Laravel upgrade guide: When and how to transition to the latest version

Ever found yourself at a crossroads, uncertain about the right path to upgrade your Laravel application, when and how?

The journey to upgrade Laravel application to the latest version is fraught with challenges, and a misstep can lead to compatibility issues, unexpected functioning of features and a tangled web of debugging. Without a well-defined procedure, you might be grappling with downtime, security vulnerabilities, and the daunting task of aligning your existing codebase with the advancements in Laravel. 

Our team’s proficiency at Mallow extends beyond mere technical know-how; we navigate the intricate landscape of Laravel development with a deep understanding of the framework’s evolving features and functionalities. With a keen eye on industry trends and best practices, we bring practical insights into when and how to upgrade Laravel applications effectively. With the help of this businesses gain not just a technical solution, but a strategic roadmap tailored to their unique needs. This approach ensures that every decision aligns with both current requirements and future innovations, fostering sustained growth and innovation.

This guide covers the key considerations for upgrading a Laravel application, including version compatibility, dependency updates, breaking changes, testing, and deployment. It also explains how to plan an upgrade to Laravel 13 based on your application’s current version and requirements.

When should you consider upgrading your Laravel application to the latest version?

• • Your application’s security needs to be updated

• • Your application is lacking the new feature enhancements

• • Your application has compatibility issues

• • You want to avoid technical debts

• • You want your business to avail the advantages from the recent release

• • You want your application to remain compliant 

Laravel 12 receives security fixes until February 24, 2027, while Laravel 13 receives them until March 17, 2028. These dates can help readers understand why support status matters.

When might it not be necessary to upgrade versions of your Laravel application?

Please note that delaying the update of your Laravel application’s version due to resource unavailability is only advisable in cases, provided there are no issues with security, performance, or other critical factors.

What is the latest Laravel version? Introducing Laravel 13.

Laravel 13, released on March 17, 2026, introduces improvements that help developers build modern, secure, and maintainable applications. It includes a first party Laravel AI SDK, JSON resources, semantic and vector search capabilities, and enhancements to security and developer workflows. Laravel continues to follow an annual major release cycle, with new versions introducing improvements while maintaining a focus on minimising breaking changes. Laravel 13 requires PHP 8.3 or later, so developers should review their application’s dependencies and environment before upgrading.

Key highlights of Laravel 13

Some notable highlights of Laravel 13 include:

• Laravel AI SDK: First-party capabilities for building AI-powered features.

• JSON:API resources and semantic search: New capabilities for API development and search use cases.

• Security improvements: Changes to request forgery protection and safer cache unserialization defaults.

• Developer experience: Improvements to framework APIs and other internal components.

Laravel 13 PHP requirements and compatibility

Laravel 13 requires PHP 8.3 or later. Before upgrading your Laravel application, ensure that your server environment meets the required PHP version and extensions. You should also check whether your Composer packages, third party integrations, and custom code are compatible with Laravel 13.

Upgrading involves more than changing the Laravel framework version. Some dependencies may require updates, and changes to framework behaviour may affect existing application features. Review the official Laravel upgrade guide to identify breaking changes and update your application accordingly.

If your application runs on an older Laravel version, you may need to upgrade through intermediate major versions rather than moving directly to Laravel 13. Plan the upgrade based on your current version, dependency requirements, and application complexity. Thorough testing in a staging environment helps identify compatibility issues before deploying the upgraded application to production.

How to upgrade your Laravel application to the latest version

Upgrading your Laravel application requires careful planning to avoid compatibility issues and unexpected disruptions. You can upgrade manually or use automation tools such as Laravel Shift. Choose the approach that best suits your application’s current Laravel version, dependencies, complexity, and level of customisation.

Approaches for the Laravel upgrade

Upgrading a Laravel application can be approached in two main ways: manually or through automation tools like Laravel Shift. The manual approach involves reviewing compatibility requirements, updating dependencies, addressing deprecated or removed features, and applying the changes required for the target Laravel version.

An automated approach, such as Laravel Shift, helps streamline the process by identifying and applying many of the changes required for an upgrade. However, automated tools do not eliminate the need for developer review, compatibility checks, and thorough testing. Both approaches require a clear upgrade plan to ensure the application continues to function as expected.

How to update the Laravel application using Laravel Shift?

Laravel Shift can help automate parts of the Laravel upgrade process. Follow these steps to prepare, perform, and validate the upgrade.

Step 1: Choose the appropriate upgrade plan

Visit the Laravel Shift website and sign up if you do not already have an account. Select the Shift that supports your current Laravel version and intended target version.

If your application uses an older Laravel version, check the supported upgrade paths before proceeding. Applications several major versions behind may need to be upgraded in stages. For example, an application running Laravel 6 may need intermediate upgrades before reaching Laravel 13.

Step 2: Prepare your application and repository

Before starting the upgrade, ensure that your application is in a stable and working state. Commit your existing changes, create a dedicated upgrade branch, and back up your application and database.

Follow Laravel Shift’s instructions to connect your Git repository and configure the upgrade. Review the required repository permissions before granting access.

Step 3: Run Laravel Shift and review the changes

Initiate the Shift after completing the configuration. Laravel Shift analyses your application and generates a pull request containing the proposed changes.

Review the pull request carefully. Check dependency updates, code modifications, configuration changes, and any remaining manual tasks. Resolve issues that the automated process does not address before merging the changes.

