Magento 2.4.8 Upgrade Guide: What Merchants Need to Know

Upgrading Magento is never just a “click and go” process. Each new release introduces security patches, performance improvements, and compatibility changes that affect your theme, extensions, and hosting stack. The recent Magento 2.4.8 release is no exception. Here’s what every store owner should know before moving forward.

Why Upgrade?

Security patches: 2.4.8 includes fixes for known vulnerabilities.
PHP compatibility: Official support for newer PHP versions means faster execution and long-term stability.
Performance improvements: Indexing and caching have been tuned, resulting in faster category and search pages.
Bug fixes: Checkout, layered navigation, and GraphQL endpoints received stability updates.

Step 1: Review Extensions

Third-party modules are the #1 source of upgrade pain. Before upgrading:

Check vendors’ release notes for 2.4.8 compatibility.
Update extensions to their latest versions.
Remove unused or abandoned modules that can block your upgrade.

Step 2: Test Your Theme

Custom themes often rely on overrides that may break with template changes in 2.4.8. Run through:

Category and search results pages (Elasticsearch/OpenSearch templates may have updates).
Checkout flows with different shipping/payment methods.
Custom widgets and CMS blocks to verify styling holds.

Step 3: Upgrade Your Dev Environment

Make sure your environment is aligned with Magento’s system requirements:

PHP: Confirm your hosting stack supports the new version (7.4 support is ending; 8.x is recommended).
Elasticsearch/OpenSearch: Verify versions match Magento’s compatibility matrix.
Composer: Update to the latest Composer version before running upgrade commands.

Step 4: Run in a Staging Environment

Never upgrade production directly. Clone your site and:

Run composer require magento/product-community-edition 2.4.8 with correct PHP version.
Apply database schema and data patches via bin/magento setup:upgrade.
Test cron jobs, indexing, and caches.

Use automated test suites if you have them, or at least create a checklist of critical storefront functions to validate.

Step 5: Go Live with Confidence

Take a full backup (code and DB) before switching production.
Schedule the upgrade during low-traffic hours.
Monitor error logs, Elasticsearch health, and frontend speed immediately after launch.

When to Get Expert Help

If your store runs dozens of extensions, has a highly customized theme, or integrates with ERP/CRM platforms, an upgrade is a project-not a patch. An experienced Magento developer can audit your stack, patch modules, and run regression testing to prevent surprises.

Contact DesignCoil if you’d like help planning or executing your Magento 2.4.8 upgrade. With 10+ years of Magento expertise, we’ve handled hundreds of upgrades for stores of all sizes.