Upgrading from Drupal 10 to 11: What Can Go Wrong?
The official release of Drupal 11 is here, and to many site owners it might look like a routine technical update. On the surface, everything sounds simple — backward compatibility preserved, core modules updated, and the community is actively promoting the new version. But if you're managing a business-critical site where performance, stability, and security matter, it's worth taking a closer look.
At Wishdesk, we work with Drupal daily — building, supporting, and upgrading sites. And to be honest, not everything always goes smoothly. That’s why we’re sharing what we’ve learned — the challenges, risks, and real stories that don’t usually make it into the official documentation.
Drupal 11 vs. Drupal 10: Key Technical Differences
At first glance, moving from Drupal 10 to 11 might seem like a regular major version bump. In reality, it introduces substantial changes. Deprecated APIs and old approaches have been fully removed, meaning that any custom functionality still relying on those will break.
On top of that, new tools like the CLI, Project Browser, and Recipes are promising but still experimental. All of this requires extra time, adaptation, and thorough testing. If your site is complex — custom themes, integrations, and logic-heavy modules — you’re not looking at a one-click upgrade.
Common Issues When Upgrading from Drupal 10 to 11
One of the biggest issues we encounter involves contributed modules. Even popular ones like Pathauto, Webform, or Metatag may have limited or experimental support at the time of upgrade. Some modules are no longer maintained, and others may behave unpredictably.
Custom code is another risky area. Even well-functioning legacy code might rely on APIs that have now been removed. We’ve had cases where entire sections of a site broke due to a single deprecated function. We use tools like the upgrade_status module and manual code reviews to detect issues early.
CI/CD pipelines can also fail unexpectedly if Composer dependencies haven’t been updated or Symfony changes aren't accounted for.
When You Should Delay Your Drupal 11 Upgrade
We don’t recommend rushing the upgrade if your site depends heavily on modules that haven’t been updated yet. If your custom codebase is years old and lacks automated tests, or if your project integrates with CRMs, LMSs, or third-party APIs — you may end up creating more issues than you solve. Outdated server environments or unsupported PHP versions can also block the upgrade entirely.
How to Prepare Your Website for a Drupal 11 Upgrade
The best place to start is with a full technical audit. At Wishdesk, we always begin by verifying whether core and contributed modules are ready for Drupal 11. Using tools like Upgrade Status and Rector, we pinpoint areas of code that need to be rewritten. We test everything in a staging environment and perform regression testing before any production deployment. It's also essential to ensure your infrastructure — PHP version, Composer setup, Redis/Memcached, and CI/CD — is fully compatible.
Real-World Examples of Upgrade Challenges
In one project — a large e-learning platform — Single Sign-On stopped working after the upgrade. The responsible module relied on an API that had been removed in D11. In another case, a university portal with over 30 custom modules required a partial refactor of nearly a third of its codebase due to changes in rendering and caching logic and the removal of outdated hooks.
Should You Upgrade to Drupal 11 Now?
Drupal 11 is a step forward, no doubt. But an upgrade isn’t just about using the latest version — it’s about whether your infrastructure, codebase, and dependencies are ready for it. Every upgrade should begin with a clear understanding of what’s changing and a well-tested plan.
At Wishdesk, we help businesses navigate this transition predictably and transparently. If you're planning a Drupal 11 upgrade, start by checking your site’s readiness.
Ready to upgrade? Let’s take a look together and see where to begin.
