The first Release Candidate (“RC1”) for WordPress 7.1 is ready for download and testing!

This version of the WordPress software is still under development. Please do not install, run, or test this version of WordPress on production or mission-critical websites. Instead, it’s recommended to evaluate RC1 on a test server and site.

WordPress 7.1 RC1 can be tested using any of the following methods:

Plugin	Install and activate the WordPress Beta Tester plugin on a WordPress install. (Select the “Bleeding edge” channel and “Beta/RC Only” stream.)
Direct Download	Download the RC1 version (zip) and install it on a WordPress website.
Command Line	Use this WP-CLI command: wp core update --version=7.1-RC1
WordPress Playground	Use the WordPress Playground instance to test the software directly in your browser.  No setup required – just click and go!

The scheduled final release date for WordPress 7.1 is August 19, 2026. The full release schedule can be found here. Your help testing Beta and RC versions is vital to making this release as stable and powerful as possible. Thank you to everyone who contributes by testing!

Please continue checking the Make WordPress Core blog for 7.1-related posts in the coming weeks for more information.

What’s in WordPress 7.1 RC1?

WordPress 7.1 RC1 contains more than 145 updates and fixes since the Beta 4 release, including 57 in the Editor and 88 in Core.

For an overview of what’s new in WordPress 7.1, read the Beta 1 announcement and the WordPress 7.1 Dev Notes. For a comprehensive summary, see the WordPress 7.1 Field Guide.

You can also explore the technical details of all issues addressed since Beta 4 using the links below:

• GitHub commits for 7.1 since July 29, 2026
• Closed Trac tickets for 7.1 since July 29, 2026

New Features since Beta 1

• Icons API: New APIs for registering icons and icon collections in Core, ready for plugins to extend.
• Speculative loading configuration: Speculative loading defaults can now be configured via environment variables and constants.
• Email notifications for @mentions: Email notifications have been introduced when mentioned in a Note.
• Shareable Revisions: Share links to specific revisions for faster collaboration.

Want to look deeper into the details and technical notes for this release? These tickets and pull requests are just some of the latest updates:

• #GB-79839: Apply globally: choose which modified block styles to apply
• #GB-80814: New responsiveEditingEnabled editor setting to hide responsive styles
• #GB-80107: Tabs: toolbar buttons to reorder tabs
• #GB-80046: DataViews: shift-click range selection
• #65636: Preload REST API requests fetched on editor load
• #65613: Notes are excluded from comment feed queries
• #65491: KSES allows the autofocus attribute on dialog elements
• #65517: Multisite upload limits are enforced when sideloading media from a URL
• #62757: Update the jQuery UI library to version 1.14.2

How you can contribute

WordPress is open source software made possible by a passionate community of people collaborating on and contributing to its development. The resources below outline various ways you can help the world’s most popular open source web platform, regardless of your technical expertise.

Get involved in testing

Testing for issues is crucial to the development of any software. It’s also a meaningful way for anyone to contribute. 

Your help testing the WordPress 7.1 RC1 version is key to ensuring that the final release is the best it can be. While testing the upgrade process is essential, trying out new features is equally important. This detailed guide will walk you through testing features in WordPress 7.1.

Update your theme or plugin

For plugin and theme authors, your products play an integral role in extending the functionality and value of WordPress for all users.

Thanks for continuing to test your themes and plugins with the WordPress 7.1 beta releases. With RC1, you’ll want to conclude your testing and update the “Tested up to” version in your plugin’s readme file to 7.1.

If you find compatibility issues, please post detailed information to the support forum.

Test on your hosting platforms

Web hosts provide vital infrastructure for supporting WordPress and its users. Testing on hosting systems helps inform the development process while ensuring that WordPress and hosting platforms are fully compatible, free of errors, optimized for the best possible user experience, and that updates roll out to customer sites without issue.

Want to test WordPress on your hosting system? Get started with configuring distributed hosting tests here. Thank you to all web hosts who help test WordPress!

Curious about testing releases in general? Follow along with the testing initiatives in Make Core and join the #core-test channel on Making WordPress Slack.

An RC1 haiku

A candidate stands
the desert sun tests its strength
Arizona waits

Props to @krupajnanda, @annezazu,
@amykamala, @wildworks and @masteradhoc for collaboration and review