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Installing WC Currency Switch

3 min readUpdated November 4, 2026

You install WC Currency Switch like any other premium WordPress plugin: you upload the zip file, activate it, and the settings appear under WooCommerce. It takes about two minutes. For example, a store that sells in GBP can install the plugin and, on the same day, start showing prices in EUR and USD to visitors from abroad.

Before you start#

  • Check that your site meets the Requirements: WordPress 7.1, PHP 8.3 and WooCommerce 7.0 or newer.
  • Make sure WooCommerce is installed and active. The settings page only appears when it is.
  • You do not need your license key to install. You add it afterwards to turn on automatic updates.

Install the plugin#

  1. Download the wc-currency-switch.zip file from your account at wccurrencyswitch.com. Do not unzip it.
  2. In WordPress, go to Plugins > Add New Plugin and click Upload Plugin.
  3. Click Choose File, select wc-currency-switch.zip, then click Install Now.
  4. When the upload finishes, click Activate Plugin.
  5. Go to WooCommerce > Currency Switch to open the settings.

The settings page opens on the General tab. The header at the top shows the plugin version and a badge that says No license active until you activate your license.

What happens on first activation#

The first time you activate the plugin on a site, it sets itself up with safe defaults:

  • Your store currency becomes the default currency. The plugin reads the currency set in WooCommerce and uses it. It never changes your WooCommerce store currency when it is activated.
  • Five currencies are turned on: USD, EUR, GBP, JPY and CAD, plus your store currency if it is not one of them. This gives you something to test with. Remove any you do not need on the Currencies tab.
  • Exchange rates come from Frankfurter, a free provider that needs no key. Rates are fetched on the first page view that needs them and kept for 6 hours.
  • Geo detection is on. The visitor’s country is read from the country header your CDN (content delivery network) adds to each request, with WooCommerce Geolocation as the fallback.
  • Switching reloads the page (Reload mode). Instant mode, which is in beta, is off.
  • Every payment method shows for every currency until you change that on the Payments tab.

If you deactivate and activate the plugin again, your saved settings are kept as they are. The defaults are only written when no settings exist yet.

Your WooCommerce currency settings move#

While WC Currency Switch is active, it takes over three fields in WooCommerce > Settings > General: Currency, Currency position and Number of decimals. They are removed from that screen and a note links to the plugin’s settings instead. You now set the store currency under General > Default Currency in the plugin, and the symbol position and decimals for each currency on the Pricing tab.

Examples#

Your store currency is GBP. After activation:

  • General > Default Currency shows GBP.
  • The Currencies tab lists USD, EUR, GBP, JPY and CAD, with GBP marked Store currency.
  • A visitor from France, where the built-in country map points to EUR, can already see prices in EUR on their first visit.

Good to know#

Warning

Because geo detection is on and five currencies are enabled right away, visitors from those countries can start seeing converted prices as soon as you activate. If you want to set things up first, install on a staging copy of your site, or work through the Quick start straight after activating.

  • Product prices are never changed. You keep entering prices in your store currency.
  • Next, add your license key so you get updates. See Activating your license.
  • Requirements
  • Activating your license
  • Quick start: sell in a second currency in 10 minutes
  • Tour of the settings page