Local

What is Local?

Local is a native desktop development app for creating and running WordPress sites on your own Mac. It is designed for developers, designers, agencies, and site owners who want a fast way to build themes, test plugins, troubleshoot changes, or prepare client work before updating a live website. Local can create new WordPress installs, manage multiple local sites, and provide tools for importing existing projects into a local workflow. It also includes conveniences such as one-click admin access, local server management, and options for moving sites between your computer and supported hosting environments. Published by WP Engine, Local is focused on WordPress development rather than general-purpose web hosting or site browsing.

Key features

• Create and run local WordPress sites on your Mac
• Set up new WordPress installs quickly for development and testing
• Import existing WordPress projects into a local workflow
• Manage multiple local sites from one desktop interface
• Open the WordPress admin area and local site with one click
• Move sites between your computer and supported WP Engine environments

Safety overview

Status: Safe

Local is legitimate WordPress development software. It creates and manages local website files, databases, and development services on your Mac, so it normally needs access to folders where your sites are stored and may run background components while local sites are active. That behavior is expected for this kind of app. If you no longer use it, removing the app can also remove access to the local sites and development environments it manages unless you back up your project files first.

Recommendation: Keep Local if you develop, test, or maintain WordPress sites on this Mac. If you have stopped using it, export or back up any local site projects you want to preserve before uninstalling the app and cleaning up its support files.

Common paths

• /Applications/Local.app
• ~/Local Sites

Cache paths

• ~/Library/Caches/com.getflywheel.lightning.local

Support paths

• ~/Library/Application Support/Local

Preference paths

• ~/Library/Preferences/com.getflywheel.lightning.local.plist

Related apps

• WP Engine DevKit

Related can I delete pages

• ~/Library/Application Support/Local
• ~/Library/Caches/com.getflywheel.lightning.local
• ~/Library/Preferences/com.getflywheel.lightning.local.plist
• ~/Local Sites

Share your experience

Be the first to share your experience.