Title: [Plugin: W3 Total Cache] worst plugin EVER Last modified: August 20, 2016 --- # [Plugin: W3 Total Cache] worst plugin EVER * Resolved [thomask](https://wordpress.org/support/users/thomask/) * (@thomask) * [13 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-w3-total-cache-worst-plugin-ever/) * I have never gave wordpress plugin 1 star (and i have created abour 400 wordpress webs during last 6 years), but i simply hate this one. It’s functions are great, but i have always ended sooner or later with some critical failure and this plugin is almost impossible to delete. E.g. now i cannot access wp-admin because of W3 Total Cache Error: some files appear to be missing or out of place. Please re-install plugin or remove /var/www/projects/zdrojak/htdocs/public/wp-content/ advanced-cache.php. error I have deleted WP database completely (new project, dont bother), i have deleted wp-content and reinstalled WP and the bug is still there. I guess there are some symlinks etc. i cannot see on external hosting. I can simply flush everything from this hosting and install again, but if it would be a living project, i would probably go and kill the authors. And this is not the first time, several such errors sometimes appears. This is the best cache plugin if it works, but if not, you will loose your hair trying to fix it. * [http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/w3-total-cache/](http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/w3-total-cache/) Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total) * [Zane Matthew](https://wordpress.org/support/users/zanematthew/) * (@zanematthew) * [13 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-w3-total-cache-worst-plugin-ever/#post-3021334) * The settings are intimidating and as a developer its somewhat “scary” as to what this plugin is doing, but with 1.2M+ downloads it must be god :/ * Honestly “if” it works as expected it will do wonders for you. * Hope the best for you. * [Chris Olbekson](https://wordpress.org/support/users/c3mdigital/) * (@c3mdigital) * [13 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-w3-total-cache-worst-plugin-ever/#post-3021336) * Thomask, * Sorry you are having so many problems with the plugin. I have been using it for 2 years now and have installed and configured it on hundreds of different sites all without any issues. Maybe some manual uninstall directions need to be included for situations like yours. * Manual Uninstall directions: * 1. Delete the w3-total-cache directory from wp-content/plugins. 2. Delete advanced- cache.php from wp-content. 3. Delete db.php from wp-content. 4. Delete object- cache.php from wp-content 5. Open wp-config.php and remove the line define(‘WP_CACHE’, true); 6. Backup your .htaccess file from your websites root directory. 7. Delete. htaccess from your websites root directory. 8. Regenerate rewrite rules by going to Settings – > Permalinks and saving. (This will also generate a new clean . htaccess file. * The plugin actually does all this when it’s deactivated but due to server configurations it is possible that the deactivation gets caught up. * [(Aan) Aunurrofik](https://wordpress.org/support/users/aanaunurrofik/) * (@aanaunurrofik) * [13 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-w3-total-cache-worst-plugin-ever/#post-3021337) * Hi Thomask, * Is it that scary? Oh, then I must be careful with this plugin. * I’ve using this plugin for about two months, and for me it’s a great tool for a webmaster. * Few of my sites that have W3TC have load significantly faster than before. * Hope that you solve this problem soon. * Thread Starter [thomask](https://wordpress.org/support/users/thomask/) * (@thomask) * [13 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-w3-total-cache-worst-plugin-ever/#post-3021346) * I have been also using this plugin and i agree that it is the best plugin when considering just functions But the problems with not properly uninstallation are simply too much for me. Every other plugin do not have such problems, all mentioned procedures could be done bu plugin uninstallation script * I have found the error after few hours – it was because of APC installed on the system, which W3TC somehow initiated but did not clean it after uninstall, hopefully i got server admin near me who find it and reset it. Without this procedure i could even delete whole wordpress and database and the error stayed there. * So for creators – please take care of uninstallation – there are tons of people with similar problems with this plugin – try to search the internet. * [Waqas](https://wordpress.org/support/users/waqaslone/) * (@waqaslone) * [13 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-w3-total-cache-worst-plugin-ever/#post-3021348) * **W3 total cache** is the best plugin ever. I have also experienced that problem in the past but it was due to a mistake which i made. I am using w3total cache for more than a year now. It works great on all my sites. Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total) The topic ‘[Plugin: W3 Total Cache] worst plugin EVER’ is closed to new replies. * ![](https://ps.w.org/w3-total-cache/assets/icon-256x256.png?rev=1041806) * [W3 Total Cache](https://wordpress.org/plugins/w3-total-cache/) * [Frequently Asked Questions](https://wordpress.org/plugins/w3-total-cache/#faq) * [Support Threads](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/w3-total-cache/) * [Active Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/w3-total-cache/active/) * [Unresolved Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/w3-total-cache/unresolved/) * [Reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/w3-total-cache/reviews/) * 5 replies * 5 participants * Last reply from: [Waqas](https://wordpress.org/support/users/waqaslone/) * Last activity: [13 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-w3-total-cache-worst-plugin-ever/#post-3021348) * Status: resolved