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Joomla 3 to 4 Migration: A Step-by-Step Guide (2026)

Migration · Joomla 3 → 4 · Updated June 1, 2026

Verify before you rely on this in production. The steps below follow the official Joomla documentation (verified 2026-06-01), but you should always test the migration on a copy of your site first. Joomla 3 is end-of-life, so plan to continue on to Joomla 5 afterwards.

✅ Checked against a live Joomla 3.10.12 install. We confirmed the bridge mechanics on a real site: the Pre-Update Check feature is present, and after switching the update channel to Joomla Next, the built-in updater detected Joomla 4.4.14 as the available upgrade. Joomla’s update server only offers Joomla 4 to 3.10.x platforms (never to 3.9, and it never offers Joomla 5 to a Joomla 3 site) — which is exactly why the 3.10 bridge is mandatory.

Moving from Joomla 3 to Joomla 4 is not a single jump. The official, supported path goes through Joomla 3.10.x, which acts as a “bridge” release.

The big picture

  1. Get your site fully up to date on the Joomla 3.10.x branch.
  2. Run the Pre-Update Check and resolve every warning.
  3. Trigger the one-click mini-migration to Joomla 4 from the Joomla Update component.

There is no direct path from Joomla 3.9 (or earlier) to Joomla 4 — you must reach 3.10.x first.

Step 1 — Back up everything

Take a full backup (files + database) before touching anything. Akeeba Backup is the community standard. Do not skip this: a migration that goes wrong on a live site is far harder to recover from than restoring a backup.

Step 2 — Update to Joomla 3.10.x

The 3.10 series backports the Joomla 4 APIs, which is what makes the migration possible. Update through System → Joomla! Update until you are on the latest 3.10.x release.

Step 3 — Run the Pre-Update Check

On 3.10.x, the Joomla Update component shows a Pre-Update Check. It validates your PHP and database versions and reports which of your installed extensions are known to be Joomla 4 compatible.

⚠️ Caveat worth knowing: the compatibility check can only report on extensions that declare a targetplatform tag in their update server data. Extensions that don’t use it may simply not show up — absence of a warning is not a guarantee of compatibility. Check each critical extension with its developer.

Step 4 — The mini-migration to Joomla 4

By default, Joomla 3.10 only offers you 3.10.x point releases. To be offered Joomla 4, open System → Joomla! Update → Options and set the Update Channel to Joomla Next (on a live 3.10.12 site this is what made Joomla 4.4.14 appear).

Once the Pre-Update Check is clean, run the update. The core migrates automatically; third-party extensions are upgraded on a case-by-case basis as their J4-compatible versions become available.

Tip: the actual file copy and database migration are handled by the same Joomla Update engine used for every later upgrade — so expect the same flow (download → extract → copy → finalize) you’d see going from 4 to 5.

After the migration

  • Test the front end and admin thoroughly, especially anything driven by third-party extensions and your template.
  • Because Joomla 3 and 4 are both past their best, plan your upgrade to Joomla 5 next — and check the version & PHP requirements before you do.