Step 4: Test the upgraded application

After reviewing and merging the changes into the appropriate upgrade branch, run your automated tests and perform manual testing. Verify that existing features, integrations, and business workflows continue to work correctly.

If you encounter issues, investigate the error messages and application logs, and consult Laravel Shift’s documentation where necessary. Do not deploy the upgraded application to production until the required checks are complete.

How to update your Laravel application manually?

A manual Laravel upgrade gives developers direct control over dependency updates, code changes, configuration adjustments, and testing. The exact steps depend on the current Laravel version and the version you intend to use.

Step 1: Review the official documentation and back up your application

Start by reviewing the official Laravel release notes and the upgrade guide for your target version. Identify the minimum PHP requirements, dependency changes, breaking changes, and any intermediate upgrades your application requires.

Before making changes, back up your application code, database, and configuration files. Create a separate Git branch for the upgrade so that you can review changes and return to the previous code if necessary.

Step 2: Update Laravel and Composer dependencies

Check the PHP version and confirm that your server environment meets the requirements of the target Laravel version. Review the composer.json file and update the Laravel framework and other dependency constraints according to the official upgrade guide.

Once the constraints have been updated, use Composer to resolve and install compatible dependencies. For example, composer update -W allows Composer to update dependencies that are required to resolve the requested changes, including eligible dependencies that are otherwise locked to specific versions.

Review the resulting composer.lock changes and resolve any dependency conflicts. Do not force incompatible package versions simply to complete the update. Check third party package documentation and update or replace packages that do not support the target Laravel version.

Step 3: Review configuration and application code

Review the configuration files in the config/ directory and make any changes required by the new Laravel version. Check the official upgrade guide for deprecated methods, removed features, changed defaults, and other breaking changes.

Review the parts of your application that may be affected, including middleware, authentication, authorisation, sessions, caching, database operations, queues, and third party integrations where applicable. Update your custom code and configuration as needed, and confirm that the application continues to follow the expected framework behaviour.

Step 4: Review database changes and test the application

Check whether the upgrade requires changes to database migrations, schema definitions, or seeders. Review these changes and test them in a development or staging environment before applying them to production.

Run the appropriate migrations in a safe environment and verify that the database remains consistent. Run seeders only when required by the upgrade or deployment plan. Avoid running database changes directly in production without a verified backup, a deployment plan, and a recovery strategy.

After updating the code, dependencies, and configuration, run automated tests and manually verify the application’s critical workflows. Use application logs and debugging tools to investigate any errors.

Testing and Deployment

Thorough testing and careful deployment are essential to ensure that the upgraded Laravel application remains stable and reliable.

Step 1: Run automated tests

Run the application’s existing unit tests, feature tests, and integration tests. These tests help identify regressions and compatibility issues introduced during the upgrade.

Pay particular attention to authentication, authorisation, database operations, API endpoints, payment processing, and other critical workflows relevant to your application. Fix any failing tests before moving to the next stage.

Step 2: Perform manual testing in a staging environment

Deploy the upgraded application to a staging environment that closely reflects production. Verify that the user interface, application features, integrations, background jobs, scheduled tasks, and other important workflows operate as expected.

Check environment variables, file storage, caching, queues, and database connectivity. Manual testing helps identify issues that automated tests may not cover.

Step 3: Deploy to production and monitor the application

Once testing is complete, prepare a production deployment plan. Include the required configuration changes, database migrations, maintenance requirements, and rollback procedures.

Deploy the updated application using your established deployment process. Monitor application logs, error rates, performance, and critical workflows after release. Keep verified backups and a recovery plan available so that issues can be addressed promptly.

For additional guidance, refer to the Laravel deployment documentation.

How to upgrade application from Laravel 12 to Laravel 13?

Upgrading from Laravel 12 to Laravel 13 gives your application access to the latest framework improvements. Before starting, confirm that your environment meets Laravel 13’s PHP 8.3 or later requirement and that your dependencies support the target version.

You can use Laravel Shift, where a compatible upgrade option is available, or follow the manual upgrade process.

If you use Laravel Shift, prepare a dedicated branch, run the appropriate upgrade, review the generated pull request, and complete the required testing before deployment.

For a manual upgrade, review the official Laravel 13 upgrade guide. Update the relevant Composer dependencies, resolve compatibility issues, and review any breaking changes that affect your application’s code, configuration, middleware, caching, or integrations. Not every change will affect every application, so focus on the items relevant to your codebase.

After making the required changes, run automated tests, perform manual testing in staging, and prepare a production deployment and recovery plan.

If your application is running Laravel 11 or an older version, review the upgrade guides for the intermediate major versions rather than assuming the Laravel 12 to 13 instructions cover the entire upgrade path.

Maintaining high code quality of your Laravel application

Upgrading your Laravel application helps you benefit from the latest framework improvements, but maintaining code quality is equally important. Clean, well structured code makes it easier to adopt new Laravel versions, address compatibility issues, and keep your application secure, reliable, and scalable.

High code quality improves application stability by reducing bugs and making issues easier to identify and resolve. Well documented and organised code also supports better collaboration among development teams, making ongoing maintenance and future upgrades more manageable.

A maintainable codebase makes it easier to extend your application as business requirements change. Regular code reviews, automated testing, and static analysis help identify potential issues early and reduce technical debt over time.

Check out this article on validating your Laravel application’s code quality for detailed insights.

Still unsure about your next step? Feel free to reach out to our team.