How to Upgrade Any Laravel Project to Laravel 12
Upgrading a Laravel application to Laravel 12— whether from Laravel 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, or 11—requires careful planning, dependency validation, and structured testing. This guide explains the upgrade process in a version-agnostic, production-safe, and SEO-friendly manner.
⚠️ This guide focuses on safe framework maintenance.
No risky shortcuts or unsupported upgrade methods are recommended.
🚀 Why Upgrade to Laravel 12?
- ✔ Security patches & vulnerability fixes
- ✔ Improved performance and memory usage
- ✔ Long-term framework stability
- ✔ Latest PHP compatibility
- ✔ Modern developer experience
💡 Unsupported Laravel versions significantly increase
security, compliance, and downtime risks.
🧠 Supported Upgrade Paths to Laravel 12
Laravel upgrades must be performed incrementally across major versions.
- ✔ Laravel 6 / 7 → 8 → 9 → 10 → 11 → 12
- ✔ Laravel 8 → 9 → 10 → 11 → 12
- ✔ Laravel 9 → 10 → 11 → 12
- ✔ Laravel 10 → 11 → 12
- ✔ Laravel 11 → 12
🚨 Skipping major versions causes breaking changes and failures.
📋 Pre-Upgrade Checklist
- ✔ Full database backup
- ✔ Complete source backup
- ✔ Git version control
- ✔ Review Composer packages
- ✔ Verify PHP compatibility
- ✔ Test coverage readiness
🐘 PHP Compatibility
| Laravel Version | PHP Version |
|---|---|
| Laravel 8 | PHP 7.3+ |
| Laravel 9 | PHP 8.0+ |
| Laravel 10 | PHP 8.1+ |
| Laravel 11 | PHP 8.2+ |
| Laravel 12 | PHP 8.2+ |
💡 Upgrade PHP before Laravel.
📦 Composer Upgrade Process
composer require laravel/framework:^12.0 --with-all-dependencies
composer update
⚠️ Resolve dependency conflicts before continuing.
🧪 Testing After Upgrade
- ✔ App boot & routing
- ✔ Authentication & authorization
- ✔ Queues & jobs
- ✔ APIs & integrations
- ✔ Database migrations
🚨 Never deploy without passing tests.
⚠️ Breaking Changes Awareness
- ✔ Removed deprecated helpers
- ✔ Exception & middleware lifecycle changes
- ✔ Auth & guard updates
- ✔ Queue and retry logic changes
⚙️ Configuration & Environment Review
- ✔ Compare configs with fresh Laravel 12
- ✔ Review cache, session & queue drivers
- ✔ Clean deprecated env variables
📦 Third-Party Package Audit
- ✔ Check Laravel 12 compatibility
- ✔ Remove abandoned packages
- ✔ Verify service providers
🏗️ Laravel 12 Architecture Improvements
- ✔ Faster container resolution
- ✔ Improved routing performance
- ✔ Cleaner application bootstrap
⚡ Performance Optimization
- ✔ Cache routes & config
- ✔ Optimize Composer autoload
- ✔ Monitor slow queries
🗄️ Database & Migration Strategy
- ✔ Validate old migrations
- ✔ Avoid destructive schema changes
- ✔ Test on production-sized data
🔑 API, Auth & Security Review
- ✔ Validate API guards
- ✔ Review rate limits & tokens
- ✔ Enforce CORS & CSRF
📊 Logging & Monitoring
- ✔ Review log channels
- ✔ Monitor errors post-deploy
- ✔ Track performance metrics
🏁 Final Expert Takeaways
- ✔ Upgrade incrementally
- ✔ Test aggressively
- ✔ Monitor after deployment
- ✔ Keep Laravel updated regularly
🎯 Laravel 12 upgrades done right ensure
security, scalability, and long-term success.