point to your Studio site.

You can optionally enable HTTPS (SSL) for your custom domain. Refer to the “SSL in Studio” doc page to learn more about this functionality.

Add a new site using an existing WordPress directory

You can also add a site to Studio using an existing WordPress directory:

1. Remove wp-config.php file from the existing WordPress site directory.
2. Click the Add site (+) button and select Create a new site.
3. Name your site, expand Advanced settings, choose the directory with the existing WordPress site as the Local path, and click Create site.

If you’d prefer to use an existing wp-config.php file, you can follow these instructions.

Starting and stopping sites

You can view any running site in your browser. With a stopped site, viewing the site in your browser will be disabled until you start it again.

Each site in the sidebar has a status button next to its name, which shows a green dot while the site is running. Hover over the button to see the site’s status, then click it to start or stop the site.

When a site is stopped, the site preview shows a Start site button, which you can also click to start it.

You can also right-click a site in the sidebar and choose Start site or Stop site.

When you quit Studio while sites are running, Studio asks what to do with them. To choose a default, open App settings and set When quitting with running sites to Keep sites running, Stop, restart on next launch, or Stop sites.

View sites

The selected site is shown in the site preview, on the right of the Studio window. Use the preview’s address menu to switch between the site’s front end, WP Admin, and the database.

To view a running site in your browser:

• WP admin: Click Open in… at the top of the window and choose Browser (WP Admin) to open your local site’s dashboard.
• Open site: Click Open in… and choose Browser, or click Open this page in your browser in the site preview, to open your local site’s homepage.

You do not need a username or password to view your site’s dashboard as you will be automatically logged in

Site overview

Each local site has its own quick-access buttons on the Overview tab of the site overview, for easy navigation and an efficient workflow. To open it, click the Site overview button next to the site’s name in the sidebar.

The Overview tab includes:

• About: a screenshot of the site, its WordPress and PHP versions, and how much disk space it uses
• WP Admin: the admin username, password, and email, each with a copy button
• Shortcuts: one-click links to site setting pages
• Open in…: buttons that open the site in other apps
• Manage: Duplicate, Import, Export entire site, Export database, and Delete

Select one of your sites and make sure that it is running. Under Shortcuts, you can quickly open site setting pages with just one click.

If you’re using a block theme on your local site, you’ll see the following options:

• Site Editor
• Styles
• Patterns
• Navigation
• Templates

If you’re using a classic theme on your local site, you’ll see the following options, depending on their availability in the theme:

• Customizer
• Menus
• Widgets

With any theme, you’ll also see Posts, Pages, and Media Library.

“Open in…” section

Under the “Open in…” heading, Studio will show buttons that will open your site in the following apps if detected on your computer:

• Finder (macOS only)
• File Explorer (Windows only)
• File manager (Linux only)

Additionally, Studio allows opening files in the following code editors:

• Antigravity IDE
• Cursor
• PhpStorm
• Sublime Text
• Visual Studio Code
• WebStorm
• Windsurf
• Zed

You can also open your sites with several terminal applications:

• Terminal (macOS and Linux)
• Command Prompt (Windows)
• iTerm (macOS)
• Warp
• Ghostty (macOS and Linux)

Studio also allows you to open your site’s database with the database editor:

• phpMyAdmin

To select a preferred code editor or terminal application, click App settings at the bottom of the sidebar, or press ⌘, (Ctrl+, on Windows and Linux). On the Settings tab, choose a Preferred editor and a Preferred terminal.

Site settings

You can view and edit each site’s settings on the Settings tab of the site overview. To open it, click the Site overview button next to the site’s name in the sidebar and select the Settings tab, or right-click the site in the sidebar and choose Site settings.

Site details:

• Site name: Your local site’s name.
• WordPress version: Keep Automatic updates to let WordPress install updates on its own schedule, or choose Select a version to pin a specific WordPress version.

PHP environment:

• PHP version: The PHP version used for your local site.
• PHP runtime and File access: See PHP runtimes in Studio.

WordPress admin:

• Admin username: The username for the admin account on your local site and can be used to log into your preview site.
• Admin password: The password for the admin account on your local site and can be used to log into your preview site.
• Admin email: The email address for the admin account.

Domain:

• Use custom domain and Enable HTTPS: See Using a custom domain and SSL.

Edit a site

To edit a site, change any of the settings on the Settings tab and click Save settings. You can edit the site’s name, switch to different PHP and WordPress versions, and change the admin credentials and domain.

Site actions such as starting, stopping, and editing a site are unavailable while a sync, import, or export is running on that site.

Site menu

Right-click a site in the sidebar to open its menu, with quick access to:

• Start site or Stop site
• Site settings
• Duplicate site
• Open in your browser (the site or WP Admin), file manager, editor, terminal, or phpMyAdmin
• Export entire site and Export database
• Delete site

Delete a site

You may also delete your local site by clicking Delete under Manage on the site overview’s Overview tab, or by right-clicking the site in the sidebar and choosing Delete site. You’ll have the option to delete site files from your computer before confirming the deletion with Delete site.