1) Backup your htdocs folder
2) export your databases (follow this tutorial)
3) uninstall xampp
4) install the new version of xampp
5) replace the htdocs folder that you have backed up
6) Import your databases you had exported before
Note: In case you have changed config files like PHP (php.ini), Apache (httpd.conf) or any other, please take back up of those files as well and replace them with newly installed version.
download your desired version of php binary from http://windows.php.net/download/ website. download Thread Safe binary zip version. Unzip the downloaded version of the PHP in a separate folder. Please make sure that your new php folder name is not "PHP". May be you can use filder name as the version name. For example for php 5.4 you can use php54.
Copy the new php folder into your xampp folder. Now go to yourxampp/apache/conf/extra folder. Open file httpd-xampp.conf from the folder extra. Change the following variables:
Variable PHPINIDir to be / Varaible LoadModule to be //php5apache2_2.dl
Save the file httpd-xampp.conf. Restart your XAMPP apache server. If your server get restarted successfully then your server php version is upgraded.
http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp-windows.html
In this site you can get
XAMPP Add-Ons
by using this add on you can upgrade the latest versions.
Note
In order to run apache server after upgradation PHP 7.4.x requires Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2019 which can be downloaded here under the heading Other Tools and Frameworks. otherwise apache server won't start.
You can go through the following link as it helped me, should work for you as well. http://hype-free.blogspot.com/2007/07/updating-php-in-xampp-for-windows.html
Realizing that my answer helped couple of users, here is the edit from original link:
Edit:
NOTE: there are two directories to be updated with new version of files, namely php
sub-directory and apache/bin
sub-directory, inside XAMPP installation.
There are newer beta versions of Xampp that come with newer PHP upgrades.
you should check at http://www.apachefriends.org
1) Download new PHP from the official site (better some zip). Old php
directory rename to php_old
and create again php
directory and put there unzipped files.
In php.ini
connect needed modules if you used something that was turned off by default (like Memcached etc.), but doesn't forget to add corresponding .dll
files.
2) In my case, I had to update Apache. So repeat the same steps: download the new package, rename directories, create new apache
directory and put their new files.
Now you can try to restart apache running apache_start.bat
from xampp
folder (better run this bat, than restart apache service from Windows services window, cause in this case in console you'll see all errors if there will be some, including lines in config where you'll have problem). If you updated Apache and run this file, in the list of services you'll see Apache2.2, but in description you can get another version (in my case that was Apache/2.4.7).
In case of Apache update you can get some problems, so mind:
after you replace the whole directory, you may need to configure you apache/conf/httpd.conf
file (copy virtual hosts from old config, set up DocumentRoots, permissions for directories, all paths, extend the list of index files (by default apache has only index.html
so other index files will be just ignored and Apache will just list the site root directory in browser), configure you logs etc.)
connect modules you need (if you used something that was not turned on by default like mod_rewrite etc.)
For Upgradation php in Xampp you can follow this steps, Else you can skip these 4 steps and direct install MAMP (for windows as well) from site and here is the direct download link
Step 1: Make backups Before starting, make sure to backup any settings, custom modules and most importantly the htdocs directory, which contains your scripts and page resources. This directory is normally located atC:\xampp\htdocs\
Step 2: Preparation
Download PHP 5.3.0rc2. I use the VC6 build in order to minimise any potential compatibility issues. It is also recommended that you download the latest Windows version of XAMPP. While this is an upgrade guide that shouldwork with previous versions of XAMPP, it is recommended that a fresh copy of the core files is used. Stop any instances of the Apache service that might be running.
Step 3: The upgrade This guide will assume your XAMPP directory is C:\xampp\
Extract the XAMPP archive to a directory of your choosing, I would recommend using the default C:\xampp\ Extract the contents of the PHP archive to C:\xampp\php\, overwriting the contents of this directory with the new files. Open the file C:\xampp\apache\conf\extra\httpd-xampp.conf and ensure the following lines are present in this order:
LoadFile "/xampp/php/php5ts.dll"
LoadModule php5_module "/xampp/apache/bin/php5apache2_2.dll"
Replace C:\xampp\php\php.ini with C:\xampp\php\php.ini-dist
Uncomment the lines:
;extension=php_mbstring.dll
;extension=php_pdo_sqlite.dll
Replace the line
magic_quotes_gpc = On
with
magic_quotes_gpc = Off
Copy all files in the C:\xampp\php\ to C:\xampp\apache\bin\ (do not copy the subdirectories or their contents).
