How to Install WordPress Locally with LocalWP

Setting up a local WordPress environment is the first step every developer should take before pushing changes to a live site. LocalWP (formerly Local by Flywheel) makes this process painless.

Why Develop Locally?

Working on a local copy of WordPress gives you a safe sandbox to experiment without breaking your live site. You can test plugin updates, try new themes, and debug issues without any downtime risk.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have:

A computer running macOS, Windows, or Linux
At least 4 GB of free disk space
Administrator access on your machine

Step 1: Download LocalWP

Head to the LocalWP website and download the installer for your operating system. The download is free and does not require an account.

Step 2: Create a New Site

After installing LocalWP, open the application and click the + button to create a new site. Enter a name for your site — this will also become the local domain (e.g., mysite.local).

Step 3: Choose Your Environment

LocalWP offers two environment options:

Preferred — Uses nginx and the latest stable PHP. Best for most users.
Custom — Lets you choose PHP version, web server (nginx or Apache), and MySQL version.

For beginners, the Preferred option works well.

Step 4: Set Up WordPress Credentials

Enter a username, password, and email for your WordPress admin account. You will use these to log into the dashboard at mysite.local/wp-admin.

Step 5: Start Building

Click Add Site and LocalWP will provision everything automatically. Within a minute or two, your local WordPress site will be running.

Bonus: Install Developer Plugins

Once your local site is running, install these plugins to improve your development workflow:

Query Monitor — Displays database queries, hooks, and HTTP requests
Debug Bar — Adds a debug menu to the admin bar with query and cache information

Next Steps

With your local environment ready, you can start building themes, testing plugins, or following along with our other WordPress development tutorials.