After following the above steps, restart your Apache service (this can be done using C:\xampp\xampp-control.exe or manually through the control panel/command prompt). Your PHPinfo should indicate that the upgrade has been successful. I will update this post if I discover any problems from using this method, or a cleaner (automated) means of performing the upgrade.
To update with latest PHP version in xampp without losing your htdocs data you need to download the zip file of your desired version of PHP from sourceforge.net, then copy the PHP folder from the extracted file and paste it into your xampp folder.
NOTE: Don't forget to rename the old PHP file folder which already exists.
Then simply edit your php.ini file with the current path to reach the right PHP folder
After that, you need to re-run your xampp.
I found a video on youtube which can help you. how to update php version in xampp
I think you need to actually download and install XAMPP with the desired PHP version. I dont think you can just upgrade the components of XAMPP individually unless there is a facility provided for this within XAMPP itself.
I needed to update my php from 5.3.8 to 5.3.29. (both Thread Safe) on Windows
Steps I did:
Hope that I covered everything.
Most probably these steps will not work if you change major versions of php, e.g. 5.3.x to 5.4.x, but for minor versions, it should work.
Also, a good way to see what's wrong... start command line and try to start httpd.exe, under xampp/apache/bin from there, it will list errors found.
phpinfo()
, press ctrl+f, and type thread
to check the value.php
.php
folder to something else.php
) folder in xampp directory.php.ini
file from default/old php
folder (That you renamed) and paste it into the new php
folder.I have upgraded to php7.2 from php5.6
Steps which I followed.
C:\xampp\apache\conf\extra\http-xampp.conf
5.1. Replace
LoadFile "C:/xampp/php/php5ts.dll"
LoadFile "C:/xampp/php/libpq.dll"
LoadModule php5_module "C:/xampp/php/php5apache2_4.dll"
to
LoadFile "C:/xampp/php/php7ts.dll"
LoadFile "C:/xampp/php/libpq.dll"
LoadModule php7_module "C:/xampp/php/php7apache2_4.dll"
I don't have enough reputation to comment yet, but, to add to ssharma's answer:
After you copy your htdocs folder to a safe place, just export your databases from PHPmyadmin. Simply go to each of your databases and click on the export tab at the top. Export them as sql (or whatever, really - just remember what you chose). Upgrade your XAMPP installation. Now, in the new version of XAMPP, create the databases that you want to re-insert. Example: you have a database named 'test' that you exported from your old installation, name the new, empty database the same thing. Now, go into 'test' and hit the import button along the top (right next to the export button). Click on choose file, find the sql file that you exported earlier (should be 'test.sql') and import. Your tables and data will be in place.
NOTE: There's an option to export the entire collection of databases (it names the file 127.0.0.1.sql). But, I've never had much luck getting it to import correctly. Do each of your databases separately to ensure it works. I made this post kind of long-winded, but that's because I like to write for the people that don't know exactly what they're doing yet (I, myself, was there not too long ago (all of us were at some point)).
Shorthand version of my answer:
1) Export your databases individually
2) Import into your new installation of XAMPP
Simplest method to upgrade PHP
in XAMPP
:
XAMPP
.XAMPP
already installed).PHP
folder from the extracted archive.PHP
folder which is in installed XAMPP
directory. You can backup it like changing the PHP
folder name to PHP-old
or
like PHP-version-number
PHP
folder which you copied from the extracted archive.php.ini
file with your backup folder php.ini
file in case you have changed the default settings earlier.server
.I just upgrade my old XAMPP portable with PHP 5.3.X(Include Mercury & FileZilla & Tomcat) to XAMPP portable with PHP 5.6.X ( Include previous versions ) ...
My way:
max_upload_size
and etc on php.ini and also in /apache/conf/extra/httpd-xampp.conf
D
to drive C
NOTE
On Export database tab on phpmyadmin, select UTF-8 Character and check Disable foreign key checks
checkbox
and on import tab uncheck Enable foreign key checks
.
Source: Stackoverflow.com